Since his first release in 2016, Constable Dennis Dunkley has released hundreds of songs with lyrics intended to uplift, motivate, and spread love under the stage name Dru Bex.
Viral rap sensation Toronto Police Services Constable Dennis Dunkley uses his music to connect and break down barriers between police and the community, proving Hip-Hop and law enforcement can co-exist.
Born and raised in Toronto, Dunkley grew up in the church but, as a Hip-Hop fan, was conflicted about how the two could coexist. His solution was to rap about the values he grew up on. Since his first release in 2016, Dunkley has released hundreds of songs with lyrics intended to uplift, motivate, and spread love under the stage name Dru Bex.
Three years ago, Dunkley would have never considered a career in policing. Though he says he has come across “many good officers,” including his family members, as a member of the Hip-Hop community, he did not think the professions mixed.
“Being Black in the Toronto area, I have had some interactions with police and they haven’t always been pleasant,” he told The Brandon Gonez Show. “So, I kind of did fall into that kind of group think of like ‘Ok, police are over here [and] we’re over here…even though my music was not gangster or nothing like that, I still kind of lived by the Hip-Hop code of ‘police are over there [and] we do our thing.’”
However, with bills to pay and a family to care for, he wanted a more stable career which led him to look at serving as an officer differently.
“I started to realize, as a Black man, I have the opportunity to be a bridge. As a Hip-Hop guy, too, I have the opportunity to build bridges and be a bridge. So, instead of just kind of standing on the outside, you know, judging and whatever, I can come in and I can be that guy that goes to the call that involves Black people, and they can see a familiar face.”
Dunkley also believes his engagement with Hip-Hop helps him connect with youth because he can “speak their language.”
“I’m plugged in still, like, even when I became a cop, I didn’t stop [being] a Hip-Hop fan… I can still get some nuances where some other officers that have kind of removed themselves, they might not be able to relate, or they might not get some of the references… I believe I can use music, especially Hip-Hop, to just, kind of just engage with the young people in the community.”
However, as a Black police officer, Dunkley acknowledges that his race could also be a disadvantage depending on the assignment.
“I have come across people that have interacted with me, and I can tell it’s because I’m Black, like, I mean, like, they don’t want to talk to me. They want to talk to the other officer that looks like them. You know what I mean? So, it goes both ways.”
Though he has faced claims of being a sellout, Dunkley does not take these criticisms to heart. “We have a history, not always [a] pleasant one, [with] being over-policed [and] all of those things,” he said. “I get it, so I don’t take it personally. I just try to show them that I understand.”
Dunkley acknowledges young Black people disproportionately experience interactions with law enforcement and explains how implicit bias plays a major role.
“The reality is, we have a different reality,” he said.” “There are things that we have to teach our kids that other people might not teach their kids, right? Case in point, interacting with police…It’s a sad reality…Even people that don’t think they have bias, we often have implicit bias that we’re not even aware of.”
Though he would rather not have to give this advice, he urges young people of colour, especially Black youth, to be as compliant as possible.
“If you feel you’re being mistreated, then you know, deal with it afterwards. Make a complaint. Everything these days, (the) majority anyways, is on body camera, right? So, if the police officer has a bad interaction with you and you think they’re being unfair, that’ll all be on camera. And when people review the camera, they’ll see what’s up.”
He then referenced Jay-Z.
“I’m sure somebody else said before him [but], ‘A wise man said, ‘Don’t argue with fools, because from a distance, nobody, people can’t tell who was who.’ So, it’s like, in that moment, just don’t get into an argument because if there’s a police officer and there’s anybody, but especially if there’s like a young Black person and somebody sees them arguing, people are automatically going to assume [the Black person] is in the wrong [and] the police officer is in the right. So, just play it cool and let the camera capture what it captures.”
Transitioning into policing, Dunkley thought “he would finally let the music go,” but after the “overwhelmingly positive” reaction to his community officer barbeque performance, he says new music is not out of the realm of possibility.
“I definitely still have it in me. I can still compose rhymes. I still have an ear for music… The fire is still alive.”
For more on this interview, watch the YouTube video below!
