“At the time, friends and family would often respond with surprise, asking a young Dreamer what he intended to rap about, since his interests strayed from the world many associated with the form. “I’m a nerd, like, I’m not in the streets or anything,” said the MC, who grew up in South Linden but never involved himself in any of the illicit activities that he said plagued his neighborhood. “I was a geek, playing video games and trying to be a ninja.” As a result, Dreamer’s songs often return to the idea of locating one’s fit within society at large. “In time, I’ll find my place in this world,” he raps on the surrealist “Waking Nightmares.” And then, on “King Diavolo,” “I’m just trying to find my space.”’

— Columbus Alive

“What’s the most rewarding part of being a musician?

Kali: I get messages all the time where somebody will tell me, “Yeah, I was having a tough time and I heard one of your songs and I just vibed with it and it just helped me get through the day.” As a person, especially with how many people there are, you can feel kind of lost and like you don’t matter, but I’m constantly getting reminders that I have a positive influence on people’s lives and I don’t think I would trade that for anything.”

— Lobsterfest 2019 Q&A

“Groupie: What’s the main thing you want people to take away from your music?

Kali Dreamer: I just want people to think. People accept things the way they are and that’s because of tradition and because of the way they’ve always been. If there’s anything about my music people take away, its that you can basically do whatever as long as you’re not infringing safety, or rights as a human being.

Even stupid stuff like my hair, people are like ‘Oh, I didn’t know you could do that’ and it’s like, you can literally do that. There’s nothing stopping you from doing that. But we just kind of put ourselves in these imaginary boxes and fake parameters that keep us bound to the same line of thinking. It’s like no, there’s nothing stopping you all those chains are invisible.

My music is unique, but, I don’t think it’s anything outside the realm of possibility of things that could have been done before. The only thing stopping people from doing what I do is just the mental block about it, as opposed to like, the ability.”

— Groupie Sounds