Source: The Breakfast Club / The Breakfast Club
Eleven albums deep into the game, Dee-1’s been doing his thing in music biz for quite some time. While he may not be cracking any GOAT lists, the man is still living out his dream and is unapologetic about it.
Making his mark since 2009, Dee-1’s been doing his best to make Hip-Hop music that contains messages while trying to uplift listeners. Recently he swung by The Breakfast Club to talk about what inspired him to get in the game and how grateful he is to still be a part of the culture. Touching on his career as a teacher and even meeting Afeni Shakur, Dee-1’s come a long way from his days in homeroom telling his students about his Hip-Hop aspirations.
Here are the 8 things we learned from Dee-1 on The Breakfast Club.
Before entering the rap game, Dee told his class he was going to give up the teaching game to become a rapper and being that he’s been in the game as long as he has been, he knows he’s been “divinely guided” thus far in his career. Interestingly enough he was Fredo Bang’s middleschool teacher and says he was a funny kid but serious at the same time.
While attending college, Dee remembers that he went through some personal struggles including his friend being murdered back home, finding out his girlfriend cheated on him with a few guys on the football team (Jesus!) and ultimately getting kicked off the basketball team. Talk about holding all the L’s that life has to offer.
Dee says that he began going to therapy after feeling down on himself and having suicidal thoughts. Not having anyone to talk to that would “cut it” as far as giving him some feedback, he decided to get professional help and it’s made him all the better for it.
Hoping to educate the next generation of kids, Dee is releasing a children’s book, David Found His Slingshot, which was inspired by his own childhood in which he was bullied by other kids. He hopes to inspire kids to find their “slingshots” in their life to help them defeat their bullies. Of course, that’s a metaphor, he’s not promoting kids to pick up rocks and sling them at their peers out on the streets.
Dee says he used to intern for Jimmy Henchman and wanted to work on the corporate side of the music game, but after a while decided he wanted to be an artist to help influence kids in a more proper way than your average gangsta rapper. Seeing one of his students get an “MOB” tattoo just because Lil Wayne had it, he saw the impact rappers had on kids and wanted to try to give them something more positive to ponder when listening to his records.
Taking it back to his college days, Dee remembers when he did a talent show at LSU and Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur complimented his style even though he didn’t win or even crack the top three of the top performers. Saying his passion on stage reminded her of Tupac, Ms. Shakur’s words inspired Dee to continue to chase the dream of being a rapper and he’s all the grateful for it.
Dee-1 is currently a professor at Tufts University in Massachusetts and teaches students about the intersection of Hip-Hop and social change. He basically breaks down how Hip-Hop has been used to make social change in the past and how it can be used to continue to make change in the future.
Looking to make a change himself, Dee actually owns land on Harvard and will be constructing a multi-purpose facility that will contain office building, mixed-income housing and a student academic center. Applaud that man for the moves he’s making, b.
Touching on the topic of homosexuality in the game, Dee-1 says he was asked to participate in gay encounters by someone he was trying to get to manage him when he first got into the game. The guy in question agreed to manage him if he, well, you know. Dee says it’s a lot of that kind of stuff that goes on in the rap game and is surprised more of those stories haven’t come out. Props to him for being so open about it.
8 Things We Learned from Dee-1 On The Breakfast Club was originally published on hiphopwired.com
