BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
Diggy Simmons
| Diggy Simmons | |
|---|---|
Simmons on the sets of his show "The Start-Up" 2013
| |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Daniel Dwayne Simmons III |
| Also known as | Diggy Simmons |
| Born | March 21, 1995 Queens, New York, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper and Singer |
| Labels | Atlantic Records |
| Associated acts | Jacob Latimore, Mindless Behavior, Lil Twist, All City Chess Club, Trevor Jackson,B.O.B |
Daniel Dwayne Simmons III (born March 21, 1995), better known by his stage name as Diggy Simmons or commonly just Diggy, is an American rapper, singer, and actor and the fourth child of Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons of Run DMC. He, along with his parents and five siblings, were the primary subjects of the MTV reality television show Run's House. Diggy is also the youngest member of the hip-hop collective All City Chess Club.
Music career
Music beginnings
Diggy Simmons released his debut mixtape, The First Flight , in 2009, More than 100,000 people downloaded the album from Simmons' blog.[1][2][3] Following the mixtapes's release, according to Simmons, five record labels showed interest in signing him; he chose Atlantic Records.[4]
Early in 2010, Simmons uploaded a video of himself freestyling over the Nas song, "Made You Look". The video became a viral hit[1] and garnered praise from Kanye West, who responded on Twitter: "I knew this kid was [going] to be fresh. I knew it!"[5]
It was preceded by the leak of the song "Oh Yeah!", which featured Pharrell Williams and Lupe Fiasco.[6] Airborne, Simmons' second mixtape, was released in 2010.[1][7] The mixtape track "Great Expectations" was featured that year in a national AT&T television commercial.[1][8]
Simmons released his third mixtape, "Past Presents Future", in December. The album, hosted by DJ Premier, features samples of songs from the 1980's and 1990's by such artists as Nas, A Tribe Called Quest and Rakim. A video was released for the track "Shook Ones", which samples the Mobb Deep song of the same name.[9]
2011-2012: MTV's Artist to Watch, XXL Freshmen & Unexpected Arrival
Early the next year, Simmons was named one of Billboard's "Artists to Watch 2011" and was selected to XXL's annual Freshmen list.[10][11] Diggy went on His first tour for BET's106 & Park "Closer To My Dreams" tour in the summer of 2011 starring Tyga, Mindless Behavior, Lil Twist, Jawan Harris, and Trevante. He released his first major-label single, "Copy, Paste", soon thereafter.[1][12] "Copy, Paste" peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in September.[13] The song's video was directed by Phil the God, who previously directed Simmons' "Made You Look", "What They Been Waiting For" and "Shook Ones".[14][15] Simmons performed the song during the pre-show for the 2011 BET Awards.[16] His second tour was Scream Tour's Next Generation tour in the fall of 2011 with Mindless Behavior, Jacob Latimore, and The New Boyz (also opening were The OMG Girlz). Simmons is featured on the singles "Like 'Em All" by Jacob Latimore, "Mrs. Right" by Mindless Behavior and "Yeah Right" by Dionne Bromfield.[9][17][18] "Yeah Right" reached number 36 on the UK Singles Chart in April 2011.[19] "Click Clack Away", a song featuring Bruno Mars, leaked onto the internet in May. Simmons noted that the track would not be included on his debut studio album, set to be released by the end of the year.[20][21] That month, Simmons released the song "Just Begun" however Simmons tweeted on Twitter it was not going to be on the album.[22] On October 24, 2011 Diggy released "Do It Like You" as the second official single from his debut album, Unexpected Arrival a music video has been released with the song's featured artist Jeremih appearing in the clip. Also on February 24 the song "88" was released as the third official single. The song features Jadakiss and a viral music video was released for the track.[23] Diggy's debut album Unexpected Arrival was released on March 20, 2012, a day before Simmons' 17th birthday. Billboard said it was "easy to find yourself nodding along".[24] The third was his own "Life of The Jetsetter Tour" in late early 2012 with returning acts Jacob Latimore, The OMG Girlz, and added were Jawan Harris & new hip-hop duo TK-N-Cash. In 2012, it was announced that Simmons would once again embark on a tour with Scream Star Entertainment, and got his own headlining spot. The Scream Tour: Next Generation Part 2 begins in late August 2012 with special guests Jawan Harris, The OMG Girlz, TK-N-Cash, YMCMB's Torion, and more.
2013-present: Out of This World
Simmons announced that he is releasing his fourth mixtape titled, Out of This World via Twitter. 'Out of This World' was set for release in 2013, but was never released. On December 22, 2013, Simmons released an unofficial single after a year-long hiatus entitled "Mama Said" featuring B.o.B & Key Wane. "Mama Said" is a first taste into Simmons' upcoming second album, rumored for release in 2014. In May of 2014, Simmons released the first single from his upcoming EP Out of This World entitiled "My Girl" featuringTrevor Jackson. "My Girl" official video was released on May 7th, 2014. [25] On February 10, 2015 Simmons released his first single in 3 years " Ain't Bout to Do" featuring French Montana.
Other ventures
Acting Career
Simmons had a small role in the 2012 comedy Parental Guidance starring Billy Crystal and Bette Midler, that opened across the United States December 25th, 2012. His part in the movie was cut due to "creative changes". It is unclear if Simmons' part in the movie will appear in a possible extended DVD released version. [26]
Simmons also landed his own 2-hour TV movie/show pilot on BET titled "The Start-Up". Simmons plays Blake, a 19 year old college student and blogger who tries to get his blog of 5+ years up and running with the help of his friends. Teyana Taylor stars also. This project was due in September of 2013, but was not released.
Clothing line
In 2010, Simmons launched a line of urban sneakers called Chivalrous Culture.[citation needed] He says he gets inspiration from other artists such as Kanye and Jay Z [1] The first shoe model is called the "Hamachi". In a recent interview with Loni Swain, he revealed "Chiv Culture" has been discontinued.[27]
Artistry
Influences
Simmons has cited many rappers as his influences including Jay-Z, Nas, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, A Tribe Called Quest & Wu-Tang Clan.[8] He has also expressed an interest inalternative music, including such bands as Maroon 5, Passion Pit and Arctic Monkeys. Simmons said, "It’s a genre I would want to try in the future."[2]
Controversy
J. Cole
One of Simmons' early tracks "What You Say To Me", leaked in 2012. It spread as a diss to J. Cole for spreading vulgar rumors about Simmons' sister, Vanessa Simmons. J. Cole then responded on stage at a show, adding fuel to the fire on September 17th, 2012 & released a song entitled "Fall Down" (featuring Victoria Monet), adding even more fuel to the fire. J. Cole discussed the feud during an interview on New York radio show, The Breakfast Club, saying he was put in an awkward situation with complaints regardless of his responses, due to Simmons' younger age.
Discography
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | US Rap | |||||||
| Unexpected Arrival |
| 13 | 3 | 2 | |||||
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||
Mixtapes
| Title | Mixtape details |
|---|---|
| The First Flight |
|
| Airborne |
|
| Past, Present(s), Future |
|
Extended plays
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Out of This World |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | US Rap | |||
| "Copy, Paste" | 2011 | — | 24 | 21 | Unexpected Arrival |
| "Do It Like You" (featuring Jeremih) | 80 | 11 | 11 | ||
| "88" (featuring Jadakiss) | 2012 | — | — | — | |
| "Two Up" | — | — | — | ||
| "4 Letter Word" | — | 61 | — | ||
| "My Girl" (featuring Trevor Jackson) | 2014 | — | — | — | Out of This World |
| "Aint Bout To Do" (featuring French Montana) | — | — | — | ||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [28] | US R&B [28] | UK | |||||||||||
| "Yeah Right" (Dionne Bromfield featuring Diggy Simmons) | 2011 | — | — | 36 | Good for the Soul | ||||||||
| "Mrs. Right" (Mindless Behavior featuring Diggy Simmons) | 72 | 8 | — | #1 Girl | |||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
See also
Awards and Nominations
- 2011: YoungStars Award (Nominated)
- 2012: YoungStars Award (won)
- 2012: Best New Artist (Nominated)
- 2011: Rookie of the Year (Nominated)
- 2012: Outstanding New Artist (won)
- 2007:Choice TV:Male Reality/Variety Star (Nominated)
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