Diggy Simmons
Daniel Dwayne "Diggy" Simmons III (born March 21, 1995) is an American rapper and singer from Queens, New York City. The fourth child of Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons of Run DMC, he began his recording career in 2009 and signed with Atlantic Records the following year. In 2011, his single "Do It Like You" (featuring Jeremih) and guest appearance on Mindless Behavior's single "Mrs. Right" marked his first and only entries on the Billboard Hot 100. The former preceded the release of debut studio album, Unexpected Arrival (2012), which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard 200 and saw positive critical reception. He was chosen as part of XXL magazine's 2011 Annual Freshman List, and joined Lupe Fiasco's short-lived rap collective, All City Chess Club as its youngest member that same year.
Music career[edit]
Music beginnings[edit]
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 mixtape 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, Present(s), Future, in December. The mixtape, hosted by DJ Premier, features samples of songs from the 1980s and 1990s 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]
Other ventures[edit]
Acting career[edit]
Simmons had a small role in the 2012 comedy Parental Guidance starring Billy Crystal and Bette Midler, that opened across the United States December 25, 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.[24]
Simmons landed his own 2-hour TV film pilot on BET titled The Start Up, which also stars Teyana Taylor. 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. The project premiered on September 19, 2015. Simmons stated that "love is an emotional roller coaster and I've fallen in love." in a TMZ interview regarding the film.
Since 2018, Simmons starred in a recurring role on the TV series Grown-ish where he plays Doug, Jazlyn's (Chloe Bailey's) boyfriend.
Clothing line[edit]
In 2010, Simmons launched a line of urban sneakers called Chivalrous Culture.[25] 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.[26]
Artistry[edit]
Influences[edit]
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 in 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]
