On a Sunday night, months back, I walked into Jack Sprat in Chapel Hill, NC (Home of Sunday Night Sessions Open Mic with Bishop Omega) and waited for all the emcees to come out, hoping to catch some new talent. On that particular night, 2 acts signed up (I guess all the other emcees in the area already got signed or something, or forgot how important every opportunity to be seen or heard is). These two young hype guys stepped on the stage and didn't care that there were less than 10 people in the spot, they rocked anyway. D.4.G. (Destined 4 Greatness) caught my attention and I reached out.
D.4.G. is made up of Ye Ea$t (Okoye Gordon) and XO (Donyea Elliot), both hailing from the streets of Durham, NC, but in different household settings. Ea$t had both his mother and father in the home and XO was raised by his Aunt. Music was intertwined in both of their lives through different avenues. Ea$t was influenced by his mother and her exposing him to music even before birth. XO credits his Aunt who raised him and his Uncle Fadelle Roberts, who is a Producer and Emcee also from Durham.
Putting a description on D.4.G.'s "style" is complicated. Their creative metaphors and humor in their lyricism matched with catchy beats is hard to interpret. It's definitely not "backpacker" Hip Hop, but it does have a "swagg" twist to it. Listen for yourself by downloading their "Business Before Pleasure" Mixtape on datpiff.com. D.4.G. continues to work by the motto "The grind never stops" as they are already building the next in a series of mixtapes.
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