Most people know Daniel ‘Diggy’ Simmons from his famous dad’s reality show on MTV, Run’s House. Daniel is Rev’s first child with his second wife, Justine. He is now in his late 20s.
Like his brother Jojo, he decided to pursue a rap career. He started performing under the name Diggy. Despite some doubts from the hip-hop world, Diggy proved himself to be a talent in his own right.
According to Paper Magazine, he released his first mixtape, The First Flight, when he was just 14 years old. He also managed to go viral by performing a freestyle of Nas’ Made You Look. According to Paper, this even managed to receive co-signs from the likes of Kanye West and even Nas himself.
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He continued to work on his craft, releasing a string of further mixtapes and music videos. By age 16, Diggy had scored a spot on XXL’s Freshman Class. He also appeared on Billboard’s Artists to Watch list.
In 2011, he was nominated for the BET Hip-Hop Rookie of the Year Award. The next year, he released his first album, Unexpected Arrival. His second album, Lighten Up, came out in 2018.
According to Paper magazine, the young rapper has already collabed with stars like Bruno Mars, Pharrell, and Jeremih. He was also reported to be the youngest member of All City Chess Club, the rap collective headed up by Lupe Fiasco.
Diggy’s Sucess Spans Across Several Industries
While his first love has always been music, he’s also tried his hand at acting – with some pretty unexpected success. His role on the Black-ish spinoff show Grown-ish was only supposed to be a one-time walk-on role. However, his charming on-screen persona and acting skills saw him become a recurring character for the first two seasons.
In seasons 3 and 4, he actually became a main character. His character’s stories have started important conversations among young people; these have ranged from activism and allyship to colorism and toxic masculinity. In interviews, Diggy has reportedly talked about his pride in the role, which he said was cool and a dream come true.
Alongside music and acting, Diggy has even worked as a model, having been employed at high-end brand Dolce & Gabbana. Despite the trajectory of his career, Diggy has said that he wasn’t always sure about chasing a career in the entertainment industry.
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In an interview with Paper, he was asked if he ever considered avoiding show business. He said that he did when he was “way younger.”
He explained: “I just got this kind of attitude… where I just wanted to be an individual. I didn’t want anybody to attach me to my family.” He continued: “So I strayed from it and decided I wasn’t going to rap ’cause, you know, that’s like what my family’s known for.”
But then he had a change of heart as a teenager. Diggy said, “Around 13 or 14, I just started doing it just for myself. I just started writing. I was just recording myself on GarageBand on my computer.” He described the process as “joyful” and never something that he cared about as a career.
Diggy Feels That Rap Is All About Authenticity
When talking about his second album, Diggy was asked what his dad thought of it. His dad said that he really loved it and was proud.
Diggy also talked about the positive influence his dad has had on him away from music. He said: “We more just talk about how I should approach day-to-day life, experiences, relationships.”
Although Diggy has been able to turn to one of the greats for advice about rap, he has always formed his own opinions on the art form. For him, it’s all about authenticity.
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He explained in his interview that: “It’s about being honest and talking about what you’ve really been through, whatever that is.” He added: “So as long as it’s coming from a place, where it’s genuine… it’s whatever is truly real to you.”
Diggy went on to list some of the rappers who he feels live up to that standard. Some of his favorites included Kendrick Lamar and Drake, while he also gave a shout-out to Nas’ 2018 album, NASIR.
After a string of releases at an extremely young age, Diggy took a short break from rapping to work on his interests in fashion and acting. However, he has always maintained that music is his “number one”, so it might not be long before we hear from him again.
