D1 was born in St. Louis, but was moved to Cali when he was a baby. He lives in Venice now. He grew up loving all music and sports. From the age of 9 he was writing and rapping, he never thought this would be his life’s direction. When he was 11, he was discovered by talent producer Chris Barnes. He performed with Irene Cara, Jim Belushi, Ryan Styles, Joel Murray, Clint Smith and Roger Clinton, President Clinton’s brother. D1 got a standing ovation. There was a whirlwind of offers from movie, TV and Warner’s record executive Rob Cavallo, and agent Marty Tudor. But he had to bow out, his heart was in sports.

He was a ranked basketball player with numerous scholarship offers. He put together the famed AAU traveling team Hype-Squad. His senior year he was diagnosed with kidney failure, cause unknown. This is when he started producing. Mostly bedridden for a year, he learned the basics of the Triton and MPC. But he had to give b...