Dan Stermer is an American rapper and podcaster known professionally as Big Dipper.

Early life and education

Stermer was raised in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

. His mother is Jewish, and his father is Christian. Stermer was raised in a Jewish household and attended Sunday school at a Reform synagogue. He first began performing at the age of 8 in a children's theater production of '' The Wizard of Oz''. Stermer tried several instruments including, cello, piano, trumpet, tuba, and drums before deciding he enjoyed plays more. He began listening to hip hop and rap at the age of 9. He had a bar mitzvah in the eighth grade and was confirmed in 10th grade after taking more Jewish studies classes. Stermer graduated from

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...

in 2007 where he studied theater.

Career

Big Dipper wrote his first song at the age of 25. He began using the name Big Dipper at the age of 26. , he is based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He has performed at bear festivals, P-town, and San Francisco Bear Pride. In 2019, he was a headliner at Capital Pride. He stated one reason he performed was to combat hatred and help people feel empowered. Big Dipper cohosted the podcast ''Unbearable'' with Meatball a

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

drag queen. After a hiatus, they returned in June 2019 with a new podcast, Sloppy Seconds, on the Forever Dog network. On August 24, 2018, Big Dipper released his debut album ''Late Bloomer''.

Artistry

Big Dipper's work is often explicit and involves themes of sex and humor. He has been compared to fellow gay rapper

Cazwell Luke Caswell, known mononomously as Cazwell, is an American rapper, record producer and songwriter. He has released the three studio albums '' Get Into It'' in 2006, '' Watch My Mouth'' in 2009 and ''Hard 2 B Fresh'' in 2014, along with videos an ...

Personal life

Big Dipper is gay and identifies as a member of the bear community.

Discography

Albums

* ''Late Bloomer'' (2018)

Singles

* "Drip Drop" (2011) * "Summertime Realness" * "LaCroix Boi" * "Skank" * "Dick in a Box" * "Meat Quotient" * "Cut Up" * "Pressed" * "That Nut" * "Lookin" * "Let's Talk about PrEP"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Dipper Living people Musicians from Evanston, Illinois American gay musicians LGBT rappers LGBT people from Illinois 21st-century American rappers American male rappers Rappers from Illinois American podcasters Ithaca College alumni LGBT Jews Jewish rappers Jewish American musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American LGBT people 21st-century American Jews 1985 births