D.O. (a.k.a. Defy the Odds; real name Duane Gibson) is a Canadian rapper, motivational speaker and author.Jenny Yue
Bullying victim turned rapper takes message to students

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...

, 28 December 2012 He is known for setting the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the longest freestyle rap in 2003.

Biography

D.O. studied at Toronto's

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

and graduated with an honours English degree in 2001.Shawn Katuwapitiy
Rapper D.O. takes hip-hop back to the books

The Gazette The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Recor ...

, 23 October 2007VIDEOS: Canadian hip hop artist D.O. Releases Free Online Album (Heavy in the Game)
Scoop, Langfield Entertainment May 17, 2012 After graduation, he created a school tour program, Stay Driven, to educate students on anti-bullying, anti-violence, peer pressure, leadership and working at peak performance.Canadian rap artist D.O. delivers a positive message with his Stay Driven tour
Peace: Canada's Street Style Magazine, 2 April 2010 He has subsequently visited hundreds of schools to speak on those topics and in 2012 published a book ''Stay Driven: Can't Nobody Hold You Down'' on the same topics. In 2007, D.O. released his debut album "The Norhtstarr" the album garnered a nomination from the Ontario Independent Music Awards. In 2009, D.O's sophomore album "Stay Driven" hit number 7 on the Canadian College Charts. In 2012, he released his third solo album "Heavy In The Game" which included the single "Can't Tell Me" featuring SonReal, Famous and Chris Jackson. The track peaked at Number 3 on the US College Hip Hop Charts in July 2012.Record Breakers Chart
Rapnetwork Record Breakers, 27 July 2012 D.O. records as a solo artist and is also one-half of the duo Art of Fresh with beatmaker and vocalist Byram Joseph, aka

Slakah the Beatchild The Slakadeliqs are a Canadian soul and R&B band.

.Addi Stewar
D.O. Guinness World Record for longest freestyle
North Side Hip Hop In 2009 their debut album "Back to the Earth" reached #2 on the National College Radio Charts. In 2010, the group's song "Out This World" hit number 1 on the US College Hip-Hop Radio Charts.
Rapattack, 1 February 2010 Other musicians that he has collaborated with include

DL Incognito Oliver Nestor, better known as DL Incognito, is a Canadian hip hop rapper and producer from Ottawa, Ontario. He is currently signed to URBNET Records but also operates his independent label Nine Planets Hip Hop along with his brother. In 2007 an ...

, Red 1 of the Rascalz, Classified,

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

, Metty the Dert Merchant (

Sweatshop Union Sweatshop Union is a Canadian hip hop collective based in Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting of four politically-minded rap acts — Dirty Circus, Pigeon Hole (aka "Creative Minds"), Kyprios and Innocent Bystanders. Known for their social ...

JRDN Ralph Jordon Croucher (born November 14, 1978), better known by his stage name JRDN, is a Canadian R&B recording artist. Early life Ralph Jordon Croucher was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and moved to Toronto, Ontario at nine months old, whe ...

Maestro Fresh Wes Wesley "Wes" Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a Canadian rapper, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh Wes (formerly Maestro Fresh-Wes) or Maestro as a musician, and is credited by his ...

and others. He videos rotate on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

, he has toured Canada multiple times and performed globally with stops in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

and

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Guinness World Record

On July 5, 2003, D.O. set a Guinness World Record for the longest freestyle rap at the Dark Nights Nationals car show, an outdoor car festival in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. His rap lasted for 8 hours and 45 minutes and was performed in front of hundreds of spectators. He was the first rapper to have a video-documented evidence to support the claims to have done the world's longest be freestyle rap.

Discography

Solo artist

* ''The Northstarr'' (2007) * ''Stay Driven'' (2009) * ''Heavy In The Game'' (2012) * ''Down Home'' (2014) * ''Duane Gibson'' (2015) * ''On This Grind'' (2016) * ''Seeds and Dominoes'' (2017)

With Art of Fresh

* ''Back to Earth'' (2008) * ''When the night comes in'' (2010)

Personal life

D.O. currently lives in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

References

External links

Official site

Stay Driven website
{{DEFAULTSORT:D.O. Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Black Canadian musicians Canadian male rappers 21st-century Canadian rappers Rappers from Toronto 21st-century Canadian male musicians