Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr. (born October 10, 1997), known professionally as PontiacMadeDDG or simply DDG, is an American rapper, singer, and

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

. He started making videos in 2014, expanding his content with YouTube vlogs after graduating high-school in 2015 and attending

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

. He dropped out of college a year later to focus on his YouTube and music career. In 2018, he signed to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

, and later in 2020, he founded his own record label, Zooted Music, with longtime managers Eric O'Connor and Dimitri Hurt. His hit single "

Moonwalking in Calabasas "Moonwalking in Calabasas" is a song by American rapper and YouTuber DDG. It was released on July 24, 2020, by Epic Records. The music video first premiered on July 26, 2020 on his rap YouTube channel, not to be confused with the other 15 YouT ...

" (featuring

Blueface Johnathan Jamall Porter (born January 20, 1997), known professionally as Blueface, is an American rapper. In October 2018, after releasing the music video for his song "Respect My Cryppin'", he became a viral meme due to his offbeat style of rap ...

) has gained over 200 million streams. DDG debuted in his first boxing match against Nate Wyatt on June 12, where he defeated Wyatt in the 5th round by Unanimous Decision.

Early life

Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr. was born in

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Pontiac is about northwest of Detroit. Founde ...

. He attended International Tech Academy, where he was class

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

. After graduating from high school, Darryl enrolled at Central Michigan University, where he later dropped out for what he says was making $30,000 per month being a Youtuber. After dropping out of Central Michigan, Darryl moved to

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

to be a full-time

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers * Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Athlete * Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Circus performer * Clown * Club Hostess/Host * Comed ...

Career

DDG was interested in music at a young age. He made music as a child in the studio where his father was an

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

. His early music included a diss track to

Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Boat, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer. He first gained recognition on the internet in 2015 for his singles "One Night" and "Minnesota" (featuring ...

, which was called, "Big Boat". DDG released two songs in 2016 entitled "Balenciagas" and "Free Parties", both produced by

Zaytoven Xavier Lamar Dotson (born January 12, 1980), professionally known as Zaytoven, is an American trap music record producer, disc jockey, and keyboardist from Atlanta, Georgia. He has released collaborative projects with artists including Gucci Ma ...

. He also teamed up with

Famous Dex Dexter Tiewon Gore Jr. (born September 6, 1993), better known by his stage name Famous Dex, is an American rapper and singer. His 2018 debut album ''Dex Meets Dexter'' peaked at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' 200, while its singles " Pick It Up ...

for a song entitled "Lettuce". The track was initially released on DDG's YouTube channel and had 500,000 views in 1 hour, causing

WorldstarHipHop WorldStarHipHop is a content-aggregating video blog. Zurawik, David.Worldstarhiphop.com makes a name for itself with shocking viral videos". ''The Baltimore Sun''. March 23, 2012. Retrieved on April 22, 2012Alternate link to the same article fro ...

to contact DDG to allow them to exclusively release the video. On November 23, 2017, DDG released a single, "Givenchy", off his debut EP, ''Take Me Serious''. "Givenchy" received over 25 million views on YouTube. Complex identified "Givenchy" as a song "Bout to Blow in 2018". On March 17, 2018, DDG released ''Take Me Serious''. After the release of ''Lettuce'', DDG was contacted by major record labels, and in June 2018 signed a record deal with

. On June 1, 2018, DDG released the single "Arguments", which was certified Gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on April 15, 2020. On March 22, 2019, DDG released his second EP, ''Sorry 4 the Hold Up''. DDG released a music video for the song "Hold Up" from the EP, featuring

Queen Naija Queen Naija Bulls (; born October 17, 1995) is an American R&B singer and media personality. Born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, though she was raised majorly in Detroit, Michigan, she started out her career as a vlogger on YouTube and then partici ...

, and it received over 15 million views on YouTube. On September 20, 2019, DDG released "Push", the first single off his debut album, ''Valedictorian''. DDG released the album on November 1, 2019. On July 24, 2020, DDG released his single "

", which later received two remixes, the first featuring

and the second featuring YG. It became DDG's first song to enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 82. The song was certified platinum on June 3, 2021. DDG and record producer

OG Parker Joshua Isaih "OG" Parker (born October 27, 1993), is an American record producer from Atlanta. He is currently signed to Quality Control Music and has been with the label since 2014. OG Parker has produced for artists including Migos, Chris Brow ...

released the single "Money Long" featuring

42 Dugg Dion Marquise Hayes (born November 25, 1995), known professionally as 42 Dugg, is an American rapper. He is jointly signed to rappers Lil Baby and Yo Gotti's respective labels 4 Pockets Full (4PF) and Collective Music Group (CMG), in conjunctio ...

on February 26, 2021. DDG released a collaborative mixtape with OG Parker, ''Die 4 Respect'' on March 19, 2021. It peaked at number 61 on the ''Billboard'' 200. On June 16, 2021, DDG was fan-voted on the tenth spot for the 2021 ''XXL'' Freshman List. On February 18, 2022, DDG released his single "Elon Musk," which featured American-rapper Gunna. According to an interview with Complex Music, the single was a nod to DDG's admiration for the multi-billionaire business magnate and entrepreneur

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...

, as well as their similar interests with space travel. According to

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

, DDG "was the first rapper to shoot a music video with NASA's Zero Gravity Training emulating a space mission. In 2022, it was announced that DDG and

Halle Bailey Halle Lynn Bailey (born March 27, 2000) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is best known for being one half of the musical duo Chloe x Halle with her sister Chlöe Bailey, together earning five Grammy Award nominations since 2 ...

from

Chloe X Halle Chloe x Halle are an R&B duo composed of sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey. At a young age, the sisters performed in minor acting roles before moving from Mableton, Georgia, to Los Angeles in 2012. The two began posting music covers to YouTube a ...

were dating. In September 30, 2022 he released a second studio album called "Its Not Me Its You," with features from Gunna,

NLE Choppa Bryson Lashun Potts (born November 1, 2002), known professionally as NLE Choppa (previously YNR Choppa), is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He rose to fame with his 2019 single " Shotta Flow", which was certified platinum by the RIAA ...

Polo G Taurus Tremani Bartlett (born January 6, 1999), known professionally as Polo G, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence with his singles "Finer Things (Polo G song), Finer Things" and "Pop Out" (featuring Lil Tjay). His debut album ''Die a ...

Kevin Gates Kevin Jerome Gilyard (born February 5, 1986), better known by his stage name Kevin Gates, is an American rapper, singer, and entrepreneur. He is currently signed to Bread Winners' Association with a partnership with Atlantic Records. His debut ...

, and

Babyface Ray Marcellus Rayvon Register (born February 7, 1991), known professionally as Babyface Ray, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. He is noted as an important and prominent figure of the Detroit hip hop scene. Early life Ray recalls parti ...

. In 2022, it was announced that DDG made Forbes 2023 30 Under 30 for music.

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

Boxing career

Amateur boxing record

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DDG 1997 births Living people African-American male rappers Rappers from Michigan People from Pontiac, Michigan Epic Records artists American YouTubers YouTube vloggers YouTube boxers 21st-century African-American people Central Michigan University alumni