DDG

In making the leap from YouTuber to a rapper, Michigan artist DDG has proved that he has what it takes to make it in the music industry. Racking up hits like “Moonwalking In Calabasas” and “Elon Musk,” DDG worked his way into the ranks of XXL‘s 2021 Freshman Class while doing things his own way.

This year, he intends to capitalize on his growing momentum, releasing a follow-up to his fan-favorite 2017 mixtape Take Me Serious in July and hitting the road to ply his trade on the festival circuit this summer. To set the stage for both, he’s released the video for “Storyteller,” a romantic-ish single detailing a toxic situation that made him wiser — if not more forthcoming about his own shortcomings.

“Hot girls have cold hearts,” he croons on the chorus. “Deep scars make better stories / But I ain’t a storyteller.”

You can see DDG’s upcoming tour dates below and stay tuned for more about Take Me Serious 2.

7/2 -– Wireless Festival @ London, UK
7/3 -– Woo Hah! X Rolling Loud @ Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands
7/7 -– Rolling Loud Portugal @ Portimão, Portugal
7/8 -– Splash! Festival @ Gräfenhainichen, Germany
7/14 -– Bottom Lounge @ Chicago, IL
7/15 -– The Loft @ Atlanta, GA
7/16 -– The Music Hall of Williamsburg @ Brooklyn, NY
9/9 –- Rolling Loud Toronto @ Toronto, ON, Canada

According to The Shade Room, rapper DDG was arrested in Los Angeles, California on a felony charge for carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle. He was then released after posting a $35,000 bond. As per his file, he was taken into custody on Tuesday at 9:21 p.m. PT. He’s expected to be in court on June 28 in Van Nuys.

The 24-year-old, TMZ reported, was caught driving recklessly in his Lamborghini and was subsequently pulled over. His car was searched, and police found a weapon, which led to this charge.

For Uproxx Studios’ How I Blew Up segment, the rapper discussed his video for his hit “Elon Musk” featuring Gunna, as well as manifestation. “That’s the only way you can make stuff come true. If you truly believe in yourself, you gotta manifest it. You’ve gotta give yourself a goal that you know you’re gonna reach,” he said. He also recounted how he got higher than he’d ever been by underestimating a weed gummy and explained how Gunna went from being a work acquaintance to a genuine friend. “The whole hook I freestyled,” DDG brags. “I just went down a rabbit hole of Elon Musk and SpaceX and it just inspired the thought.”

Hip-hop’s intergenerational conflict had seemingly died down in recent years, thanks in large part to collaborations crossing the age divide, like “Replace Me” which saw Nas connect with younger rapper Don Toliver. However, it appears it was still right there, simmering beneath the surface, waiting for someone to light the spark to reignite it. The hosts of The Breakfast Club came close when they teased Coi Leray about listening to Pusha T, but she defused the situation by saying she’d rather collab with him (as she did with Nicki Minaj) than start a beef.

Unfortunately, it looks like one of Coi’s collaborators had some further thoughts about the new rapper/old rapper dynamic and finally touched off the conflagration that had been waiting in the wings. Pontiac, Michigan rapper DDG, who recently released his Gunna collaboration “Elon Musk,” shared his thoughts on Twitter, drawing a polarized response from followers who weighed in with a variety of opinions from agreement to disbelief to outright refusal. “Today’s rappers are 10x better than the rappers back in the day,” he wrote.

When fans blasted him for it, he offered some controversial follow-up takes. When one fan brought up Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G., he shot back, “On some real sh*t.. when the last time u listened to either in the car.. BE TRUTHFUL.” He also provided some context for his opinion in a separate tweet, writing, “I respect the older generation of hiphop, but this generation creativity on another level fr. Hip Hop ain’t never been the number 1 genre until NOW.”

The debate quickly became a rehash of the “mumble rap” debates from a few years ago — y’know, the one where people acted like they can’t just understand accents or that repetitive choruses are somehow a new phenomenon in rap. While some acknowledged that the music has evolved in unexpected and truly creative ways, some just couldn’t move past the sacred cows of their youth (or, let’s be honest, their parents’ youth).

Check out some more responses below.

Pontiac, Michigan rapper DDG is going on a space mission — hypothetically, of course — and tells Uproxx what he wants out of a crew to get the job done. With himself as the captain and a variety of roles to fill, he turns to his fellow rappers such as Gunna, Kanye West, and Future for jobs like pilot, crew, and galaxy shooter. “I think this is a very successful space crew,” he says. “I think everybody got the right job.”

https://youtube.com/shorts/ZzqKR195LfU

DDG previously went to space in his video for “Elon Musk” featuring Gunna. The two XXL Freshmen donned space suits and floated in zero-G in the colorful clip, which saw them comparing themselves to the founder of SpaceX. Meanwhile, another of DDG’s picks, Masked Wolf, blew up thanks to his song “Astronaut In The Ocean,” making him another perfect candidate for the crew. Future, of course, also goes by Pluto, while Lil Uzi Vert, the crew’s designated “Jedi,” adopted the nickname Baby Pluto when he and Future released their collaborative album in 2020.

DDG also turns to Blueface, his “Moonwalking In Calabasas” collaborator, to round out the crew, sharing his logic on all the picks. Check out the short clip above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.