Get It Like Me | Meet DAVEYTHAGREAT

With the recent success of his single "2AM," DAVEYTHEGREAT has been picking up momentum throughout the first half of 2016. From Nigerian roots to being intertwined with the Delaware hip hop scene as a youth, I sat down with him to discuss his journey so far and even how it began with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson.

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So how long have you been making music?

Probably, like, since I came to this country man...I would honestly say that since 50 Cent's "In The Club" came on BET -laughs-. That was probably when I started making music

So what were you? Like 12 years old? How old is that?

Yea, I'm 22, so probably.

That makes me feel old. Who were your other influences growing up, besides 50?

I use to live in Nigeria, but when I got here it was Cassidy, Lil Wayne, and then 50. Those three for sure; when it comes to rapping, those are the go-to's for me.

Wait, so you grew up in Nigeria?

Yea, I grew up there until I was about 9 or so.

What's the hip hop scene like over there?

Now, it's progressing. There's a lot there. They definitely have a scene, but it's still small.

Isn't Wale from Nigeria?

Yea, Wale is from Nigeria. I mean, he doesn't claim it as much lately, but he's definitely Nigerian.

I've heard people complain about that, how they feel like he doesn't embrace his roots.

I mean, Wale is his own character -laughs-. I just let him do.

So when you came here, did you come straight to Baltimore?

Nah, I first lived in New York, then Minnesota, then Baltimore from like the third grade to the ninth and then I moved to Delaware and went to high school over there.

Man, there ain't nothing to do in Delaware.

-laughs- Absolutely nothing.

They got tax-free shopping and that's about it. When you were in New York though, were you into making music at the time?

No no no. I didn't live in New York for that much. I was only there for a brief amount of time, but it definitely made an impact on my life and coming to a new country.

So you went New York, Minnesota, and then Baltimore?

Yea, there's like a huge contrast.

Why Minnesota though?

My mom's sister lived there, she thought that would be a good fit but it clearly wasn't.

I don't know if there's anything to do in Minnesota either.

I mean, they got the Mall of America but that's about it.

So then what made you want to start rapping?

Honesty, where I lived had nothing to do with the music. What literally pushed it was turning on BET and seeing everyone just go crazy for 50 Cent. That shit really changed my life. I told my mom that same day I didn't wanna be a doctor anymore, I was going to be a rapper. The influence is really just based off the fact of what I thought 50 Cent embodied, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

What was it like actually starting to record music?

Well, I started off recording in my room. Me by myself with all the programs you need to get started. I had a mic. I thought I'd just record and it would sound as good as somebody else's and that wasn't what happened, it was garbage. [At the time] I thought it was good enough though, so I posted it on Facebook, and people were like "yoooo what the fuck, I didn't know you could rap." So then I'm thinking people are shocked and they're thinking it's good, so I'm thinking it's good because they're thinking it's good.

So what's been your most satisfying moment so far as an artist?

Well, way back in the day with my group, we opened up a show for A$AP Rocky when the whole A$AP Mob was taking off. Then there was this one song we did that got hundreds of thousands of views before we had to take it down on some bullshit.

Like copyright stuff?

Nah, one of the members of the group was going through some things and we had to take it down because of his scholarship at school or something.

Back in Delaware? I don't know if there's ever been a successful rapper out of Delaware.

-laughs- There's actually a scene over there, it's kinda crazy. They're talented, but they have that mindset where "I'm popping over here and that's all that matters."