Most of you have listened to his mixtape, “The First Flight” , but now is your chance to get to know what inspired Diggy Simmons,14, to follow in his famous father’s footsteps. The following interview is courtesy of RealTalkNy.
On what inspired him to make a mixtape:
Well I’ve been rhyming since I was 5 years old and I kinda stopped when I was 10. Then this summer I got back into writing and rhyming, I had a lot to express so I was just making tracks on garage band with industry instrumentals for a while. Then I released a remix to, “She don’t wanna man,” by Asher Roth and it got good feedback, so I had the idea of doing a tape and I just got up and did it all by myself.
On whether he feels people judge his music sometimes based on his background and his image on television:
Oh for sure in my outro on the mixtape “I gotta make it” I wrote, “The ignorance of every comment on each blog he’s a rich kid why he rapping he don’t need a job.” That’s just one of the many things I will here over and over until my point is 100% proven. No one thinks that I honestly have a hunger for this because of how I came up. So a lot of people hate instead of embrace because there first thought they believe is his uncle is gonna get him signed and his dad helped him with his tape. People fail to realize that I’m a kid and they’ve seen me on T.V. for so long that it’s the only thing they think I’m capable of doing. This is my passion and I go hard at it on a daily basis just like the next man that wants this does. I’m not seeking help from my dad or uncle because I believe the feeling of me making it will feel much greater by putting in that hard work and dedication. My dad’s[Rev Run Simmon’s] super proud he just heard the whole tape only like 3 days ago so he’s real pleased. Same with my uncle and Jojo they are proud of it.
On his music:
I’m a story teller so I just write about past experiences I’ve been through. Or what I’m dealing with right now. My music is a reflection of me.
Lyrical content:
Yeah that’s like my number one focus. I write all my rhymes the day before studio there for everything is perfect and I can go straight in. People don’t think I write my rhymes which makes me mad and happy at the same time. It makes me happy because it’s a form of flattery they do not think a kid wrote it. Then it makes me mad they weren’t the ones watching me write at 5:00 A.M. for 10:00 A.M. studio.
Influencers:
I’m influenced by a lot of people but mainly Lupe, Q-tip, and Andre 3,000.
On his music plans:
I just keep going going hard at it. Keep writing and releasing music. If the right deal comes along we’ll see, I’m definitely looking forward to doing an album in the future.
