Exclusive Interview With Diggy Simmons

First and foremost, this fresh kid is nothing to mess, and no one to sleep on. Yes, he is the son of the infamous Rev. Run, and his uncle is Russell Simmons, but he's got a grind all his own. He's 14 and already has a clothing line in the works, thousands of blog stans, and dropped his first mixtape back in December. His 'tape, The First Flight, has been getting madd recognition, and I knew I had to talk to the kid. Fortunately via my connection with Cathryn Marie, I was able to get an phone interview with Diggy… A Miss Dimplez exclusive!

MD: Word on the street is, you're just 14, is that true?
D: Yes, yes... born in 1995. '95 was my year..
MD: Wow, so young... but in listening to your flow its pretty mature, how'd you get it that way?
D: Oh man, I've never heard that before,... uhm, I'm just me. I focus on being me, whether its me on the fashion end or rhyming, I just focus on doing me. I've been doing this for a little bit so I guess I'm just me.
MD: Thats whats up... So, when did you start rapping?
D: I first started rapping when I was 5... did that for a couple of years and then I stopped for a while, and didn't really start back up until like last summer..
MD: So, where do you want this to go, is rapping just a hobby?
D: This is what I want to do. People always look at me, and they see my family... Like they see my dad and my uncle, and think that oh his uncle is just gonna sign him and his dad will be on the project, but no, that is not the case, this is an independent project, and this is something that I am doing for myself...
MD: Being the independent artist that you are, how do you think you can pull away from your family's shadow?
D: Keep being me, keep doing what I do. Sometimes its almost like people persecute me because of what I was born into. Like they look at my house, wait, its not even my house, because I did not work for it. I've just got to keep doing me..
MD: What inspires you? How do you get a concept for a new song?
D: Life, girls, school.. things I went through, things I'm going throught... stuff like that, its all inspiring
MD: Speaking of girls.... do you have a girlfriend?
D: No, ladies... I'm single. [laughs]
MD: [laughs]... well, I bet there are a lot of teenage girls excited about that. So your mixtape was hot, rave reviews on Fly Away and Laid Back.. what were your fave tracks?
D: My favorite tracks? Hmmm... I'm looking at the track list on my itunes right now... It'd have to be Fly Away and Point To Prove... My mixtape came out in December, so my newer favorite track is Set Me Free, its a single I dropped last week.... but, definitely Fly Away, Point To Prove, and Set Me Free...
MD: With this mixtape, do you feel as though you have a "point to prove"?
D: Yes, most definitely... People look at me and expect me to be rapping for fun, and this is something I want to do, I’m not what you think I’m going to be, and I'm not going to do what you think I’ll do. I definitely proving myself to everyone...
MD: Thats real.... so if you were to compare yourself to an artist who would it be?
D: What do you mean..?
MD: Like Ye' compared himself to the new Slick Rick... you would be?
D: I don't remember him saying that... wait, he said... [raps] "hey young world, i'm the new Slick Rick, they say I move to quick"... Ummmm.. I don't know. I'm me. I'm Diggy.
MD: Thats real... but, what artist do you like or influence you?
D: Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Jay Electronica, J.cole, Andre 3000, Mos Def, Lykke Li... and many more.
MD: If you could collab with any artist, who would it be?
D: Man,... Thats a hard one, there's just too many...
MD: If you could give advice to someone trying to get the same buzz you have, what would it be?
D: Keep working until you get noticed... Like I had my blog [Life of a Jet Setter], and people started to pay attention to my fashion, and then I did some music, and now there's twitter. Twitter is like your own PR. And you just put your music out there. For me, some people didn't even know I did music until sites like 2DopeBoyz posted me, and then I started getting recognition from that...So, just keep grinding...
MD: That's real, so true... Thanks for doing this interview, definitely appreciated it... make sure to come back when you drop that album!
D: Of course, no problem... I will whenever, just hit up Cathryn.

Definitely check Diggy out on his blog at Life of a Jet Setter, and his twitter is @Diggy_Simmons... A real fresh kid on the rise.
- Miss Dimplez