Album Review: DDG's "Valedictorian"
By: Sheron Colbert
From Central Michigan University dropout to one of YouTube’s biggest influencers, at just twenty-two years old, Darryl Grandberry Jr. is taking great strides.
Famously known as PontiacMadeDDG or DDG, last year he released his debut album titled “Valedictorian,” via Epic Records Sony.
After releasing music via YouTube as a hobby and receiving millions of views, DDG decided to take it seriously, hence his first project titled “Take Me Serious,” which gained him a following as a rap artist with over one million subscribers across three Youtube channels.
After releasing his first solo independent project, he put on his own tour all over the United States and sold out shows in various cities across the nation, including New York City.
As a result, he caught the attention of Epic Records Sony CEO Sylvia Rhone and almost one year after releasing his first solo, he signed a multi-million dollar deal with Epic Records Sony, ensuring sole ownership of his masters.
Charting number one on Itunes only months after signing on with ERS, his EP titled “Sorry 4 the Hold Up,” preceded the release of his debut album “Valedictorian,” which was named after his own 2015 graduation achievement.
Valedictorian charted at number twenty on the Itunes hip-hop charts and was slated to sell at least twenty-five thousand copies during its first week release.
Forty-nine minutes long with eighteen songs featuring artists like Queen Naija, YBN Nahmir, Young Nudy, G Herbo, and Blac Youngsta, being able to touch multiple aspects of music has provided DDG with strong start to a music career.
From R&B on the sixteenth song on the album titled “Hold Up” featuring Queen Naija, all the way to rap on the seventh song titled “Yall See It,” that dominates clubs and parties, the album is well balanced.
Since also being label mates with stars like Travis Scott, Dj Khalid, and Flipp Dinero, we can certainly expect multiple songs and projects with them to take off in the near future as his music career continues to grow and develop over the next few years.