Devin the Dude was born Devin Copeland on 4 June 1970 in St. Petersburg, Florida, US. He is an American hip-hop artist based out of Houston, Texas, US and has received widespread public recognition for his inventive, oddball lyrics, and his long standing affiliation with Rap-A-Lot Records.
Though Copeland was born in Florida he moved to Texas by the time he reached 4th grade. Throughout his childhood he moved between Houston and Boston, but after his high school graduation he stabilized in the Houston area. Copeland started to experiment with marijuana in the 7th grade. His love for the herb only grew over the years and as he developed as a rapper he often rotated in themes related to this subject matter. Copeland was also fascinated with the breakdancing subculture as a teenager, joining several dance crews; however, it was not long until hip-hop consumed his entire interest.
Immediately following his high school graduation Copeland formed the hip-hop collective Odd Squad, with blind rapper/record producer Rob Quest. Jugg Mugg later joined the line up and in 1994 they released their debut album “Fadanuf Fa Erybody!!” Though the album was not a commercial success and has been out of print for many years it has nevertheless developed a strong cult following and has been declared by Scarface to be the label’s best release. After the demise of Odd Squad Copeland joined the group Facemob alongside Scarface. The group experienced a fair amount of success, having their debut album “The Other Side of the Law” reach No. 51 on the Billboard 200. The band put out their 2nd and final album “Silence” in 2002; however, by this time Copeland was already releasing solo material under the moniker Devin the Dude.
He released “The Dude” in 1998 and “Just Tryin’ ta Live” in 2002. Also around this time he frequently appeared as a guest rapper on songs by his label mates Scarface and the Geto Boys, as well as high profile acts like De La Soul, Dr. Dre, and Gucci Mane.
Copeland went on to release 2004’s “To tha X-Treme” and 2007’s “Waitin’ to Inhale” through the label “Rap-A-Lot”. The latter release peaked to No. 30 on the US Charts and No. 9 on the R&B charts. The next Devin the Dude release, “Landing Gear” came out in 2008 and was the first album in his career not to be released through Rap-A-Lot. Copeland put out two studio albums in 2012 “Suite 420” and “Gotta Be Me”. He followed these two releases with his 8th studio album “One For the Road”. This recording saw release in October 2013 and was issued through Coughee Brothaz Music.
Sylvan Esso
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