After Desiigner would sign to GOOD Music and appear on Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo”
album
After he would have himself a number one song and a Grammy nomination with “Panda”
After he would be accused of jacking Future’s entire style
After many people called Desiigner a one hit wonder and say that he fell off
It was just three years ago that Desiigner was seemingly on top of the world.
His boss was Kanye, he had the number one song in the world, he was about to be a XXL
Freshman, and music fans were waiting to see what the budding star’s next move would
be.
But since then, his career trajectory wasn’t exactly what he had hoped for.
Now in my personal opinion, I can’t call Desiigner a one hit wonder.
“Timmy Turner” was still a banger…
Although we can admit, it didn’t live up to the expectations everyone had for it after
hearing the acapella version of XXL Freshman freestyle.
Some consider “Outlet” to be sort of a hit, some would say “Price Tag” is one,
and I’m personally a huge fan of the song “UP” I just think it got under-marketed,
which was probably out of his control.
But there is no denying that nothing has made even close to as big of an impact as Panda.
But while Designer was quick to let the world know that he didn’t “fall off,” fans
are still waiting for his next hit.
So has Desiigner been in the studio working on his next single?
Are him and Kanye still cool?
Is he even on Good Music anymore?
And are things over for Desiigner?
Where is he now?
We’re going to try and answer all of these questions and more for you in this video.
What’s going on good people in the comment section?
I hope you’re having one Hecht of a Day, my name is Jeremy Hecht, here for you today
on Before They Were Famous and today I’ll be your host as we take you through where
Desiigner is today.
This is a brand new series for the channel so let us know who you want us to cover next.
We recently did one on 6ix9ine so you can check that one out after you’re finished
watching this one.
Also, let me know your thoughts on Desiigner’s career in the comments down below.
Would you consider him a one hit wonder?
Can he pull another one out of the hat or are you not even checking for him anymore?
Let me know and we can have a conversation about it.
Follow me on Insta and we can talk there also.
Alright, let’s get into the video.
Let’s start by quickly going through how Desiigner got to where he’s at today.
Sidney Royel Selby the third was born on May 3, 1997 in Brooklyn New York.
He was raised in the Louis Armstrong housing projects in difficult circumstances but he
grew up with music in his blood as his grandpa Sidney Selby the first was a blues musician
with the nickname “Guitar Crusher.”
Desiigner began to sing in his school and church choir, but it was at 14 years old that
everything would change for him.
Desiigner was rapping for fun with his friends but hadn’t decided to take things seriously
as a career yet.
He told Snoop Dogg in an interview that at 14, after smoking weed with his friends and
rapping for them, he thought about killing himself.
That same year, he was shot.
All of that lead to the decision to take rapping seriously and to be a positive force in the
world.
It was the year 2015 that would be his breakout year after dropping some tracks onto soundcloud,
one of them being “Panda” on December 15, 2015.
The song made its way into the hands of Kanye West who used the beat and hook for the song
Pt. 2 on his 2016 album “Life of Pablo.”
Desiigner signed to Kanye West’s label GOOD Music and he was sent into his newfound fame.
Shortly afterwards, Desiigner was thrust into the spotlight and his song “Panda” became
the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100.
When Desiigner first came out, a lot of people compared him to Future.
Not only that, but many people actually thought Future was the one rapping on Panda.
I remember when I heard Kanye’s album for the first time I was like “oh wow this a
hard Future hook.”
There was even a video circulating of Future Hearing Panda for the first time with a look
on his face like “hold up, did I actually make this song and I was just super high and
forgot about it?”
But soon the world found out that Desiigner was one of the most electric personalities
that they had ever seen.
I mean, the man was literally on energy level 100 whenever a camera was placed on him.
And not the way that frat bros are when they chug a beer when someone opens their snapchat
at a party.
This was next level.
And quickly, it became hard to hate on the kid from New York.
There was no denying the similar sound to future, but there was also no denying that
he had something unique about him.
Later in the year, he would appear on the 2016 XXL Freshman cover alongside some heavy
hitters like Kodak Black, Lil Uzi, Lil Dicky, Anderson Paak, 21 Savage, Denzel Curry, Dave
East, G-Herbo and Lil Yachty.
And while he may have been one of the most recognizable faces on the cover at the time,
his career arch didn’t go the same as some of his peers on the magazine.
His XXL Freestlye had everyone snapping their fingers and singing the infectious hook to
Timmy Turner, even though no one really knew the words at the time.
But the acapella version took some people by surprise as it showed Desiigner’s knack
for melody and a singing voice that many people didn’t know he had.
The video is currently sitting at nearly 14 million views on YouTube.
And that’s the most out of any of the Freestyles that year, and if I’m not mistaken, more
than any of the other solo freestyles ever from the freshman lists.
But someone can check that for me.
As fans awaited for his Panda follow up, anticipation grew with many thinking that Timmy Turner
would be another smash single.
Finally, we received Timmy Turner in full, but it only peaked at number 34 on the Billboard
charts.
Obviously that’s still pretty good, and it would have been hard to match the success
of his massive first single, but the song fell short of expectations.
For me, it just didn’t hit the same as the version from the freestyle.
Kanye even hopped on the remix to try and give it a burst of energy and get it to pop,
but it didn’t push the song to the next level like they had hoped.
Desiigner was also featured on the GOOD Music collab track “Champions” alongside Gucci,
Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Travis Scott, Yo Gotti and Quavo.
The song peaked at number 71 on Billboard.
Mike Dean announced that he would be serving as the executive producer for Desiigner’s
official debut album which was set to be titled “Life of Desiigner.”
But before we would hear any song from that, Desiigner released his debut mixtape called
“New English.”
The album didn’t receive very positive reviews and didn’t include any memorable singles,
besides Panda.
He DID make a couple of memorable appearances as a feature including BTS’s remix of their
song “Mic Drop” with Steve Aoki.
But after that, it seems like Desiigner went quiet.
Desiigner did pop back up releasing 4 singles in 2017, which included “Outlet,” “Thank
God I Got It,” “Holy Ghost” “Liife,” and “Up.”
I personally loved Up and had it on my summer playlist that year, none of the songs really
performed very well on the charts.
He announced that his debut album would be dropping at midnight on May 4th of 2018, but
we didn’t see the album come.
And 2018 was an all-around rough year for Desiigner.
He got into some legal trouble after a video surfaced of him nude in the streets of New
York
We did hear from him as he dropped the long-awaited Life of Desiigner.
But it was released as a 7 song EP rather than an album and he says that it still isn’t
his official debut album.
Well, first, people want to know if Desiigner is still signed to Good Music.
Desiigner expressed some negative feelings towards his label and his boss Kanye West
saying that nobody was helping him out.
He even called Ye crazy, a move that would be unlikely to get you any help if you were
receiving none to begin with.
Based on most of my Google searches, it appears that he isn’t on the list of current signees.
But then again, GOOD Music’s official website is just a running clock, literally, so it’s
hard to say.
It doesn’t appear that him and Kanye are on, no pun intended here, GOOD terms.
So where is Desiigner now?
Well don’t get it twitsted, Desiigner is still getting the bag.
He’s doing shows oversees and recently performed for over 40k people in Serbia.
Desiigner said that this is the year you hear Desiigner, and that was posted on New Year’s.
But we’ve yet to hear much.
It does appear that Desiigner isn’t slowing down his grind when it comes to making music
thought because just two weeks ago he posted a picture in the studio with the caption “cooking”
We have still yet to hear Life of Desiigner the full length album or if that album even
exists anymore.
A lot of the times we hear about an album that gets changed into something else over
time.
So perhaps the EP was most of what the album was supposed to be and he’s got all new
music coming.
His Instagram bio says “Album mode” and none other, than, Jake Paul says he heard
a song and says it was fire.
And if I turn to anybody for my musical breakdowns, it’s usually Jake Paul
But he did throw a party with Jake Paul at the Team 10 house in LA recently for his 22nd
birthday.
Attendees included Famous Dex and Rae Sremmurd.
Although things didn’t end too well because there were accusations of teenage girls getting
drugged at the party.
But more than anything, Panda keeps bringing in money for Desiigner.
Kevin Hart aka Chocolate Droppa recently covered the song for the” The Secret Life of Pets
2,” and I can only imagine that an animated film pays out pretty well.
And The Life of Desiigner still looks pretty good as he’s hopping out of Ferrari’s
and chilling in his mansion
Plus, he continues to helps the kids in his community and give back.
So, will we see a new Desiigner album soon.
It appears like there’s one coming but then again, it’s hard to take his word for it
after so many delays.
Are you guys checking for the new Desiigner music?
Do you think he fell off?
Could he maybe have a Soulja Boy moment and remind people of his impact on the game in
2019?
Let me know in the comments down below.
I think he is a really talented dude with a lot of positive energy and I think with
the right marketing team around him, focus and consistency, he can make it all happen.
And remember, in this day and age, you’re just one hit away from relevancy again.
Just look at Tyga.
Either way, it appears that he is smiling through it all.
But those are just my thoughts, I want to hear yours in the comments down below.
My name is Jeremy Hecht, that’s all I’ve got for you in this video.
Let me know who to cover next in the comments down below and I’ll see you in the next
one.
And Desiigner, if you’re watching this, I believe in you bro!
Keep going.