D.O. (a.k.a. Defy the Odds; real name Duane Gibson) is a Canadian

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, motivational speaker and author.Jenny Yue
Bullying victim turned rapper takes message to students

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Postmedia Place i ...

, 28 December 2012 He is known for setting the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the longest freestyle rap in 2003.

Biography

D.O. studied at Toronto's

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staf ...

and graduated with an honours English degree in 2001.Shawn Katuwapitiy
Rapper D.O. takes hip-hop back to the books
The Gazette, 23 October 2007VIDEOS: Canadian hip hop artist D.O. Releases Free Online Album (Heavy in the Game)
Scoop, Langfield Entertainment May 17, 2012 After graduation, he created a school tour program, Stay Driven, to educate students on anti-bullying, anti-violence,

peer pressure Peer pressure is the direct or indirect influence on peers, i.e., members of social groups with similar interests, experiences, or social statuses. Members of a peer group are more likely to influence a person's beliefs, values, and behavior. A g ...

, leadership and working at peak performance.Canadian rap artist D.O. delivers a positive message with his Stay Driven tour
Peace: Canada's Street Style Magazine, 2 April 2010 He has subsequently visited hundreds of schools to speak on those topics and in 2012 published a book ''Stay Driven: Can't Nobody Hold You Down'' on the same topics. In 2007, D.O. released his debut album "The Norhtstarr" the album garnered a nomination from the Ontario Independent Music Awards. In 2009, D.O's sophomore album "Stay Driven" hit number 7 on the Canadian College Charts. In 2012, he released his third solo album "Heavy In The Game" which included the single "Can't Tell Me" featuring

SonReal Aaron Hoffman (born August 16, 1985), better known by his stage name SonReal, is a Canadian singer, rapper, and songwriter signed to the Black Box Recordings record label. Musical career 2006 - 2012: ''Early Career'' & mixtapes SonReal beg ...

, Famous and Chris Jackson. The track peaked at Number 3 on the US College Hip Hop Charts in July 2012.Record Breakers Chart
Rapnetwork Record Breakers, 27 July 2012 D.O. records as a solo artist and is also one-half of the duo Art of Fresh with beatmaker and vocalist Byram Joseph, aka

Slakah the Beatchild The Slakadeliqs are a Canadian soul and R&B band.

.Addi Stewar
D.O. Guinness World Record for longest freestyle
North Side Hip Hop In 2009 their debut album "Back to the Earth" reached #2 on the National College Radio Charts. In 2010, the group's song "Out This World" hit number 1 on the US College Hip-Hop Radio Charts.
Rapattack, 1 February 2010 Other musicians that he has collaborated with include DL Incognito,

Red 1 David Maurice Clarke (born 19 September 1968) is an English electronic music DJ, producer and Disc jockey, radio presenter. BBC radio presenter John Peel named Clarke "The Baron of Techno". Early life Born in Brighton, East Sussex, England, Cla ...

of the

Rascalz Rascalz are a Canadian hip-hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia. The group played a crucial role in the artistic and commercial development of Canadian hip hop as well as specifically for the Westcoast scene in Vancouver popularizing the ...

Classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper *The Classified, a 1980s American roc ...

, Marco Polo, Metty the Dert Merchant (

Sweatshop Union Sweatshop Union is a Canadian hip hop collective based in Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting of four politically-minded rap acts — Dirty Circus, Pigeon Hole (aka "Creative Minds"), Kyprios and Innocent Bystanders. Known for their social ...

JRDN Ralph Jordon Croucher (born November 14, 1978), better known by his stage name JRDN, is a Canadian R&B recording artist. Early life Ralph Jordon Croucher was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and moved to Toronto, Ontario at nine months old, whe ...

Maestro Fresh Wes Wesley "Wes" Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a Canadian rapper, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh Wes (formerly Maestro Fresh-Wes) or Maestro as a musician, and is credited by his ...

and others. He videos rotate on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31, ...

, he has toured Canada multiple times and performed globally with stops in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

and

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

Guinness World Record

On July 5, 2003, D.O. set a Guinness World Record for the longest freestyle rap at the Dark Nights Nationals car show, an outdoor car festival in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. His rap lasted for 8 hours and 45 minutes and was performed in front of hundreds of spectators. He was the first rapper to have a video-documented evidence to support the claims to have done the world's longest be freestyle rap.

Discography

Solo artist

* ''The Northstarr'' (2007) * ''Stay Driven'' (2009) * ''Heavy In The Game'' (2012) * ''Down Home'' (2014) * ''Duane Gibson'' (2015) * ''On This Grind'' (2016) * ''Seeds and Dominoes'' (2017)

With Art of Fresh

* ''Back to Earth'' (2008) * ''When the night comes in'' (2010)

Personal life

D.O. currently lives in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

References

External links

Official site

Stay Driven website
{{DEFAULTSORT:D.O. Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Black Canadian musicians Canadian male rappers 21st-century Canadian rappers Rappers from Toronto 21st-century Canadian male musicians