Daniel Baker (born May 18, 1981), known professionally as Desus Nice (), is an American television, YouTube, and Twitter personality. He rose to prominence with Complex TV's ''

Desus vs. Mero ''Desus vs. Mero'' is a weekly podcast show and web series hosted by Bronx natives Desus Nice and The Kid Mero. The podcast was first released on 18 December 2013 and after 46 episodes it ended on 31 December 2014. The duo has since gone on to ...

'', which was a 46-episode podcast that was first released on December 18, 2013. He was the co-host of

Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps), and Vice TV in the United States, are brands used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. Viceland launched on February 29, 2016, with two branded cable channels; the American version (rebra ...

's '' Desus & Mero'' talk show alongside The Kid Mero until June 2018, and co-hosted '' Desus & Mero'' which premiered on February 21, 2019 on Showtime.

Early life

Baker was born on May 18, 1981 in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to Jamaican immigrant parents. He was raised in the

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

section of The Bronx with his three siblings. Growing up, his mother was the senior librarian at the New York Public Library's Soundview Library branch. His father is a landlord. Baker attended the nearby Pablo Casals Middle School in Co-op City, where he met

Chris Hayes Christopher Loffredo Hayes (; born February 28, 1979) is an American political commentator, television news anchor, activist, and author. Hayes hosts '' All In with Chris Hayes'', a weekday news and opinion television show on MSNBC. Hayes also ...

in the gifted program, before going on to attend

Herbert H. Lehman High School Herbert H. Lehman High School is a public high school at 3000 East Tremont Avenue, in the Westchester Square section of the Bronx, New York City. The school is named after former New York State Governor Herbert Henry Lehman (1878–1963). The sch ...

. He earned a degree in Literature from the

College of Mount Saint Vincent A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

. Baker enjoyed working with computers from a young age. His ability to fix his family's computer during his childhood earned him the nickname "Jesus," which he changed to Desus to reflect his first name. He worked several jobs before joining ''

Black Enterprise ''Black Enterprise'' is a black-owned multimedia company. Since the 1970s, its flagship product ''Black Enterprise'' magazine has covered African-American businesses with a readership of 3.7 million. The company was founded in 1970 by Earl ...

'' as a small business columnist, where he remained until 2014 before leaving to pursue a career in television.Weiner, Jona
How Desus and Kid Mero Went From Twitter Cranks to Comedy's Hottest Duo
''Rolling Stone''. July 8, 2015

Career

In December 2014,

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

announced that Desus Nice and The Kid Mero would be joining the cast of ''

Guy Code ''Guy Code'' is an American reality comedy television series on MTV2. The series debuted on November 15, 2011, and features various pop culture entertainers, top comics, athletes, and specialized experts who tell the story of the special code o ...

'' for season 5, along with eleven other new cast members. They appeared on the first episode of season 5 which aired on January 14, 2015. After building a relationship with MTV and MTV2, Desus and Mero appeared on other shows including ''Uncommon Sense'' and ''Joking Off.'' On September 12, 2015, Desus along with co-host The Kid Mero released the first episode of their Bodega Boys podcast. They recorded their comedic takes on all things pop culture weekly at Red Bull Studios New York for several years before making the move to the "jam room" in Milk Studios. On August 30, 2016,

announced '' Desus & Mero'' which premiered on October 17, 2016. The half-hour show ran Monday through Thursday hosted by the Bronx-reared comedic duo. Its finale aired on June 28, 2018. Desus co-hosted '' Desus & Mero'', which premiered on February 21, 2019 on Showtime and ran until June 2022.

Personal life

As of 2020, Baker lives in the

Mott Haven Mott Haven is an American primarily residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are East 149th Street to the north, the Bruckner ...

section of the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris. In the early 1900s, the South Bronx was orig ...

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desus American male comedians Living people American people of Jamaican descent People from the Bronx Comedians from New York (state) College of Mount Saint Vincent alumni 1981 births Late night television talk show hosts