Joseph Scott, also known as Dez Nado, is an American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and reggae singer, songwriter, and record producer from

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, Florida. He is also a television producer who produces and directs Jacksonville's first and only cable reality TV series, ''Life & Grind: Duval'' and LIVE from New Jax City, both of which air on north Florida/south Georgia's ''CW Network'' affiliate WCWJ/ CW.

Career

Nado saw his earliest successes in college, where he used his platform as college DJ at a small university in Jacksonville to distribute and promote his music and host his own showcases on campus. After nearly being killed by a gunshot to the chest in 2009, he shifted the tone of his music from "self-destructive to self-productive" and started using his music as a platform for pushing a progressive agenda and promoting non-violence in one of the most violent cities in Florida. This new sound led to his first major digital distribution deal after releasing his first mixtape series, ''No Hands'', which included ''No Hands, No Hands 1.5'' and ''No Hands 2'' distributed by KKR/Island/

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

and his most progressive work in response to his views on the

Trayvon Martin Trayvon Benjamin Martin (February 5, 1995 – February 26, 2012) was a 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was killing of Trayvon Martin, fatally shot in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic an ...

shooting and the Stand Your Ground policy in his home state of Florida. ''No Hands 2'' is distributed by

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. Nado premiered a cable reality TV series called ''Life & Grind: Duval'' on

Bounce TV Bounce TV is an American digital terrestrial television, digital broadcast television network owned by Scripps Networks, a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. It launched on September 26, 2011, and was promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multic ...

focusing not only on his daily life as an independent artist, but also on other indie artists and bands affiliated with his self-managed entertainment label. After winning the title of Jacksonville Artist of the Year and performing at the 2015 BET Hip Hop Awards, Nado released his second mixtape album ''LaDolceVita,'' in 2016 with Caskey, Taylor Gang artist Lola Monroe, and

Fetty Wap Willie Junior Maxwell II (born June 7, 1991), better known by his stage name Fetty Wap, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He quickly rose to mainstream prominence after his 2014 song " Trap Queen" peaked at number two on the ''Bil ...

. Nado made the local news before the mixtape album release and TV series premiere with his $1.4 Million dollar One Spark crowdfunding pitch in Spring 2014 for his Life & Grind project and northeast Florida's largest annual indie concert series ''Duval Spring Fest'', which he started in college.

Life and Grind TV Series

Following the release of the ''LaDolceVita'' album, The Life & Grind TV franchise expanded due to the show's popularity. It now includes an Atlanta spin-off in addition to the original Jacksonville show. Dez signed an agreement with the CW 17 Television Network to air eight episodes on the larger CW affiliate WCWJ for season 4. This move resulted in nearly seven times the number of viewers as the previous seasons in addition to the 7,500+ viewer base on DeKalb-Comcast 25 (Atlanta). Dez attributed the growth of his buzz as an artist, evident in the 12,000+ units moved of his ''"Futuristic"'' single and tens of thousands of downloads/streams following the release of his latest single ''"Duele"'', to his growing independent cable television platform in one of his latest interviews with hip hop blog HipHopApproved.com. His events and music were praised by

G-Unit Records G-Unit Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group. Founded in 2003 by rapper 50 Cent, the label was operated by Interscope Records until February 2014. Thereafter, distribution of G-Unit operated under Caroline Records a ...

and

. His third solo mixtape album LogophiliYaH is planned to be released in the fall of 2019 and accompanied by a spring and fall college tour supported by his TV platform.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As lead artist

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nado, Dez African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers Rappers from Florida Living people 21st-century American rappers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers