Taking a break from his first nationwide tour, rapper and University alumnus Dee-1 talked about financial literacy to students, faculty and community members in the Royal Cotillion Ballroom on Wednesday. The event was hosted by LSU First Year Experience and the Cale P. and Katherine Smith Student Financial Management Center.
The event turned into more than a financial talk, slowly becoming an inspirational speech.
He told the crowd about his first time being on the Cotillion Ballroom’s stage, which was his first performance ever for a program put on by NAACP, called “Showtime at the Cotillion.”
“I really want to do this for the rest of my life,” Dee-1 said after the performance. “This is what God put me on Earth to do.”
After a few minutes of talking about the start of his rap career, Dee-1 told the crowd how he came into debt. Though he was offered full-ride scholarships to schools like Morehouse and Howard, he decided to attend LSU.
Because he did not receive any scholarships, he had to take out student loans — though the money did not always go directly to his education. Rather, he said he spent the loan money buying beats and paying for studio time.
He said he also used the money to help out friends who could not pay rent on time.
Upon graduating from the University, Dee-1 got a job as middle school teacher to pay back his student loans, and he did music on the side. After two years of teaching, he quit to pursue his dream of rapping.
As a full time rapper with no record deals, he made little to no money, and soon gave up on paying back the loans.
Not long after releasing his song, “Jay, 50, and Weezy,” his rap career took off. After turning down a deal with Cash Money Records, he signed with RCA Records, using his signing bonus to pay back the loans .
Raylea Rideau, career coach and former SFMC graduate assistant, said SFMC and LSU FYE chose Dee-1 because of his unique connections to the University and the positive message that he promotes through his music.
“As a graduate of the LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business, we felt Dee-1 would be able to easily relate to life as an LSU student. Since his song ‘Sallie Mae Back’ recently went viral, the timing could not have been more perfect,” Rideau said.
Dee-1 said his first mistake in college was majoring in engineering. He eventually switched his major to marketing and began to learn not only about marketing, but financial literacy, as well.
“The first thing I learned how to market was myself,” Dee-1 said.
During the question and answer portion of the talk, Dee-1 gave the audience tips to save money while in college, ranging from comedic words of advice like, “If you’re a woman, don’t pay for your own drinks,” to more sound kernels of wisdom, such as, “You shouldn’t take out more student loans than you expect to make in your starting salary.”
Though celebrities including Macklemore and Lupe Fiasco have made fun of his car after riding in it, Dee-1 said he still drives a 1998 Honda Accord because he doesn’t want to pay a car note.
“It’s not always about what you make, but about what you save versus how much you spend,” he said.
Amidst the financial advice, Dee-1 offered many words of wisdom revolving around his motto, “be real, be righteous and be relevant.”
He told the audience that college is just one stop on their journey and they should not allow graduating from college be the greatest accomplishment in their lives.
Marketing senior Ty Martin said the talk was helpful, and he was surprised by Dee-1’s down-to-earth attitude.
Marketing junior Jalen Nicholas said Dee-1’s positivity transcends into his music.
“I think Dee-1 is a great artist with purpose behind his music. He doesn’t rap about things only attainable by the rich and famous, but raps about things that affect a regular person,” said kinesiology senior Courtney Morgan.
After the talk, Dee-1 performed his smash hit, “Sallie Mae Back” along with a few other songs. He also announced that his debut album, “Slingshot David” will be released soon.

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Anjana Nair