Dez Nado

Career

Dez 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 own music and host his own showcases on campus. After being nearly killed by a gunshot to the chest, he shifted the tone of his music from "self-destructive to self-productive"[1] and started using his music as a platform for pushing a progressive, conscious agenda, and promoting non-violence in one of the most violent cities in Florida. This new sound led to the inking of 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 (album) originally distributed by KKR/Island/Def Jam, which includes his most progressive work in response to his views on the Trayvon Martin shooting and the Stand Your Ground policy in his home state of Florida. No Hands 2 is now distributed exclusively by MTV.

More recently, Dez premiered a new cable reality TV series called Life & Grind: Duval on Bounce TV that gives a unique, personal look into not only his daily life and grind as an independent artist, but also other indie artists and bands affiliated with his self-managed entertainment label who are actively pursuing their dreams. After gaining enough buzz in 2014 to win the title of Jacksonville Artist of the Year and land a performance spot at the 2015 BET Hip Hop Awards, Dez is currently preparing to release his second album LaDolceVita in 2016 and promoting his latest features which include August Alsina [2], Caskey [3], Taylor Gang artist Lola Monroe [4], and Fetty Wap [5], among others [6]. [7] Dez made the local news with his $1.5 Million dollar crowdfunding pitch in Spring 2014 for his Life & Grind project and Jacksonville's only annual indie concert series Duval Spring Fest, which Dez started in college and continues to this day [8] [9] [10]