Mekka Don

Background and education

Mekka Don was born Chukwuemeka ("Emeka") N. Onyejekwe to Okey and Egondu Onyejekwe, Nigerian immigrants, on September 6, 1981 in Columbus, OH. He has 2 older sisters and an older brother, all of whom are practicing professionals. He graduated from St. Francis DeSales High School in Columbus, OH where he was a two-sport star and member of DeSales’ State Champion soccer team as a junior and football team as a senior. He was invited to walk on The Ohio State University football team where he played wide-receiver and defensive back from 1999-2001.

Following his graduation from Ohio State, Mekka Don attended New York University School of Law, graduating in 2006 and passing the New York State Bar Exam that same year. He worked as an associate attorney at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP briefly before leaving to pursue a music career.

Career and music

Mekka Don began rapping and performing as early as 1999 but did not take to rapping professionally until he left his job as a lawyer in 2006. He has been quoted as saying that rapping is his "passion".

He has enjoyed early success with his single "U Know Mekka Don" reaching #2 on the college radio site www.rapattacklives.com surpassing singles from the likes of Lupe Fiasco, The Rza, and other well known artists In 2008 he released a mix-tape with D.J. Mick Boogie entitled "Law and Order." In the summer of 2009, Mekka Don released "For The Love Remix" featuring Bizzy Bone which was produced by Indiana producer Brian "Tails" Harris. He generated a large following on www.myspace.com where many of his songs can be found and on www.youtube.com which contains pilots of his reality show The Legal Hustler. Mekka Don' unusual career path was written up in the July 2008 issue of XXL magazine in a story titled "Keep Pushin'." Neither Mekka Don nor his label have announced any upcoming tour dates.

Mekka Don played a lead role in the critically acclaimed film Sweeter Without Sugar (featured as "Wes") which was a Best Feature nominee in the 2006 African American Women In Cinema Film Festival.

Mekka Don has become most notable for the release of an album with DJ Mick Boogie on January 13, 2009 titled The All Eyes On Me EP. The album was written through the eyes of Barack Obama and showcased the difficulties he would face as president of the United States. It received critical acclaim with URB.com calling it "a beautiful stage show." The New York Daily News believes Mekka Don is "bringing change to rap." The Source magazine called the album "Your Inauguration Day Soundtrack." It is available for free download on URB.com and on mekkadon.com. Additionally, Mekka Don was featured in Jacque Reid's Man-Talk segment on her radio show.

In 2010, Mekka Don and his new partner Karen Thornton ("K") teamed up to form a songwriting team — the "Writer's Block". Shortly after the formation of the "Writer's Block," ESPN licensed a number of Mekka Don's songs to be played during the 2010 college football season including the popular "Time to Rumble" and "SEC" available on iTunes. Additionally, the MEAC conference licensed Mekka Don's song, "You Know I Ball" and used it as featured music in their 2011 basketball promo commercial seen on ESPNU.

In January 2012, Mekka Don released a single and video titled "Dirty" which garnered major media attention. As a result of the video release, Mekka Don was named an "mtvU FRESHMAN" by MTV and won "mtvU Best Freshman Video." His video was featured on VH1.com, The Source magazine's website as well as 50 Cent's website, Thisis50.com. The song, featured on Shade45's show "Sway in the Morning," is currently available on iTunes. Derrick Ward of the Houston Texans made a cameo in "Dirty." Later that year, Mekka Don released another video from a song off of his mixtape ("It's On"), titled "Here We Go." "Here We Go" premiered on MTV.com and VH1.com and the song was put into rotation on Shade45 on Sirius radio.

In August 2012, Mekka Don signed a multi-song licensing agreement with ESPN Networks to use his music during college football broadcasting.

In September 2012, Mekka Don was nominated for two Ohio Hip-Hop Awards (Best Male Artist and Best Mixtape Artist). In December 2012 he followed up with a Dubstep-inspired EP, "Paradise", produced by Ohio producer Tha Audio Unit and hosted by Ohio DJ, DJ-EV.

In February 2013, Mekka Don and Ohio State University co-released a music promo video to his song "Let's Go O-H-I-O" to build hype and anticipation for the upcoming Big Ten tourney and March Madness. On the heels of the success of this video, Mekka Don signed a multi-song licensing deal with the Big Ten Network (BTN) for use of his songs in the 2013 Men's basketball tournament coverage.

In the fall of 2013, Mekka Don released an officially licensed Ohio State University football anthem "Juice" to be played at all of Ohio State's home games. This licensing agreement with Mekka Don and The Ohio State University is believed to be the first of its kind in hip-hop history. As a result of the popularity of the song and head football coach Urban Meyer's mantra, "Bring the Juice," The Ohio State University and its new single-source apparel licensee, J. America, released a line of “Juice” T-shirts in conjunction with Mekka Don.

In early March 2014, Mekka Don released his debut album, The Dream Goes On digitally on iTunes and Amazon to rave reviews from major press including MTV News and The Source magazine. To help fund the production of his album, Mekka Don took to crowdfunding on Indiegogo.com. His goal was to raise $12,500 in 35 days and he ended up raising over $21,000 in that time with over 300 funders. (See also Societe Perrier article.) Physical copies of the album can be obtained from Mekka Don's site.

In fall of 2014, Mekka Don and the Cleveland Browns reached a licensing agreement for Mekka Don's Cleveland Browns anthem "Rock For My Browns." The song is to be played at all of the Cleveland Browns home games.

In May 2015, Mekka Don released a Heisman hype song and video dedicated to Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott titled "ZEKE" that Chat Sports said was "blowing up the internet." The video hit the 100K view mark on YouTube in just four days and was featured on ESPN's website on Fox Sports' website and many more. Bleacher Report did an article on Mekka Don as "the rapper behind the sickest Heisman Hype video of 2015."

In early September 2015, Mekka Don released what College Spun called an "epic" video for his Ohio anthem "Undisputed." The video features Eddie George, Buster Douglas, Shereen Jenkins, Madison Gesiotto (Miss Ohio USA 2014) and many other Ohio and Ohio State stars, It is an ode to the 2014 OSU National Champions. Athlon Sports calls it "awesome" and "a gem" while Fox Sports says "Buckeye fans will love this video". The video is on Mekka Don's YouTube channel.

In 2016 Mekka Don and his business partner Viswant Korrapati successfully relaunched their lifestyle brand Pilot Boys by selling thousands of wristbands all over the World. Several celebrities were seen wearing Pilot Boys and in early 2017, Black Enterprise magazine released an article chronicling this success. The article also chronicles their success in releasing licensed Ohio State "JUICE" wristbands in the same year.

Controversy

Mekka Don's decision to leave his lucrative job as a New York City attorney to pursue a career in hip-hop has been met with extreme criticism. Though the popular law blog Above the Law did not opine on the merits of his decision in its story, several of the blog's readers were harshly critical of his decision. Mekka Don later stated that he is "trying to show that you can still make money, have swagger, have fun, and be young – all while doing things positively" and that "you only live once, so GO FOR YOUR DREAMS".