DDG took off in one game and is making his way in another. The 22-year-old Pontiac, Mich. native first tasted stardom as a YouTuber, posting his skits and pranks to the streaming video site and racking up millions of views. Once he was solidified in that world, he decided to give music a try, finding success relatively quickly. DDG's 2018 EP, Take Me Serious, was true to its name, as the song "Givenchy" was streamed over 14 million times, along with his one-off "Arguments" breaking the 25 million plays mark. DDG's latest album, Valedictorian, dropped last Friday. Shortly before its release, he sat down with XXL for the latest episode of Who Am I?.

Growing up in Pontiac was rough for DDG, with violence and danger being a constant. "It's ghetto, people dying, people dropping like flies left and right," he says in reference to his hometown. "It just made me wanna do better, stay in school, do different stuff, to keep me outta the streets." DDJ also shares that he's lost plenty of friends to death or jail; he became determined to not fall victim to those pitfalls.

On a happier note, DDG thinks back to who he was as a young kid. "I was big on Call of Duty for some reason, thats all I really did," he explains. "I used to sit in my basement and play the game, literally, all day." That wasn't all he was up to, though. "I was a ladies' man too," he admits. "I had all the girls. That was really where most of my free time went—girls and video games."

During that time, DDG also became a big fan of a certain powerful Queens rapper and entrepreneur. "I really listened to 50 Cent," he says. "As a kid, 50 Cent was [my] favorite person in the world. I used to buy all the G-Unit games, the G-Unit clothes all that." Later on, he caught onto Drake, making Fif and the 6ix God his two main favorites. Nice balance.

Not one to hide what YouTube and rap success have bought him, DDG discusses what his favorite purchase so far has been. "I just bought a Rolls-Royce Wraith," he mentions, talking about the car he recently displayed on his Instagram account. "I bought a mansion actually, too. I know I sound a lil' bougie." It feels good to ball.

Catch the rest of DDG's Who Am I? interview below where he talks about a sweet moment with a fan, his dream job and more.

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