"This Is... Dave East" He's On A Different Type Of Time By Maria-Karmina Landicho Having grown up in East Harlem, New York our November artist highlight, Dave East has officially signed on to become part of Def Jam’s heavy hitter roster, with the backings of rap legend, Nas -- behind him to executive produce his major label debut. El barrio also known as Spanish Harlem is indeed where he grew up, but New York is not the only place he wants to reign as he takes on shows in California and all across America. Having once dreamed of being a professional basketball player, Dave East knows the value of hard work after "cutting that chord" and quickly transitioning into music. And He is a success story waiting to be told, after gaining attention in 2014 from his mixtape Black Rose. He states in follow through interview with “CivilTV”: Nobody was supporting the rap at first, because everyone knew me for basketball…so now they see it..It just feels good when you prove someone wrong. That’s the best feeling in the world…(I thought) Alright, I’m different. I got a different story, I always felt that way. So I feel like the same way I went at (basketball), I treated music the same way. Continuing to prove the nay-sayers wrong with the release of his mixtape titled Hate Me Now which features Nas, Mack Wilds, Pusha T and more. Furthermore, in 2016, East was chosen as part of the XXL magazine's 2016 "Freshman Class" amongst other talents, including mydiveoLIVE’s first artist feature, Anderson .Paak Taken from his performance at the 2016 BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher, Dave East is proving a promising future for himself. So if you thought he was just about to settle down with his new family, contrary to societal belief, Dave East is on a different “Type of Time.”