An American rapper, singer, and actor by the name of Daveed Daniele Diggs. He is most known for playing the role of Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson in the musical “Hamilton: An American Musical,” which garnered him a Tony Award and a Grammy Award. He is also a member of the American experimental hip hop group “Clipping.” Diggs has continued to be a member of the musical ensembles “True Neutral Crew” and “Freestyle Love Supreme” in addition to “Clipping”. His solo musical endeavors led to the creation of the album “Small Things to a Giant.” This talented rapper and singer is a Brown University theater graduate who has also found success as an actor in stage productions, motion pictures, and television. He began his acting career by playing on stage in a number of innovative theatrical companies. He later went on to appear in numerous off-Broadway and Broadway productions, most notably in Hamilton, which earned him honors and critical acclaim. His acting credits on the big screen include the voice roles in the movies Wonder and Ferdinand as well as the TV shows The Get Down and Black-ish. He will be seen in the upcoming television series “Snowpiercer” as Layton Well.
Early Childhood & Life
He was born in Oakland, California, on January 24, 1982. He claims that his Jewish mother and African-American father gave him the name Daveed, which was derived from the Hebrew word “David,” which means “beloved.”
However, the spelling of his name was slightly altered to suit his father’s preferences, with the double “e” in “David” replacing the letter “i.” Associating his own identity with his parents’ various ethnic/racial identities, Diggs once remarked, “The cultures never seemed separate—I had a lot of mixed friends. When I was younger, I identified as Jewish while also embracing my father’s side.
Berkeley High School is where he went to school. He is a gifted athlete, and the Brown University Brown Bears recruited him because of his track abilities. While a student at the university, he excelled in the sport and, as a sophomore, set a new school record for the “Brown Bears” in the 110-meter hurdles by finishing in 14.21 seconds. He earned a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts from the university when he graduated in 2004.
Daveed’s Acting Efforts
This multi-talented star of show business entered the world of theater acting by first appearing in a number of experimental plays. The choreopoem “Word Becomes Flesh” by Marc Bamuthi Joseph stood out among them. Moving forward, he appeared in numerous stage productions, including, among others, “Temptation” (2005), “The Tempest” (2006), “Troilus and Cressida” (2008), and “A Handing in Spokane” (2012).
But it was the musical “Hamilton: An American Musical,” which was sung and rapped through, that catapulted him to fame and popularity. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the musical’s music, lyrics, and book. Diggs received several honors for the musical, including the ‘Best Featured Actor in a Musical award at the 70th Annual Tony Awards and the ‘Best Musical Theater Album’ award at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, both in 2016.
The musical made its Off-Broadway debut in February 2015 at The Public Theater and later made its Broadway debut in August 2015 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
He has also been in a number of television productions, such as the seasons of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “The Get Down,” “Black-ish,” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” as well as the television movie “Tour de Pharmacy” (2017).
In addition to these roles, Diggs has voiced Dos in the 3D computer-animated comedy-drama film “Ferdinand” and appeared in the short films “Rock Hard: The Rise and Fall of Sexual Detergent” (2010) and “Yoga Boner” (2012). She also starred in the 2017 feature film “Wonder” and the 2014 web series “Hobbes and Me” (2017). In addition, he serves as executive producer, composer, and guest star on the ABC sitcom series “The Mayor,” which debuted on October 3, 2017.
He will be seen in the upcoming television series “Snowpiercer” (2018), the filming of which began in September 2017. He will play Layton Well.
Daveed’s Musical Interests
In 2010, Diggs became a member of the American hip hop collective “clipping,” which was started the year before by Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson. Diggs began to rap over their songs, and on February 5, 2013, the trio independently published their well-received debut mixtape, “Midcity.” After five months, they signed with “Sub Pop,” and on June 10, 2014, the record company issued their debut studio album, “CLPPNG.”
He has continued to be the group’s frontman and songwriter as it has grown over the years. Its discography now includes the albums “Splendor & Misery” (2016), “DREAM REMX” (2016), and “REMXNG” (2016), as well as various singles and remixes. He partnered with American dramatist, performance poet, recording artist, and educator Rafael Casal while working on “clipping,” and the two of them put out a duo CD in 2010 called “The BAY BOY Mixtape.”
Diggs also pursued a solo career, and on January 2, 2012, he released his debut solo rap album, “Small Things to a Giant.” In collaboration with people like Rafael Casal, Radproductionz, and Gunjan Patel, he wrote the album’s 11 rap songs.
In addition, he is a part of two other groups: “True Neutral Crew,” which also includes Brian Kinsman, Signor Benedick the Moor, and Margot Padilla; and the freestyle rap group “Freestyle Love Supreme,” which includes Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail.
‘Zootopia,’ a 2016 American 3D computer-animated comedy movie, featured a rap song written and performed by Diggs that became a huge box office success. His rapping has been included in songs by numerous singers, including George Watsky and Rafael Casal, among others.
His Individual Life
There isn’t a lot of information about this talented rapper’s romantic relationships, although some reports claim that he dated Jalene Goodwin. Since Diggs has stopped recently sharing photos with her on Instagram, rumors circulate that the two may be having some problems.
On May 28, 2017, Brown University, his alma mater, awarded him an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree at the university’s 249th commencement ceremony.
Estimated Net Worth
One of the wealthiest rappers and one of the most well-known rappers is Daveed Diggs. According to our study of data from sources including Business Insider, Forbes, and Wikipedia, Daveed Diggs’ net worth is roughly $1.5 million.