Daveed Diggs

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File:Daveed Diggs, White House, March 2016.png
Diggs at the White House in 2016

Daveed Daniele Diggs[1] (born January 24, 1982) is an American actor and rapper. He is the vocalist of the hip hop group clipping., and originated the roles of both the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the 2015 musical Hamilton, for which he won a Grammy Award and a Tony Award nomination in 2016.

Early life

Diggs was born in Oakland, California.[2] His mother is white and Jewish and his father is African-American.[3] His parents named him "Daveed", which is the Hebrew version of David.[4]

Diggs is an alumnus of Berkeley High School and of Brown University, from which he graduated in 2004. He was originally recruited for his track skills but eventually earned a degree in theatre.[5] Diggs broke the Brown Bears' school record in the 110 meter hurdles as a sophomore when he finished with a time of 14.21 seconds.[6]

Career

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Theatre

Diggs performed in a lot of experimental theatre early on, most notably when he was on the national tour for Marc Bamuthi Joseph's choreopoem, Word Becomes Flesh, about a nine-month pregnancy, through the eyes of a young, single father.[7][8] Aside from his experimental work, he frequently performed in regional Shakespeare productions.

Lin-Manuel Miranda later invited Diggs to read and hear early versions of Hamilton. Diggs was impressed by Lin's demos and obvious passion for the project, and saw that the concept was a perceptive use of the rap-musical medium. He became part of the musical and played the roles of Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette off-Broadway in 2015, continuing with the roles when the show was moved to Broadway later in the year.[9] For the part, Diggs is required to perform the fastest rap in Broadway history.

Music

Diggs is the the vocalist of and writer for the experimental hip-hop and rap group clipping. The group was founded by William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes in 2009, with Diggs joining in 2010. The trio ultimately self released their first mixtape album midcity in 2013 to fairly positive reviews, leading them to be signed to Sub Pop. They released their album CLPPNG in 2014, and are currently working on a new album set for release in 2016.

He is also a member of True Neutral Crew, alongside Brian Kinsman, Margot Padilla and Signor Benedick the Moor.[10] The group have released two EPs, #MONSANTO (2013)[11] and 2014's #POPPUNK,[12] as well as Live, a 20-minute short film of a live performance.[13]

In 2010 he made a duo album with Rafael Casal titled The BAY BOY Mixtape. Two years later, in 2012, he released his first solo rap album, Small Things to a Giant, composed of entirely original music he had written. As of 2016, Diggs has been working on a new solo rap release, set for release at the end of the year.[9]

His rapping has also been featured on tracks by Busdriver, Rafael Casal, and Leslie Odom, Jr., and he wrote and performed a rap number for the 2016 animated film Zootopia.

Theatre credits

Filmography

Film

  • Rock Hard: The Rise and Fall of Sexual Detergent, Neil Davis, 2010 (short)
  • Yoga Boner, Daveed, 2012 (short)
  • Zootopia, 2016 (wrote & performed a rap number)

Television

Discography

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
2015 Lucille Lortel Awards Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Hamilton Won
Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Nominated
Theatre World Award Outstanding Debut Performance Won
2016
Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical Pending
Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Nominated
Grammy Award Best Musical Theater Album Won
Fred and Adele Astaire Award Best Male Dancer Nominated
Broadway.com Audience Awards Favorite Featured Actor in a Musical Nominated
Favorite Funny Performance Nominated
Favorite Breakthrough Performance (male) Won

References

  1. ↑ Daveed Daniele Diggs About the Artists. Retrieved May 29, 2016
  2. ↑ Prince, Cathryn. "Daveed Diggs leaps to Broadway stardom in ‘Hamilton’", The Times of Israel, 30 January 2016. Retrieved on 26 February 2016.
  3. ↑ Hoffman, Barbara. "‘I went from couch-surfing to starring on Broadway’", New York Post, 18 July 2015. Retrieved on 26 February 2016.
  4. ↑ Henderson, Kathy. "Daveed Diggs on His Hebrew School Roots, Meeting Crazy Celebrities & Getting His Shot on Broadway in Hamilton", Broadway.com, 30 July 2015. Retrieved on 26 February 2016.
  5. ↑ Wilder, Charlotte. "Daveed Diggs was a track star at Brown University. Now he’s a rap star in Hamilton on Broadway", Boston.com, 17 February 2015. Retrieved on 26 February 2016.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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