Interview: DC Young Fly discusses #DigitalLivesMatter, Friday, and fame
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DC Young Fly shows us what the wonderful world of social media can do for you.
In this day and age, everyone (including their mothers) has a social media presence. Whether it’s a Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram—hell, even Pinterest—you have something. Everyone wants a larger following. It’s like the more people we have like the pictures of our ugly kids, the more validated we feel in our lives. But there are some that use this platform to their advantage, for their actual means of living.
You can’t tell me that there isn’t one page you check on a daily basis to see what they will do or say. Digital age entertainers have amassed millions of followers who want to see their every move; comment on the posts, in hopes of receiving a reply.
UMC, the first premium subscription streaming service that caters to the urban audience, teams up with social media sensation DC Young Fly, the ‘Bring That Ass Here Boy’ himself to bring us a new film called, #DigitalLivesMatter.
#DigitalLivesMatter focuses on the life of a young social media star, whose life revolves around his following. He doesn’t have a job, a car or a house. He just has his followers that admire his every move. Until one day, his three million follower count drops down to zero. Throughout the movie, DC Young Fly does a bunch of silly and hilarious things to regain his following.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Znp94CUczU&h=315]
You know GrungeCake got that juice and got the movie way before everyone else. I watched the movie before the release. Then, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to DC. We talked about the film, life, his future, and portraying Chris Tucker in a future ‘Friday’ movie.
Thirston Howw: DC, I am a big fan. I have been following you for a while now. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. I watched the movie. I think it is funny. Is it based on your life?
DC Young Fly: Yeah, you know. It goes to show that followers are real people. Even though we can’t see them and we can’t touch them, they all are real people. Some people take social media and use it to a negative extent. They’ll have followers and go at it with their fans; Not knowing these are real people.
Sometimes, people get caught up in the limelight. They do not understand that without the fans, there would be no you. So, this movie kind of shows that we have to be one-on-one and in tune with our fans, more than just letting them be followers. We have to know who our followers are, and what type of people we attract to our brand.
Thirston Howw: Yeah, branding does matter. I know you have a lot of trolls and haters out there. How do you handle that?
DC Young Fly: Man, with that type of stuff, I don’t even pay it attention. I just stay working and keep moving. I don’t pay it any attention because God blessed me already. So I stay all the way out of the way. I’m from the street, so I don’t know how to handle certain things. Either we’re going to do it, or we aren’t. I try to stay out of the way because I have a little girl.
I have so much on the way that when it pops up on your TV, you’re gonna be like “What?!”
Thirston Howw: Seems like social media is part of everyone’s lives nowadays. Would you say social media was your claim to fame? How did you get going?
DC Young Fly: I started off on Vine with my boy. It started going crazy on that. Before you knew it, it just took off. We never looked back. I told him ‘Hey, I’m going try to get a TV show off this.’ Then, one thing hit. One thing led to another; we are here today.
Thirston Howw: You are a producer on the movie. How’s was that experience?
DC Young Fly: It is my first time producing a movie. I’m proud Terri Vaughn gave me a chance. That’s big. I produced another one. So now, I have two under the belt.
I see that David Banner also had something to do with the movie. He’s one of my favourite artists and just people of all time. How was it working with David Banner?
DC Young Fly: David Banner’s ass is going to talk to you for hours, and if you don’t know anything about black people, you will learn. He’s kind-hearted. He’s good also. He’s the kind of person you need to be around at all times.
Thirston Howw: I know in one part of the movie you get caught up with one of your crazy girlfriends who tries to get you caught up. What would you say was the craziest thing a fan has done to you or the craziest thing you have done to get followers?
I think when I used to yell all in the mall and do all that crazy stuff. Yelling and knocking stuff down, all inside of Walmart. Going into restaurants and just yelling and they’ll be like, ‘Who in the hell?’ Or when I went to the Apple Store and singing, “I want the iPhone with the Android screen!” and everybody in there was going crazy, you know what I’m saying?
Thirston Howw: You have a lot of things coming out soon. You’re on Nick Cannon’s Wild ‘N Out. I just saw you in The New Edition Story. You’re working. The director Terri Vaughn compared #DigitalLivesMatter to ‘Friday’. He said, “This is the Friday of our generation.” Speaking of Friday, you know I have to ask… There are rumours that you will be in the next Friday movie, can you confirm it?
DC Young Fly: (Laughs) I don’t know. I hope so. I need to be. It [would] be another tremendous blessing. You can’t just sit, wait, and think that it is going to make or break your situation. It may or may not happen. For me to be like, “I was waiting on the movie” would be crazy on my part. I’ll have to push forward until I get the call. That would be a nice look!
Thirston Howw: What can we look to see you in after this movie?
DC Young Fly: I got like three or four more TV shows, more Hip Hop Squares, Wild ‘N Out, and stand-up coming soon. I have my tour coming soon. It’s going to be real big. I need everyone to be on the lookout.
Thirston Howw: I know you have millions of fans out there. Is there anything you want to leave them?
DC Young Fly: I appreciate you all. I love you all for sticking with me. I want all of my fans to know that God is real. Pray, work hard for what you pray for, and we are going to make it to the top together!
Finally, #DigitalLivesMatter is probably everything you are expecting it to be: Not the best acting, hilarious, and silly humour. He is not going to win any Emmy’s, but I promise we will see DC Young Fly in something groundbreaking soon. I think it is huge for someone to start off on a social media network and produce and star in their movies.
Undoubtedly, I look forward to watching DC Young Fly grow into a mainstream star. The movie is live right now too.
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