While rap fans watched in amazement as "Panda" made its way from a viral sensation to the No. 1 song in the country, Desiigner remained somewhat behind-the-scenes. He's been seen living it up with his GOOD Music labelmates and putting on some insanely energized performances of his hit single, but not too much has been written in the press about his story and his musical sensibilities -- from his point of view, at least. Luckily, the 19-year-old Bed-Stuy rapper recently sat down with Rob Markman of Genius for an in-depth video interview situated in front of the Gowanus Canal.
During the nearly 20-minute interview, Desiigner talks about his Brooklyn upbringing, getting shot at age 14, and how he was able to build a huge following on the Internet before the long-awaited drop of "Panda." He also claims that he was involved in an 11-label bidding war before signing with GOOD and how, during his first GOOD studio audition, he immediately claimed the beat Mike Dean was working on for himself and made a song out of it in a matter of minutes.
He also explains some of the lyrics in his strangely cryptic hit, including the relatively straightforward opening line on the hook: "I got broads in Atlanta." The line is somewhat misleading, as Desiigner has only had contact with one particular "broad" from Atlanta, and that was a girl he met on Facebook, and not in real life. In fact, Desiigner had never been to Atlanta when he wrote "Panda," and to this day, he's only ever set foot in the ATL airport.
He does seem to think that the Atlanta female was doing enough on Facebook for him to consider her his broad, though. "Facebook is lit," he says. "And I did have a chick in Atlanta." Markman asks Desiigner if the Facebook girl is still in Atlanta waiting for him, to which he humorously declines. "She long been gone man," says Desiigner. "She's a skeezball."
Watch the full interview below.
