D-Pryde

Russell Llantino, better known by his stage name D-Pryde, is a Canadian rapper from Brampton, Ontario, and is now based out of New York, United States.^[1] He is currently signed to indie label Mars Music Group and major recording label BMG.

Early life

Russell was born on October 13, 1993 in Mississauga, Ontario. He is of Filipino descent.^[2] Six years after his birth, his father went to the Philippines to look for a job, and was not seen again for one year.^[3][4] This led his mother to move to the nearby city of Brampton, where the Llantino family lived in a neighborhood which Llantino describes as "low-income and underprivileged".^[5][3] In many of his lyrics, D-Pryde cites the fact that him being of Asian descent gave him ridicule for his interest in his rap career,^[6] and has frequently stressed the hardships of being an Asian rapper in the music industry.^[5][3]

Music career

Llantino started releasing rap tracks online at the age of fourteen, and decided to pursue rapping as a professional hobby.^[7][8] Many of his rap tracks are uploaded onto YouTube, many of which are accompanied with music videos. At the age of sixteen, D-Pryde was signed to underground record label Mars Music Group in July 2010,^[9][10] in which he released his first mixtape through the label entitled MARS on June 3, 2011. MARS features Toronto based recording artist and record producer August Rigo, who also produced a track on the mixtape. In July 2011, D-Pryde was featured on RapCity, where he shot his music video.^[11]

Starting on August 23, 2011, D-Pryde embarked on his first tour around Canada, where he performed along with rapper J. Cole. The tour first started at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, and subsequently at venues in Edmonton and Calgary in Alberta, and then Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Toronto and London, Ontario, and then finishing off on September 7, 2011, at a venue in Montreal, Quebec.^[12] As of late December 2012, he is signed to record label, BMG. On July 9, 2013 D-Pryde released an EP under BMG entitled "Canal and Richvale".^[13] The EP includes a collaboration with August Rigo in the song 'Ridin Thru LA". There is a CD version of the EP available in Canada and New York which features two bonus songs. 'Bottom Dollar" which is available on the "Flagship" mixtape, and "Rollin" which is exclusive to the CD. D-Pryde has his own clothing with a massive fan base, ashu and manu

On October 13, 2014, D-Pryde announced his mixtape "Plan A". The mixtape was released via DatPiff on March 2, 2015.

D-Pryde previously recorded his music at the Mars Music studio in Canal Street in Chinatown, Manhattan, New York. He has since moved back to Toronto and now records his music and music videos there.^[14][3]

In March of 2015, D-Pryde released his mixtape Plan-A with no label help. The tape recollects the many struggles and scrutiny D-Pryde has faced in the industry. D-Pryde's mother, Rosalie Llantino passed away from cancer on April 9th, 2015 after suffering for over three years. He pays much respect to his mother throughout Plan-A noting in one song that fans are tired of hearing him talk about his mother's illness but that doesn't stop him from becoming successful in her honor.

Discography

Mixtapes

• The Myspace Mixtape (2008)
• No...Rly Now Mixtape (2009)
• Once Again (2011)
• Mars (2011)
• Flagship (2012)
• Plan A (2015)

Extended Plays

• Canal & Richvale (2013)

Guest appearances

References