Dee-1

"I don't want to be the artist who sold a million records but didn't change any lives," Dee-1 testifies. "I'm greedy, so I want to sell a million records and change a million lives."

Having spent two years teaching middle school in Louisiana, the New Orleans rapper has a head start on changing lives. He decided to jump headfirst into the rap game to reach a wider audience.

"I knew it was a risk, but I felt it was necessary. I felt like I needed to be a voice and a leader for this generation, a leader for the urban youth. Me stepping out and doing this full-time gives me more of a platform."

Rapping with a syrupy Southern drawl and striking the perfect balance of cool and conscious, Dee-1 has a built a steady buzz with the I Hope They Hear Me mixtape trilogy and seems poised for a national breakout.

On his best known single he calls out "Jay, 50, and Weezy" for not giving back to their communities. The song caught the attention of New Orleans producer Mannie Fresh, who churned out a decade's worth of hits for Cash Money Records and helped turn Lil Wayne and Juvenile into household names. Their relationship began with a chance encounter in which Dee-1 gave Fresh his mixtape and phone number. Now they're collaborating on Mission Vision, Dee-1's forthcoming debut.

"I grew up listening to all the songs Mannie Fresh produced, that was the soundtrack to my adolescence," wonders the rapper aloud.

The pair's currently shopping for a label partner and laying the groundwork with a new mixtape.

"I'm learning first-hand that planning and being prepared is superimportant. If life was hip-hop, you can't just freestyle your way through the whole album; you've got to have a plan."