S. Samuel
With his long-awaited Unexpected Arrival finally on store shelves, SOHH recently caught up with Diggy to see how the 17 year-old is handling his debut's aftermath.
Though he has been on the road non-stop since the debut’s release, Diggy is always mindful of what keeps him grounded and focused.
“I never take any moments like these for granted. Knowing who the person is that put me here. That is definitely the biggest one. I’m never not mindful of that. Two, is just great company, having great people around you that actually care about your well-being, what you’re doing, and what influences you’re around. Those are the biggest things. Not taking it for granted and knowing that everything that’s here doesn’t have to be. A lot of people will not be very mindful of what’s going around them and it’ll be taken away from them like that. *snaps fingers* Then they’ll be wishing that they did certain things another way. I’m just super thankful 24-7 for everything. I’m always there to smell the roses. I’m in awe and I’m definitely going to keep it that way.” (SOHH)
Last month, the teen heartthrob felt the love from his fellow Jet Setters at a signing in Birmingham, Alabama.
“I had a signing in Alabama. I was in Birmingham and it’s big city that’s big on Sunday, everything is shut down for church,” Diggy added. “It’s the South. But, five hundred people showed up and they were only [expecting] two to three hundred. It was crazy to see that many people there just caring about the music and what I do and being a part of this. It’s just like I’m here.” (SOHH)
Despite Unexpected Arrival debuting at No. 13 with 21,400 a couple weeks ago, the young emcee recently said he remains positive.
“”t’s about growth. You look at a whole bunch of people. Look at Reasonable Doubt, when that first came out, that wasn’t anything. And look at [Jay-Z] now. You could look at Bruno [Mars] recently. When his Doo Wops & Hooligans came out, like 50,000 first week and ended up going double plat. So it’s about growth for me. I’m happy that the people who are listening to it are loving it. It’s like having an impact on your life and making them want to aspire to be whatever it is they want to be. Because that’s what Unexpected Arrival is about, it’s about making your arrival in life special. No matter what people say or if they don’t know what you’re capable of. It starts with the belief in you before you try to go and look for other people’s approval. I’m happy that it’s doing that for people.” (Karen Civil)
Even when it comes to stress, pressure, and the possibility of a sophomore album, Diggy manages to keep himself calm, cool, collected, and prepared for the future.
“I would never say it gets stressful doing what I do. Even the other day, somebody I was around and they mentioned something about the sophomore album. We were talking about how much people love this album and they said something about toping it. It’s the same thing about people asking me how do I feel pressure wise. It’s about how you take things in life and what you pay attention to and what you focus on. With me, I’m my own individual and doing what I do. If you just do what you do and don’t pay attention to what’s around you then you can really lose when you do the best and forget the rest. That’s what I’m going to do on the next album and so forth with my career.” (SOHH)
