Dez Nado
Joseph Scott, also known as Dez Nado, is an American hip hop and reggae singer, songwriter, and record producer from Jacksonville, Florida. He is also a television producer who produces and directs Jacksonville's first and only cable reality TV series, Life & Grind: Duval and LIVE from New Jax City, both of which air on north Florida/south Georgia's CW Network affiliate WCWJ/CW.
Career
Nado saw his earliest successes in college, where he used his platform as college DJ at a small university in Jacksonville to distribute and promote his music and host his own showcases on campus. After nearly being killed by a gunshot to the chest in 2009, he shifted the tone of his music from "self-destructive to self-productive" and started using his music as a platform for pushing a progressive agenda and promoting non-violence in one of the most violent cities in Florida. This new sound led to his first major digital distribution deal after releasing his first mixtape series, No Hands, which included No Hands, No Hands 1.5 and No Hands 2 distributed by KKR/Island/Def Jam and his most progressive work in response to his views on the Trayvon Martin shooting and the Stand Your Ground policy in his home state of Florida. No Hands 2 is distributed by MTV.Nado premiered a cable reality TV series called Life & Grind: Duval on Bounce TV focusing not only on his daily life as an independent artist, but also on other indie artists and bands affiliated with his self-managed entertainment label. After winning the title of Jacksonville Artist of the Year and performing at the 2015 BET Hip Hop Awards, Nado released his second mixtape album LaDolceVita, in 2016 with Caskey, Taylor Gang artist Lola Monroe, and Fetty Wap. Nado made the local news before the mixtape album release and TV series premiere with his $1.4 Million dollar One Spark crowdfunding pitch in Spring 2014 for his Life & Grind project and northeast Florida's largest annual indie concert series Duval Spring Fest, which he started in college.