Diezel's name is as much an ode to his hometown, Detroit, where goons roam the streets just like Italian cars swerve through Beverly Hills, as it is to his character. The rapper's voice, grizzled from experience in the streets as well recording studios in Motown, Atlanta and Los Angeles, can sound like that of a diesel-powered truck.
"I grew up as a mean kid," Diezel says. "I was one of those kids that never liked to smile all the time.That's what my character was, this rough-edged kid who really didn't care about much."
With a knowledge of self like that, Diezel just may be appreciated for his authenticity as much as the automobile, that symbol of America that gets assembled in the city of Detroit, one of the hardest hit by the current economic climate and globalization.
The artist persona aside, the man behind the moniker has a rather fascinating background as well.Michael De'Irvin Folmar, born and raised on the Eastside of the D, didn't have it easy from the jump. His pops was known as "Money Mike" and his uncles were more familiar to the DEA as the Chambers Brothers than they were to their own families. With that type of background, music became the only palpable escape route. Slowly but surely, Michael began a transformation into Diezel. It wasn't long before his special gift was discovered.
That gift, quite simply, is that his pen had a platinum touch. Here's a fun story: pulled in by his veteran, songwriter uncle to write on then-upcoming rapper Lil Zane's debut album."My uncle was schooling me, giving me everything that was going on, letting me know that he was working with Lil Zane," Diezel explains, nonchalantly adding, "I assisted him with writing a few records on the album."
That kind of firepower is all that was needed to get Diezel trucking into the music industry.With the Atlanta music scene thriving, Diezel was fortunate enough make it there at the tender age of 14. In the A's effervescent cesspool of talent, he earned his stripes through emcee battles and in the summer of 2007 found himself in the lab with Darrius "Dmac" Rogers and Don Cannon, who helmed the release the Hustling Magnet mixtape.
Fast forward to 2009 ,he is on the verge of the ultimate dream come true for an artist."There's nothing finalized, everything is still up in the air," Diezel says of the rumored business arrangement. Still, given that the executive Dmac,(Who discovered The Game) of Desperado Ent. is working his project, it appears that no dream is too big.
Working around the Aftermath camp and applying his grizzled voice and writing talent to tracks for himself and others is Diezel's M.O. these days."Straight Off the Block," produced by Dunlap Exclusive, is the newest single."The World is mine for the taking",he says,as he steps into the recording booth,maximizing his God given talent.
