Longtime friends, rappers boosting each other to success

Oct. 13—Donte Brown and Demelius Simpson have been friends for a very long time. It would be safe to say their friendship spans most of their lives. Both grew up in Grapeland as talented athletes and played multiple sports, especially excelling in football. Brown was a running back with a major pedigree — he is direct family to three Palestine legends, father Ivory Lee Brown, aunt Bonita Brown and cousin Adrian Peterson — while Simpson was a formidable downfield threat at wide receiver for the Sandies.

Odds were high that both young men would make a splash athletically after graduating in 2012. They have certainly made a splash, but in an entirely different way.

"My Uncle, Frank Tillis, had a recording studio when I was a kid," Brown said. "I hung around there from the age of about four. When I was seven, we were recording a hook for the background of a song my cousin was singing. When we were finished, he told me 'Hey, you gonna rap.' I've been in the studio ever since."

It was Brown's first ever attempt at rapping and the nerves showed.

"I felt like I started off pretty good, but I messed up at the end," Brown said. "Back then you only got one take because it wasn't digital, but that's where it started."

Simpson's early journey was a similar story.

"I always played sports, and music always seems to go with sports," Simpson said. "But my dad was always into music and knew a lot of people in the business, so I was just always around it and developed a passion for music."

Childhood interests grew into teen passions as the two friends began moving ahead in their high school sports careers.

"We really just started off freestyling in school and on the bus," Simpson said. "But I didn't really take it seriously until I got to college."

Brown and Simpson found a thriving rap community when they attended Tyler Junior College and began playing shows and performing in circles. It was simply a hobby for both until the buzz began.

"We started hearing people telling us we needed to take this seriously," Simpson said. "They said 'you need to do this!'"

"Maybe you feel like you're doing pretty good," Brown said. "But you really don't know until other people see it and tell you about it."

Success on the Tyler scene found Brown and Simpson approaching their craft with a new sense of passion and commitment. Eventually the duo gravitated to Houston, home of a major rap community, where they were influenced by Texas legends such as Lil Flip and Slim Thug.

"We didn't really know what to expect when we went to Houston," Brown said. "But the rap community in Houston is a very welcoming place. They had open arms and helped us in every way."

"Houston is big," Simpson said. "It's a lot different than small towns in East Texas. But the people are the same. We felt at home immediately."

Now known by their professional names, Brown is Sama Sama and Simpson is D.Millz, the two have worked tirelessly to establish their names and brands. In one sense, rap shares a common thread with every other genre and even other aspects of life in that success is based not only on talent, but with whom you choose to surround yourself. Brown and Simpson found that in Houston. Having the opportunity to not only meet and be around established successful artists made a valuable impression.

"A lot of big-time rappers don't really relate to up-and-comers," Brown said. "But it's different in Houston. We've met a lot of successful people and they showed us support."

"Guys like Lil Flip and Z-Ro, we've been around them," Simpson said. "They treat us like we're cousins, like we're blood. They don't have to do that."

That welcome by successful artists is paying off. Both men drop tracks regularly and are developing quite a following. Simpson is signed to Atlanta-based 3Faces Entertainment. Thursday, Oct. 13 is the release date for his new album, "1 in a Million."

"Rap is about connecting with people, like with an audience," Brown said. "We write about what we know and what we feel because other people feel that too and you want people to react."

"But getting out of your comfort zone is good too," Simpson said. "A lot of artists try new things and new styles because you just never know what people will react to."

The formula seems to be working. Be versatile but be yourself.

Follow the guys on Facebook at Donte Brown (Sama Sama,) D.Millz Music and www.dmillzmusic.com.