Omega Def, abbreviated O.D. was born May 13th, 1986. That's right he's 20 years old. The CEO and founder of 1 Entertainment began his carer in hip-hop on the South side of Chicago. At age 9, O.D. lost his father who was his protector and best friend, by the age of 10 he started battling others on his block of 56th and Morgan, he refers to his old hood as the N-L-C (No Love City).
With his neighborhood being infested with drug dealers, gang banging, and a high crime rate, O.D. decided to stray from these path's and make his own by immersing himself in his music. "The real niggas from the block always told me to rap what I know, always stay true to you[sic], don't become a studio MC."
O.D. took his name from his childhood friend Arty because O.D. thought it sounded better then his original name which was Big T. Out of respect O.D. asked Arty if could use the name, Arty replied, "Gone head, I'll make up a better one. I'll be Alpha and you be the Omega."
Influenced by the likes of Nas (O.D.'s favorite rapper) and 2 Pac, he started rhyming about things in his life that hurt his soul and almost drove him to suicide at the age of 10. "I was tired of getting beat up everyday by family and so called friends. So I prayed and asked God 'Why am I here?'" In the mean time while praying and asking God for a sign, O.D. remembers watching the Box and seeing Nas's video for If I Ruled the World with the intro song The Message and saying to himself "I want to do that."
O.D. just wanted to tell his story his way, and maybe some day someone will listen. Knowing that one day he would become an emcee, O.D. stayed in school and continued his education. While attending school he would meet other emcee's his age and engage in freestyle battles. But being a real shy guy, even though he would eat other emcee's in battles, he never rapped his written songs for people because he was afraid they would look at him crazy or feel that his music was too deep for the average pre-teen.
In 2000, while attending Hales Franciscan High School, other students began calling him Ill Will (due to his real name being William and his favorite rapper being Nas) and he would be challenged to battle 4 times a day: one in the morning, one in the class room, one at lunch and one after school. In order to stay on his toes O.D. would walk and freestyle from 49th and cottage to 55th and cottage everyday just to "exercise lyrically". After awhile O.D. began to want bigger and better things for himself and his music, now the once shy and picked on kid is one of the most respected in his school at the age of 14.
Soon O.D. formed 1 Entertainment because he never was part of a gang or had a big squad, but he wanted something to rep on wax and in freestyles; one day while free-styling he spit "There will be many but there's only 1 Entertainment."
While interning at Vedder Price to pay his high school tuition O.D. would often talk about what he wanted to accomplish in his life to his fellow employee's. One day at work an employee gave him him the number to his uncle who did music by the name of Edd. When trying to buy studio time he was told and shocked by the price, he decided to go about recording another way. His other method was to use two speakers, one as a mic and one for output placed against the speaker of a radio. While listening to this amateur created sample disc, Edd heard something in the young emcee; since then he's been on the fast but sometimes bumpy road to success.
O.D. has since met many people and made friends with quite a few of them: Big Fubb, a close friend and business partner, Janie, Romey, Larry Stern, Chris, Danny, Bennie Frank, Butta, Caliko, White Chalk, Shaun Lett, Chris Adams, Hanna, Day Rokk, Herb Brasko, and close friend (more like a little big sister) Margo, and Smitty B.l.a.c.k (OD's brother).
With all the up's and down's in his young career he's not looking to become king of anything, he just wants to get his people above the poverty line and do his music, his way. Though he's lead a short life, he still feels that what he has to say is something anybody can relate to, and he plans to tell it all through his music.
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