Kid Ink then asked her to do the same for his DJ Mustard-produced banger, “ Be Real”, and Nicki Minaj was just happy to jump on stage and be “DeJ Loaf’s hype man”. Following the viral success of “Try Me” and its accompanying Sell Sole mixtape, hometown demigod Eminem recruited DeJ (it rhymes with ‘beige’, BTW) to sing the hook on his thunderous posse cut, “ Detroit vs Everybody”. In less than a year, DeJ Loaf’s hardcore tale of Michigan street life has taken her from being a local mixtape maven to the undisputed Queen of Detroit, with Drake quoting her verses on Instagram, and Wiz Khalifa, E-40, Remy Ma and more creating their own remixes. As a reward for the school rising out of the PLA (Persistently Lowest Achieving) rankings for the first time in 20 years, Principal McGhee has arranged a surprise live performance of DeJ’s crossover hit, “ Try Me”. In the staff room, rapper DeJ Loaf’s IBGM (I Been Gettin’ Money) crew are hanging out, waiting for their most famous member to turn up. Slogans like “You can prevent gun violence: a hug is a handshake from the heart” grip the walls of its quiet corridors.

Every so often, a Tannoy announcement shatters the neighbourhood’s ghostly silence, barking at students who have forgotten their hall passes.Įntering the old gothic school through a metal detector at the front door, inspirational quotes and images of African American heroes like Obama, Ali and Jordan beam back at you. Walking down the unfortunately named Tuxedo Street, lines of neat residential homes are punctuated by boarded-up buildings, burnt-out apartment blocks, and fields of grass where family houses once stood.

The roads that surround Detroit’s Central Collegiate Academy don’t do much to dispel the city’s dystopian reputation.

Dej loaf try me remy