Wilmington | Honey Media Collective

After publishing “What You Should Know about the Black Experience at Northwestern University”, I was asked to create a short video for the BridgeBuilders Foundation detailing my experience at Northwestern University as well as giving advice to upcoming students at PWIs.

In this 10 minute video, not only do I detail my experience and struggles to an extent, but attempt to serve as a voice of support for upcoming students.

I have been asked a million and one times, “What is something I wish I knew before attending Northwestern?” and up until a few weeks ago I had no answer. My answer became eminent to me after my first spring break while attending Northwestern. While my peers literally traveled all around the world, I went home to Carson/ Wilmington , Calif. where I spent time with my loved ones and friends. It was during this time I realized that in order to get the most out of my experience at an institution that was not built for me or established with the idea that there would be students like me attending it, I must stop looking for myself and my home in everyone I encountered. This is not me attempting to fault my peers for the circumstances they live through, or even Northwestern for the circumstances it’s campus creates for students like me, but to acknowledge my daily struggles as I attempt to adjust to life away from home. I hate to be a race-baiter and even more a wealth- baiter, but the elite socioeconomic culture here at NU is inseparable from my experience. An experience where I am not necessarily comfortable in many situations I find myself in on a daily basis.

So back to the point of advice, the central focus of this video. I advise all students of diverse backgrounds, who are going to elite and PWI institutions that’ll try to paint their campuses as “diverse”, to attempt to detach their home and what they’re used to culturally, from their experience and outlooks at these institutions. It is a completely different world for me, and many others, that must be adapted to until were able to make it our own.

YouTube video

It’s one thing to say you’re about it, but it’s another thing to actually be about it. Dre’es is about it. As a young rapper from Wilmington, Calif., Dre’es has already racked up considerable plays across many different streaming platforms, most notably Spotify. He prides himself on his artistic ability and the detail he puts into his craft, which has gained comparisons to the work of Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt.

I was fortunate enough to sit down with Dre’es and talk with him about his newly released project When The Curls Grow, his opinion on the current rap game, his upbringing and influences, his hit song “Warm” featuring his little cousin Mia and so much more.

It is evident that Dre’es work and music has evolved simultaneously with his maturation as a person. His newest EP relays a soothing tone, while hitting the hard topics of maturation and self-reflection as one gets older. Dre’es does a great job of telling his own story through his music. A story that has not only cultivated the whole South Bay area of Southern California, but does an amazing job of putting on and showcasing his Wilmington/ San Pedro roots.

As you watch, I hope you grow to respect and support Dre’es as much as I do in not only his artistic element, but himself as a person.

Dre’es Interview on Youtube

Dre’es Contact:

Apple Music Spotify Soundcloud Instagram

Honey Media Collective

To decolonize one's physical, emotional and intellectual being.

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Spotlight Series: Dre’es