West Coast rapper
Demrick took his place in a legacy of legendary stoners, building his appeal on energetic party anthems, struggle bars, and a healthy love of weed and stoner culture. Falling in with established rappers, he came under the tutelage of
Cypress Hill's blunted MC
B-Real and the two would collaborate on various projects, including tracks with
Xzibit,
Bad Lucc, and others.
Demrick captured a wider audience with the hit-heavy 2016 mixtape Blaze with Us, made in collaboration with
Dizzy Wright. This led the way to more fully formed solo albums like 2016's Collect Call and 2018's Came a Long Way.
Demrick was born Demerick Ferm and began his rap career under the stage name
Young De. Living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the early 2000s, Ferm was part of a group called
Tangled Thoughts. The group met
Dogg Pound member
Kurupt in 2005, and on his suggestion relocated to Los Angles.
Kurupt worked with
Tangled Thoughts on the 2007 mixtape Philly 2 Cali, and in the next year Ferm went solo, branching out from the group with his 2008 debut mixtape, Audio Hustlaz, Vol. 1, released under the name
Young De. The mixtape would mark the beginning of his relationship with
Cypress Hill member
B-Real, who contributed features to multiple tracks on the mixtape. From there,
Demrick was prominently featured on
B-Real's 2009 solo debut, Smoke N Mirrors, and the two toured together extensively.
When
Cypress Hill recorded their eighth studio album,
Rise Up, in 2010,
Demrick contributed a verse to one of the singles. His name changed officially from
Young De to
Demrick in 2011 with the release of his #HeadsUp mixtape. His output would be largely collaborative for a time, as he focused on releasing mixtapes, singles, and albums created with like-minded artists. Standout releases included the 2015 mixtapes
Losing Focus made with
Cali Cleve and Stoney Point made with
DJ Hoppa, 2016's weed-centric
Dizzy Wright collaborative mixtape Blaze with Us, and a string of releases under the name
Serial Killers, a group featuring
Demrick,
B-Real, and
Xzibit. Completely solo albums also materialized, first with the 2016 offering Collect Call and also with the more reflective 2018 album Came a Long Way. ~ Fred Thomas