Feel-good rapper Devin Copeland — better known as Devin the Dude — was born in Pontiac, Michigan, but raised in Florida and Texas. As a child, he went back and forth from New Boston and Houston and finally settled in the latter after he graduated high school. In the late 80’s, Devin met Rob Quest, a blind rapper and producer who was part of a Houston crew called the Coughee Brothas. Later on, the duo formed a group named the Odd Squad and recruited Devin’s longtime friend Jugg Mugg and a local DJ named DJ Screw. Screw (who was later replaced by DJ Styles) took the group’s demo tape to Rap-A-Lot Records CEO James Smith, who quickly signed the group in 1992. Their debut album, Fadanuf fa Erybody! !, was released in 1994 with “I Can’t See It” as the lead single and video. Although hip-hop fans praised the effort put out by the Odd Squad, their album was not as commercially successful as they hoped. While the group went back to the drawing board, Rap-A-Lot franchise artist Scarface approached Devin to be a part of his new group, Facemob. Facemob released one album in 1996, The Other Side of the Law, and then broke up due to internal problems. At this time, Devin decided to work on his debut solo album, The Dude, with the help of Smith and Scarface. The Dude was released in 1998 with virtually no video and little radio play. The Dude was a smoothed-out, funk-laden album and an ode to wine, women, and weed. Regardless, the album built a large underground following and even caught the attention of veteran hip-hop producer Dr. Dre. He contacted Devin in 1999 and asked him to be a part of the 2001 album on the track “Fuck You.” This single appearance made Devin a hot commodity, earning him appearances on songs with De La Soul, Raphael Saadiq, veteran rap group UGK, and a solo track on the Oz soundtrack. His anticipated sophomore LP, Just Tryin’ ta Live, was released in the summer of 2002 and featured appearances from Nas, Xzibit, and Raphael Saadiq with production from Dre, DJ Premier, and his Coughee Brothas. To tha X-Treme arrived two years later and was followed in 2007 by Waiting to Inhale, his first album to crack the Top 40 on Billboard’s album chart. A year later, Landing Gear became his first album for the Razor & Tie label. Suite #420 followed in 2010 and had the honor of being released on the stoner’s holiday of April 20th. His seventh LP, Gotta Be Me, arrived later that year. In 2013, Devin issued One for the Road (eOne). His eighth full-length entered the Top 50 of the Billboard R&B/hip-hop chart. In 2017, he returned with the collaborative single “Smoke with Me,” with rapper Crim Dela Crim. He also issued the Acoustic Levitation album, which was accompanied by a tour of the same name.