Within the last few years we’ve seen the music industry open up to include more women in rap. From Cardi B to Megan Thee Stallion to the City Girls, there is a new wave of rappers who have the industry on their toes—and they’re all women.
“It’s an experience for me, seeing how far I’ve come and all my hard work pay off,” Destiny “Dess Dior” Bailey tells ESSENCE. The 22-year-old performer started releasing music last year and in 2020 she has emerged on the scene as one to watch. Originally from Savannah, Georgia, she relocated to Atlanta to jump-start her career. “Atlanta influenced my music,” she says. “It made me want to grow more as an artist. Seeing the hustle and drive everyone had around me, I had no choice but to go harder.”
In that transition, she was able to garner a social media presence due to her buzzy friend group and style post. When scrolling through Dess’s feed, you can catch the performer in archived fashion looks paying homage to past runway moments in correlation to her hard-to-find flexes like Birkin bags, AP watches, and Chanel snags. The artist says that her favorite designers are, “Chanel, Maison Margiela, Prada, Dior, and Louis Vuitton.”
In light of COVID-19, for a new artist, growth could come as a concern due to in-person activities being postponed in some parts of the world. However, Dess has managed to perform at digital events for Rolling Loud and Revolt TV while racking up her following to over one million supporters and bringing in 48,137 monthly listeners on Spotify.”At times it’s a lot, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. You have supporters and haters, overall I love the journey.” Earlier this year, she put out a EP titled Definition of Dess, which featured her stand out track, “Talk To Me.”
Her latest single, “Rich Bitch” dropped earlier this month and with a video on the way, Dess tells ESSENCE she is just getting started. You can expect some dope visuals and music from me to end out the year,” she says. “I’m super excited to show the world what I’ve been working on these past couple months,” she concluded.
Listen to her latest single “Rich Bitch” here.
