Dave Burd

David Andrew Burd, born in the Cheltenham Township of Pennsylvania would grow to become known as the actor and rapper Lil Dicky. Raised in a middle class Jewish household, Lil Dicky got good grades and graduated from The University of Richmond, getting a job at an advertising agency. Desiring an outlet for his comedic creativity and dreaming of bigger things, he began work on a mixtape in 2011. When he released the first single "Ex-Boyfriend" (2013) on YouTube he was hoping to gain a few thousand views to promote his self-made album. The song went viral and was viewed more than one million times on its first day. Lil Dicky's debut mixtape, "So Hard" (2013) was an immediate success. He followed it with a flurry of music videos and songs using crowdfunding to finance his production. His debut studio album "Professional Rapper" (2015) featured various artists like Snoop Dogg and Fetty Wap and earned him a place in XXL Magazine's 2016 Freshman Class. Lil Dicky collaborated with Chris Brown to release the song "Freaky Friday" (2018). The accompanying music video garnered over 100 million views. He then partnered with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and released the single "Earth" (2019) featuring over 30 celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Kevin Hart. While the song received mostly negative reviews, it drew attention to climate change and championed better environmental practices worldwide. Lil Dicky used his stardom to transition into television creating, producing and starring in the semi autobiographical "Dave" (FXX, 2020-).