PedroDevyL, born Christopher Mapson and Deven Mapson, are a rap duo from the west side of Atlanta, GA. They are blood brothers who grew up in the Mozley Park and Dixie Hills areas of West Atlanta. In the past, both artists have pursued solo careers as Pedro (Christopher Mapson) and The DareDevyL (Deven Mapson) separately, and decided to combine their talents together to form the group, PedroDevyL. All of their tracks are produced by the oldest brother of the group, Deven “The DareDevyL” Mapson.

Early Childhood and Birth

Pedro was born as Christopher Deante' Mapson to Tamiko and James Mapson on May 20, 1991 in Charleston, SC. DaredevyL was born as Deven Jamal Mapson to Tamiko and James Mapson on November 4, 1988 in Atlanta, GA. Both grew up in a military atmosphere as young toddlers due to their father James Mapson being a full-time member of the United States Navy. Tamiko Mapson was a Banker and 911 Operator as the two brothers grew up. Both parents attended Tennessee State University for Undergraduate studies. With their father being in the NAVY, Deven and Chris have moved to various communities across the southeast and east coast including Charleston, SC, Hammond, LA, Virginia Beach, VA, Norfolk, VA, and Atlanta, GA where the two would permanently live after their father’s retirement.

Education and Teenage Years

Both Pedro and DaredevyL attended F.L. Stanton Elementary School in the Mozley Park area of Atlanta, GA. They also attended H.M. Turner Middle School in the Dixie Hills/Anderson Park area of Atlanta, GA and eventually graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in Atlanta, GA. DaredevyL attended Morehouse College for a semester before eventually dropping out due to financial reasons after the birth of his first child.

Musical Ventures

The DaredevyL

DaredevyL began rapping at the early age of 13 under the moniker “Lil Twister” given to him by peers and older artists due to his very fast delivery and lyricism at such a young age. He hit a crossroad with his artistry when he found it hard to obtain beats and instrumentals to rap over. This made him learn to make his own beats. At the age of 15, he began making his own beats using a HP Desktop PC with Windows 98 and a Hammerhead Rhythm Station. Eventually a friend told DaredevyL about Fruity Loops where he began to use FL Studio 6 to make his beats. Although Hammerhead was not a popular Rhythm Station at the time, DaredevyL credits the company’s software for actually teaching him the operation of sequencing and quantizing drums and other instruments. By the time he began using Fruity Loops, he already knew the basics of making beats. DaredevyL first began recording himself over his own beats using a Toshiba Satellite Laptop and a cheap, thin computer microphone. DaredevyL now uses a Motif 6 Synthesizer, a BLUE microphone, Logic Pro 11, ProTools 12 and FL Studio 11 along with other beat machines and rhythm stations.

Birth of NWF Studios AKA “The Dugout”

His uncle, Bingo Morton, was a well-known architect in the city of Atlanta. He saw that DaredevyL’s talents and work-ethic kept him off the streets and deserved an office, or a space to create. In 2009, Uncle Bingodecided to build a home-studio for DaredevyL and Pedro to work out of. Numerous Atlanta Hip-Hop & R&B acts have worked in “The Dugout”. The Dugout has been home to many of DaredevyL’s hit productions and he credits the structure and internal atmosphere of hood positivity to the overall success of music made there.

Breakout Collaborations

DaredevyL’s first big break came in 2011 when he began working with 3022 ENT/Big Play Ent. Artist YC at the moment his hit single “Racks” feat. Future became Billboard’s #1 Single. While on tour with YC, DaredevyL worked with and produced for various artists and Label Execs including Future, Cyhi The Prynce, Kidd Kidd, Young Dose, Shod Da God, Money Makin' Nique, Trill Entertainment, Sha Money XL, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Propane Media, Desert Storm, Cool N Dre, DJ Toomp, Taylor J, and more… DaredevyL had his first big feature, “F**k You Thought” by Big Play ENT artist Coldheart feat. DaredevyL, played in Club Onyx by the late and very great DJ Nando of the Coalition DJs in Atlanta, GA. Nando put DevyL on the spot by making the two perform the song and he cut the beat out on every punchline DevyL spit to see how well he could say the quickly delivered bars over a monstrous 808 bass, snare snapping beat. DevyL did his part and earned major respect from the well-respected DJ. His second big single “I’m Better Now” came with a feature from G.O.O.D. Music’s Cyhi The Prynce. DevyL caught a huge break when he put out his biggest single yet “Everything I Got” featuring Future and produced by Cheeze Beats. The Coalition DJs, by way of DJ Nando stepped behind this song and made it an Atlanta Underground Classic.

The Blackjack EPs

On July 21, 2014, DevyL dropped a 7 song, 21 minute EP called Blackjack. For seven months straight, he dropped a mixtape with the same format on the 21st day of each month to follow, using the same Blackjack moniker. He also released Blackjack: Losie which featured Losie of Grown Money ENT, using the same format. The speedy process of producing and delivering EPs became a trend which is now very much so used in the music industry at the moment to now deliver albums. The Blackjack series gave people more of a sense of how well DevyL was able to rap and produced his own tracks in a clever yet unique way.

His prolific, original sound, gave him a tough time in the beginning stages of work due to such a different style of hip hop brought to the table. Eventually, everyone became one with the music being made in The Dugout, forcing DevyL to be heard by more Execs such as Kawan Prather, Success Davis, Chino Dollar, and Courtney Sills. His movement, NWF Productions LLC. is very live and in full effect at the moment with more production set to hit airwaves this summer and fall.

Pedro

Pedro also began rapping at a young age. With his very realistic, mind-boggling masterpieces, Pedro was able to find his niche over his brother’s beats by sticking to what he knew best. His lyrical play is always wrapped around true stories and sometimes fun, energetic fantasies blended with a unique delivery.

Pedro’s First Chance

Pedro caught his first big break when his older brother decided to step aside and give him a chance at showcasing his ability to flow. Pedro took the streets by storm in 2013 with his debut self-titled mixtape, Pedro. Gaining attention from Atlanta’s most solid people, Pedro has been a very strong figure in the NWF movement. His lyrical ability was also topped with a defying swagger by the way he dressed, spoke and moved around. Whether in a suit and tie or a white tee and Air Forces, Pedro is always able to bring light to a room full of darkness. At the moment he is working on Pedro 2: Back 2 Argentina.

Birth of PedroDevyL

After all the music done as separate artists, Pedro and DaredevyL decided to get together as brothers to drop the long awaited tape done between the two. They decided to not only conjoin themselves, but also conjoin their name as well. Thus creating the name, PEDRODEVYL. Their first piece of work was self titled and dropped on January 21, 2016. Equipped with songs such as “Young Dreamin”, “Gotta Flex”, “Break Out”, and “Bring The Lights Out”, PedroDevyL quickly became notarized by bloggers and Execs as the “Reinvention of the Atlanta Sound”. Calling their style “Frenetic Swag”, bloggers noticed the wild and energetic lyrics over large and imaginatively DaredevyL produced tracks, causing more artists to want to collaborate and work with the two.

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