{"id":122388,"date":"2018-06-28T08:29:22","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T16:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=122388"},"modified":"2018-06-28T08:29:22","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T16:29:22","slug":"lat-aspiring-rapper-turns-l-a-commute-into-nightmare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=122388","title":{"rendered":"LAT: Aspiring rapper turns L.A. commute into nightmare"},"content":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles Times<\/a>: <\/p>\n

The worst qualities of Los Angeles \u2014 endless traffic and shameless self-promotion \u2014 collided in exasperating fashion Wednesday on the 110 Freeway in downtown.<\/p>\n

It happened about 8 a.m. when a husky, shirtless man in underwear scaled an exit sign near 3rd Street, unfurled several banners and began vaping, dancing and shouting through a bullhorn as thousands of motorists looked on in various states of amusement, anger and resignation.<\/p>\n

The spectacle shut down the freeway\u2019s packed southbound lanes for roughly two hours and paralyzed much of traffic downtown as police officers and firefighters attempted to coax the man from his perilous perch.<\/p>\n

By 10 a.m. officers had convinced the man to end his performance. He stood up facing the sign and did a backflip onto an enormous inflated cushion firefighters had placed below. As police escorted him away, he yelled to bystanders: \u201cI love you all!\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon after, the man was booked on suspicion of delaying a police officer, trespassing on state property and failure to obey a regulatory sign. It was also revealed that the whole exercise was a publicity stunt.<\/p>\n

Alexander Dunn, 29, an aspiring rapper who goes by the name Dephree, had been planning a big splash in advance of a music video that was supposed to come out Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

Footage of Dunn\u2019s traffic sign antics will be featured in the video, according to his close friend and manager, King Graint.<\/p>\n

Graint, who declined to give his actual name, told a Times reporter the act wasn\u2019t all about self-promotion though. The performer also wanted to deliver a message about the environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cDephree is truly, truly passionate about the environment,\u201d Graint said. \u201cHe became a rapper and wanted to be a rapper to get a platform to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the banners Dunn hung from the sign were one that read \u201cFight pollution not each other,\u201d and another that said \u201cGive a hoot, don\u2019t pollute.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third banner with graffiti-style writing simply had Dephree painted across it.<\/p>\n

Initially, Dunn had wanted to scale a traffic sign at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland, but Graint said that was a non-starter.<\/p>\n

\u201cDude there\u2019s no way you\u2019re going to fit,\u201d he said he told Dunn. \u201cYou\u2019re going to be too big. You\u2019re going to break the thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Graint was driving down the freeway and was struck with inspiration. The metaphor of shutting down the freeway \u2014 with all that smog \u2014he said, was perfect.<\/p>\n

Witnesses said Dunn was alternating between yelling about himself, love and God, and freestyle rapping. He also took breaks and would sit down and vape.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles Times: The worst qualities of Los Angeles \u2014 endless traffic and shameless self-promotion \u2014 collided in exasperating fashion Wednesday on the 110 Freeway in downtown. It happened about 8 a.m. when a husky, shirtless man in underwear scaled … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-los-angeles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t