David Zamarripa was born in 1983 and raised his whole life in Colorado. Though his father lived in Ohio, David would spend most of his time with his mother in Colorado. The times he did spend with his father he was able to see him be an on air Radio DJ (Mr. IZ) in a small town college radio station (WBGU 88.1 FM, Bowling Green). Growing up his parents were all about education and not so much about following dreams. So it was because of this that David worked to complete high school as well as held a full-time job. He always knew the value of a job and what it meant to work hard and because of that he held several jobs and positions: Retail (where he worked up to being a manager of sorts), fast food, Sales (which he felt he was never good at), manual labor (built fences and drove forklifts), security (which he again worked his way to holding a team lead position), tried his hand as a mechanic (ended up only being a “garage mechanic”), and finally ended up following a hobby and started working in the IT field while pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Networking. David had many dreams of becoming the next big rap star as he grew older. Those dreams would eventually give way to his passion of becoming an on air DJ personality. Whether it was on radio, or with an online station David knew his heart was set in music.
During his time in high school, David got involved with some rough characters and started to stray away from his passion for a while. It was during this time that he was able to tap into his creative and courageous side. It was with these people that he began to write rap rhymes and start to create a personality suited for later in life when he would eventually find Strange Music. Falling in love with the message of the struggling artist (something he saw with the crowd he was hanging with), and it was then he decided to help this struggling artist spread their message. While trying to hone his rhyming skills David met several individuals that would later be key in helping David see that his passion was what was going to give David what he wanted, a happy life working in a field he loved: music. It was also during this time David would experience some of the most difficult hardships of his life. Loss of friends to death, school shootings, and a terrorist attack. Although David was trying to express himself in music with his rhymes he was just never able to express himself fully. Having a difficult relationship with is mother, and a practically non-existent relationship with his father really didn’t help matters either. So it was here where David became involved in alcohol and drugs, and really just lose sight of everything in life. Thinking it would help to set him on a better path David signed up for the Marine Corps the same year 9/11 would take place. Though David would never make it to boot camp (an injury to his knee would force him to medically disqualify) and this combined with the anger he felt after the attack on his country would push David to the edge of madness. This would further fuel the fire that had started in his soul, this fire would become the basis of what would become his drive to follow his passion in music.
After high school (which he would barely graduate) David would spend many years just getting lost and trying to find who he really was. Never knowing what to do in life and where to go he would often turn to alcohol and Marijuana. This would plague his life for the next 7 years until he would meet his future wife. While working for a car alarm install company he would meet the woman that would make him want to change for the better. During a very interesting courtship David would go through one of the hardest hardships he would face, losing his paternal grandmother just after rekindling his relationship with his father. It is here where alcohol and drugs would surface again, and take hold for another 4 years. Once David and at the time girlfriend would get through this hardship they would eventually move in together and David would once again try to straighten out his path in life. During this recovery period, music would resurface and it would resurface with vengeance.
Going through this time in his life, David would continually come across people in the music industry and unknowingly make much needed connections. These connections would help him with deciding where to take his passion in music. It was here where David would decide to try and start writing rap rhymes again. While keeping his music close David would eventually enroll in a college to pursue a degree in another interest of David’s: computers. He would follow this interest for a great while and secure a really good position with a great company and finally find a degree of happiness he hadn’t felt since he first met his wife. Though he would not feel complete unless he was playing around with a home DJ program. At some point David would make the move to attend Colorado Media School, primarily on a push that came from deep within, like it was his lifelong calling. David would also come across Strange Music, more specifically a rap artist named Tech N9ne. Hearing Tech’s delivery skill and messages often portrayed in the music, David would then find a new passion which would be to help the starving artist. Combining these two passions would be a no brainier, and the connections David had made during his time of darkness would now come in handy. It was with these connections and drive that would propel David onto a platform he would only dream of as a little kid. It is here where David feels his life truly begins.
