Lil Dicky

David Andrew Burd (born March 15, 1988), better known by his stage name Lil Dicky, is an American rapper, comedian, and actor.

Burd graduated summa cum laude in 2010.

After college, Burd relocated to San Francisco, California where he worked in account management at the advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

After reimagining his monthly progress report as a rap video, the company brought him to work in their creative department, where he wrote copy for ads such as the NBA's "BIG" campaign.

Burd says he initiated his rap career "simply to get attention comedically, so [he] could write movies, write TV shows and act".

However, he "fell in love with rapping" and says he's "not leaving that game until [he's] proved [his] point".

Burd began working on his debut mixtape, So Hard, in 2011.

The mixtape took Burd over two years to finish because he still had his day job at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners during its development.

He first received recognition after the music video for his 2013 song "Ex-Boyfriend", became a viral hit—earning over one million views on YouTube in 24 hours.

Burd recorded a majority of his early material for So Hard on his MacBook Pro and a $400 microphone; in 2013 he began releasing one song per week for five months straight.

On April 23, 2013, Burd released the music video for his song "Ex-Boyfriend", the mixtape's leading single.

The music video received one million views within 24 hours of being posted on YouTube.

Burd then began releasing new songs and music videos in a series titled Hump Days.

Following the release of 32 songs and 15 music videos, Burd launched a Kickstarter, stating, "I've officially run out of money... In a nutshell, you are funding phase two of my rap career."

The month-long crowdfunding period began on November 20, 2013, with the goal of raising $70,000 in order to enable Burd to create and produce more music, music videos, and go touring.

The Kickstarter well exceeded its target, raising $113,000.

He received his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 for his 2014 single "Save Dat Money" (featuring Fetty Wap and Rich Homie Quan), which also received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Burd held his first live concert at TLA in Philadelphia on February 19, 2014.

Burd signed with CMSN for management that same year.

He planned on "having two concurrent careers going on, as a rapper, and as a comedian/actor/writer".

The song preceded his debut album, Professional Rapper (2015), which peaked at number 7 on the Billboard 200 and was met with favorable reception.

Burd released his debut album Professional Rapper on July 31, 2015, and features artists Snoop Dogg, T-Pain, Rich Homie Quan, Fetty Wap, Brendon Urie (Panic! at the Disco), RetroJace and Hannibal Buress.

After graduating from high school, Burd began attending the University of Richmond, where fellow 2016 XXL Freshman and rapper Dave East also attended at the same time.

Burd appeared in a 2016 Funny or Die video "Watch Yo Self" with Mystikal and Trinidad James.

On June 13, 2016, XXL Magazine released the 2016 Freshmen line-up.

It included Burd, along with Anderson .Paak, Kodak Black, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, Dave East, Denzel Curry, Desiigner, G Herbo, and Lil Yachty.

On April 12, 2017, Burd released a music video for "Pillow Talking".

In 2018, his song "Freaky Friday" (featuring Chris Brown) reached his furthest commercial success, peaking at number 8 on Hot 100.

The following year, he released the charity record "Earth", which enlisted guest appearances from entertainers such as Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, Kevin Hart, Wiz Khalifa, Charlie Puth, Katy Perry, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The song and its accompanying music video were intended to raise awareness on environmental issues, with its monetary proceeds going towards charities focused on such matters.

Both songs were panned by critics, particularly the latter.

In March 2020, Burd and producer Jeff Schaffer created Dave, a television comedy series based on Burd's life, for FXX.

The show ran for three seasons and was met with positive reviews.

Burd was born in Cheltenham Township on the north border of Philadelphia and grew up in an upper-middle-class Jewish family in the Elkins Park neighborhood.

He was born with "a tangled urethra" and hypospadias, in which the urethra does not open from its usual location in the head of the penis, requiring multiple surgeries.

Burd's interest in music started when he was a child, listening to hip hop and alternative rock.

He began rapping in the fifth grade after doing a history report on Alexander Pushkin using rap music.

In his youth, the rappers Burd listened to most were Nas and Jay-Z.

Burd attended Cheltenham High School.

Speaking about his time in high school, Burd said "I was a pussy. I was really awkward looking. I wasn't getting any girls at all, but I was very class-clownish and I got good grades."