Rapper Davon King Comes Home To Bridgehampton For Video Shoot

Many of Davon King’s fans assume the rap artist hails from the streets of Brooklyn—based solely on his appearance and the concrete jungle that serves as a backdrop to his music videos.

But they would be wrong. The 20-year-old African-American musician actually grew up in Hampton Court, Bridgehampton, surrounded by the friends and family who took to the East End block last Sunday afternoon to support, and back up, the man they know as Devonte Berkeley, as he shot the fifth music video of his career.

“We ’bout to live out the dreamin’,” he sang out, looking into a camera, flanked by his biggest supporters. “Now or never.”

This is the road he grew up on, explained Mr. Berkeley, standing outside his childhood home, though he now lives in Mastic. And this is where he wanted to shoot his newest single, “Now or Never.”

“When I was younger, all my older cousins would be out here, hanging out all day. And now, a lot of people moved out,” he said. “I wanted to make it a big reunion, like bringing that feeling back to The Court. This video shows I’m from Long Island. I’m from the Hamptons and I’m proud of my hometown.”

The shoot was homespun in a way some would never expect it to be. The extras—Mr. Berkeley’s younger cousins and nephews—came over from across the street, riding their Vtriker scooters and bikes around the cul-de-sac. Between takes, a steaming potluck, complete with a decorated cake, stood at the ready.

“There’s a lot of rappers that made it out of Long Island, but no one really making a buzz—and no one from the Hamptons,” Mr. Berkeley said. “I feel good that I can be one that is able to take it to the top, God willing.”

Mr. Berkeley got into the rap game after his father, Peter, introduced him to the music of Nas and Jay-Z as a child. When Lil’ Romeo and Lil’ Bow Wow hit the charts, he would practice their lyrics. If they could do it, the young boy thought, so could he.

His cousin, Mark Harding, put him to the test. He wrote the aspiring musician a 16-bar rap and challenged him to memorize it.

He did.

“I was so determined to prove him wrong, that I can actually rap,” Mr. Berkeley reminisced. “So I remembered it, came back and rapped it in a little concert for my older cousins. Every since then, it just took off.”

Inspired by his own life experiences, Mr. Berkeley—who writes music by day and works for his uncle’s carpet business by night—said his songs are very personal to him. Currently unsigned, the musician is working independently, connecting with fans and potential labels through social media. His newest single, “Now or Never,” off his upcoming EP “Hamptons Life”—dropping in September—has racked up nearly 1,000 plays on SoundCloud in its first week released.

The song was born out of frustration, he said, and the hook was an assist from his mother, Cheryl Banks, during a brainstorming session.

“Ma, I gotta go now. I gotta blow up now,” Mr. Berkeley had lamented to Ms. Banks. “I want to make it. We gotta do this, now or never.”

“How about ‘Now or Never’?” she suggested.

It worked. And with the song’s video shoot wrapped, Mr. Berkeley’s dreams of making it big are more alive than ever.

“I was riding through Manhattan and I saw Nicki Minaj up on the billboard,” he said, “and I want to be on that. Hip-hop is a competition to me. If someone stepped to me and said, ‘I can rap better than you,’ I’m going to battle-rap you straight on the spot.”

He didn’t have any challengers on Sunday afternoon—just friends and family, set against his childhood home.

“Food and music always brings everyone together,” he said. “I wanted to show the family, where I came from, everything. I’ve never felt this confident about a song.”

For more information on Davon King, visit soundcloud.com/yung-loco.