Neima Abdulahi and Brii Renee of The Appeal Unfiltered sit down with Mr. 217 to discuss his success story, challenges, and spiritual journey.
Nosakhere Andrews is a rapper and producer born and raised in East Atlanta, GA. As a child, he was primarily brought up by his mother, Denita Slaton along with the help of his grandparents. At an early age, he became drawn to music and started reading sheet music by the age of nine in his 4th-grade music class. Three years later, he joined his school’s marching band and began to pursue his artistry. He started producing and writing his music and from then on, he continued his talent.
However, as a teen, his life became very challenging. His brother was arrested and taken into custody when he was only 12 years old. With the absence of his brother, he became rebellious towards his mother, which caused her to put him out of the house at the age of 14. He, then, moved to live with his grandparents but those circumstances only gave him more lenience to do what he wanted in the streets. Nosakhere began to build a reputation for himself as an artist by performing in clubs at the age of 16, under the name “Mr. 2-17.” His stage name stemmed from his then admiration of well-known rapper, Young Jeezy, also known as “Mr. 17-5.” He wanted to remix the acclaimed rapper’s moniker and make it his own, so Nosakheretook the numbers from his birth month and birthday and came up with “Mr. 2-17.”
As a young artist, Mr. 2-17 continued to write music, create beats, and perform at clubs while going through the common stages of life such as graduating from high school and going to college. However, college wasn’t for him. So after 2 months, he decided to quit and start working. He held many jobs until he landed his big break as an intern with Street Execs/Street Money in 2014. He worked as the cameraman and social media manager for the late, Bankroll Fresh. Throughout his internship, he and Bankroll Fresh became very good friends. They created plenty of music together including the hit single, “Walked In”, produced by Mr. 2-17 in 2015. This single, which sparked the drive for Mr. 2-17, was the pivotal point for his career as an artist and producer. However, on March 4th, 2016, tragedy struck the Street Execs family and Mr. 2-17 lost his good friend to gun violence.
The death of Bankroll Fresh impacted Mr. 2-17 greatly and caused him to reevaluate his music and life overall. He began to write more music that expressed his spirituality, instilled in him by his biological father, Bryant Andrews. He states that the mission of his music consists of three main points: “To praise God with his talent; show that good music does not have to be about sex, drugs, and money; and spread the message of God in a fun and creative way.”
Recently, Mr. 2-17 released his debut album, “Peace Up”, and is currently working on more music – and even films to come in the future. He is on his way and an artist to look out for.
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