Twenty something star athlete turned rapper Demetrius “El Prezidino” Doss is not your average hip-hop artist. You won’t find any mentions of kilos of coke, senseless violence or overt misogyny in his music. However what you will find is detailed stories, next level lyricism and fresh ideas.

The Philadelphia born, Virginia Beach, VA raised emcee began making a name for himself musically in 2007 with the release of his first EP The Warning and quickly followed up with the commercially slept on yet critically acclaimed Me or Nothing. Armed with clean yet edgy content and a crystal clear delivery El Prezidino a.k.a. Dino has increased his fan base exponentially rocking shows from the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia) to California.

However Dino, who got his pseudonym in high school (“People use to call me “The president” of P.O.V. (the neighborhood I grew up in, in Virginia Beach,”), did not get his initial fame from rapping. The 6’4 athlete turned rapper first caught the public’s attention on the gridiron as a wide receiver at Marshall University. During his time at Marshall Dino caught passes from future NFL standouts Byron Leftwich of the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers and Chad Pennington of the Miami Dolphins.

Though he would go on to play professionally for a year, Dino felt that God had called him to do something else with his array of talents. “I was good at playing football, but I don’t think it was my calling,” says Dino. “I heard Kanye West's “Jesus Walks”, and I wondered why more artists weren’t making music like this. And God said “why don’t you?” And at that very moment, I called up the franchise I was playing football for and officially retired.”

Dino is a fan of all genres of music and it shows not only in his lyrics (When was the last time you heard a rapper mention Jeff Buckley in a rhyme) but also in his approach to life. “With the current state of the economy, the issues going on in the world today, I think music can help. Music is the weapon of the future. If you can create music that explains complex things, and makes it easy to understand, or if you create music that allows people to forget about the cares of this world, or if you create music that people just get lost in, than you have a calling. This is why I came.”

With El Prezidino’s new digital release only EP The Illness; he aims to act on that calling. Anchored by the single “Athletes and Frat Boys,” featuring singer Daade. The song which is based around a girl who only likes jocks and fraternity members and the adventures she finds herself in is a far cry from the music that’s dominating the airwaves. “The concept of the song is fresh, real, and definitely original. So many people can identify with this song, whether it’s from the aspect of the male or the female.”

Though the first single is skewed towards the college crowd, the rest of The Illness is something that any fan of innovative, clever and witty lyrics and dope beats can appreciate. On the title track alone Dino spits more quotable lines than many emcees have on their whole album. For example “Those other artists just really can’t relate to you/cuz their drug dealing rap is so fake to you/so I put my life over keys/of a piano/ this is my ammo.” The double entendre’s and clever word play are just one aspect of Dino’s all around talent on the mic.

The Illness EP, which is distributed through El Prezidino’s label 3Fingers Music Group, will be available digitally on March 17, 2009 (through iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, eMusic, and Amazon.com) and a full length release is planned for late summer 2009. With props from Urb.com and legendary hip-hop figures MC Serch and DJ Frankie Cutlass in tow, the very confident Dino plans to make a huge impact this year. “My goal is to be at the 2010 Grammy’s nominated for best new artist,” says Dino. “I think I can have a year like how Katy Perry had last year. It’ll take some hard work, but I believe I’m talented enough and have a unique enough sound and image to achieve that level of success.” Welcome to planet Dino!