Young Dylan: Get to Know the Rapper and Nickelodeon Star
Music February 23, 2023
Young Dylan is ready to take over Hollywood!
The young star of “Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan” stopped by “The Jennifer Hudson Show” to chat with Jennifer Hudson about his new single, share what it was like going viral at age 6, and drop an impressive freestyle rap.
Get to know this totally talented kid!
His real name is Dylan Gilmer
Though the 13-year-old’s birth name is Dylan Gilmer, he goes by the stage name Young Dylan. Dylan was born in Annapolis, Maryland, and is an only child.
He went viral at age 6
“I just came from getting a haircut,” he said of the fated video of him rapping to Bryson Tiller’s “Don’t” that would eventually propel him to fame. “Just like a regular day.”
Dylan was only 6 years old and was missing his front teeth, but his star power shined through. “I didn’t even know what viral was at that time, so I was very confused. But I was like, ‘Hmm, a lot of people know me now, so that’s cool.’
“Looking back on it, that was a really big deal and it’s crazy to see that because that started my whole career,” he said.
He’s a Nickelodeon star
Dylan made a variety of TV appearances during his early career, including on “America’s Got Talent” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” But in 2020, Dylan didn’t just land a starring role on a TV show — the show was based on him!
Dylan has starred on the Nickelodeon series “Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan” for three seasons. “I thought I was just going to be a musician,” he said of having his own TV series. “Being produced by Tyler Perry is such an amazing feeling because he does so much. He’s so inspirational.”
He can freestyle rap
During his appearance on the February 23 episode of “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” Dylan performed an off-the-cuff freestyle rap that seriously wowed JHud!
His new single is called ‘Tik Tok’
The teen artist took inspiration from the popular social media platform for his debut single. It already has over 250,000 streams! The music video for the song took place on a school football field — fitting, as Dylan has said he always wanted to be a rapper, actor, and football player! “I was always an entertainer,” he told JHud. “I always wanted people to look at me.
“I love seeing kids happy to listen to my music and seeing me on the stage. It just makes me so happy,” he said.
He was one of the hosts of ‘The Kids Tonight Show’
Dylan was one of a handful of young performers to host Peacock’s “The Kids Tonight Show,” a version of NBC’s long-running late-night talk show “The Tonight Show,” but with kids running the show!
“We have candy everywhere! Ball pits!” said Dylan. “We just have so much energy and we bring something different to the show… We eat candy, we play games with the celebrities. It’s really fun!”
“The Jennifer Hudson Show” airs weekdays. Here’s when to watch in your area.
