EXCLUSIVE: Dylan Gilmer Talks ‘Young Dylan’, His New EP, & More with BB
Host, rapper, and actor are just some of the titles Dylan Gilmer balances at the ripe old age of 14 years old. We got the chance to sit down with the young star to talk his career, his upcoming EP, his hosting gigs, acting career, and so much more. Check out what he had to say below.
In the last four years, you’ve gone to school, hosted multiple shows, starred on your own television show, and are now prepping to release your very first EP. How do you balance it all?
“It’s a lot, but I’m truly blessed to be in this position. And how I balance it is you just have to have a great supportive system. I’m 14 years old, I’m a young man, but I still like to have fun and not always work. I feel like with the supportive system that I have with my parents, I get to balance out school with being homeschooled, and then I get to balance work and also being a kid. So it definitely helps having a great supportive system. And you trust them and they know what you want and need.”
What do you like to do that’s not work related?
“I like to hop on my PS5. I love to play on the game with my friends. I like to stay up late when I’m not working, hop on and get my friends to stay up as late as possible. Until we’re ready to go sleep, that’s how long we stay on the game. I also like going outside with my friends. I’m a very outside person. I love going outside. We’ll probably play hide and go seek. We’ll probably chill in the clubhouse. We’ll probably go to the pool. I do a lot with my friends when I’m not working.”
It also sounds like you’re able to connect with your friends via your PS5 when you’re on the road.
“Definitely. You’re so correct. When I am working and when I am traveling, I always take my PS5 with me everywhere I go, because even though I’m not with my friends in person, we still get to be on the game and talk on the mic and play the game as we usually do.”
So let’s go back four years ago. What made you want to get into this industry? What made you say “I want to do this”?
“When I grew up, I always wanted to be an entertainer. When I was little I was always dancing in the house, rapping in the car with my father. I didn’t really know this was all going to happen because I was like five years old. I don’t even know what goes on in the business. I’m just big fans of artists and actors and I wanted to be one when I grew up. And one day, it was a regular day, I just got a haircut. Rapping in my dad’s car. And he recorded me and he posted it on my mother’s Instagram page, and that’s how everything came about. I went viral. But at that time I didn’t know what was going on. I just know that a lot of people knew me.”
You’re extremely talented at everything that you have touched. But the hosting is what stands out to me the most. It’s so hard to stand in front of a live audience and just talk. Can you tell me how you battle those nerves, if any, when you’re going into a live show?
“What definitely helped me out a lot was, before I started acting, I was performing. I always loved to be the center of the crowd. I feel like performing in front of a whole bunch of kids and a whole bunch of people, like performing on Ellen, performing on America’s Got Talent, performing on tour, I feel like that helped me a lot with my hosting. Because my two host shows were NFL Slimetime and The Kids Tonight Show produced by Jimmy Fallon, was that. It was kind of hard at first but I feel like The Kids Tonight Show definitely helped me out with hosting because I already knew how to speak in front of a crowd. It’s just how to interact with the crowd, how to keep the crowd engaged with you. I feel like that definitely helped me out a lot.
And I feel like what helped me out with my other hosting show NFL Slimetime was we were hosting in front of the camera. It wasn’t even a live audience behind us. So that helped me out a lot, because if we ever messed up we could keep going, because it’s not an audience looking at you and you don’t have to be so nervous.”
Do you have a preference hosting in front of a live audience or hosting in front of the camera?
“Ah, that’s a good question. Ooh, that’s really hard. I think hosting in front of a live audience because they really give you motivation on how it will look on TV, where people actually watch you on TV not in a live audience. So they’re giving us tips on how to do better and do better for the kids that’s watching on TV.”
How do you find the energy to be just as excited as if you were in front of a live studio audience?
“It all starts off with you getting some rest. Sleep is key to success, sleep is key to energy. So you always have to get sleep. You always have to build up your energy just so you can make a good show. I feel like that helps out a lot, getting sleep and getting some food in your system, you always have to get that food in your system also. I feel like people might stay up late because sometimes they’d be working late hours and have to do something in the morning. But I feel like sleep is definitely key for me. And I feel like just getting hyped up before you even go on the stage. For me, I always rap songs or sing songs as I’m getting stage ready to go on set. “
Let’s jump over to your EP. Can you tell me a little bit about it and what fans can expect to hear on it?
“I’m going to first start off with my EP name. It’s called Second to None. I feel like every song is different from the other song. You can get some girl songs in there, you can get some dancing songs in there, you can get some lit songs that just make you pop your head in it. And I feel like there’s one special song that I can’t really give y’all as much of because my mom might be watching, my mom might be reading, so I can’t really tell y’all too much. But it’s one special song that means a lot to me on this EP. And I’m very proud of what we have accomplished. We worked so hard and I can’t wait for it to come out.”
Where do you find your inspiration for your music?
“Growing up, Drake was my era. I was born in 2009 and that’s when Drake was going crazy. And my whole life I was listening to Drake, till this day I’m Drake’s biggest fan. So I feel like that was my inspiration and also my father. I couldn’t have done without him because he was playing the music in the car. He gave me the motivation to start rapping.”
Did your dad have his own favorite rapper that you got a little inspiration from?
“It would probably be Jay-Z, I think it would be Jay-Z.”
If you had to pick between rapper, hosting, or acting, which one would you pick?
“That is really hard. Ah, rapping.”
Yeah?
“I think rapping because I started off rapping. With acting and hosting, you have to remember scripts, you have to have it in your mind, you have to have it ready. And I feel like rapping is, it just comes off the top. And living the rapper life, going on tour, hanging out with people, seeing fans, seeing the impact that you have on kids and them screaming your name, I feel like that just builds me up. I love that. I just love knowing that kids love watching me and love reading about me. That is really cool.”
With your new EP coming out, is there a chance we may get some performances, maybe a little tour coming after?
“You got it right on the money. Yes, definitely tours coming right after this. We’re just releasing song after song after song, building up for this EP. So there’s definitely going to be a tour. We’re thinking later this year, October to December. So it’s definitely going to be a big tour. We’re going to have so many other guests on the tour.”
Besides your music, what else can we expect from you from you this year?
“Of course you can expect season four of my show, Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan. We just finished shooting Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan season four. This might be my favorite season. There’s so many great episodes this season. It’s better sets, more characters, so I love it. And you can also expect more from NFL Slimetime, maybe another season, you never know. And award shows. NFL Slimetime got nominated for an Emmy this year, so I’m really excited for that. So it’s a bunch of stuff coming, music, acting, movie, shows, just stay tuned.”
Let’s talk about that Emmy nomination. How exciting was that?
“I’m very excited and it was very exciting because I was like ‘Wow. I never knew that I would be in this position right now getting nominated for an Emmy.’ It was just insane thinking about it. And going to the Emmys for the first time was like, ‘Whoa, I’m really here.’ But getting nominated for an Emmy a second time is a huge blessing, and I hope we win the season.
Were you expecting it? Let’s go back to the first time. When you got nominated, was it something you guys were expecting?
“We knew NFL Slimetime was doing really, really good. It’s first season and second season took over the Nickelodeon with football, talking about football, introducing football players and giving them assignments. We took over. And we knew it was doing really good but we didn’t know that it was award worthy. So when we got nominated for the Emmy I was like ‘Whoa. Slimetime is doing that good?’ And that just motivated me to do another season of NFL Slimetime, because I want to keep it going. I want to win these awards.”
Let’s talk Young Dylan. What can fans expect this season?
“Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan, you can expect everything this season. Like I said, it’s new characters this season. There’s a bunch of new characters this season. It’s special bet, I’m not going to get into much of that but there’s a special guest this season. It’s new sets. And I love doing another season of Young Dylan on these different sets. I just love it. And there’s holidays episodes this season. So I’m really excited about that. Going to Young Dylan every season and doing it with the whole cast, we just built a special bond. And I just love Young Dylan so much. And Tyler Perry, this couldn’t be done without him and Nickelodeon. So I’m really blessed. Thank you, Tyler Perry for putting in the work that you did on Young Dylan.”
Do you feel like you have more say in the character now that you’ve been doing it for so long?
“I think I have more say. I feel like the writers, the director, they always ask me for my opinion, and I love that because I’m doing my own character. This is me. I’m giving them tips on what I like to do, what my flag is, what my hobbies are, and what my slang is. I’m giving them tips on who I really am. So, they definitely asked me like, ‘What should we do about this? What should we do to your character?’ So I’m glad that they asked me what to do, because some main characters on their show don’t really get that.”
What is one thing that you haven’t done yet in the entertainment industry that you want to do?
“Good question. Good, good question. Okay. So I performed on Kids’ Choice Awards, Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. I want to perform in senior awards. I want to go to the Met Gala. I feel like that’s my dream. Because even though I’m acting, hosting and doing music, I also want to get into fashion also. I would love to go to some fashion award shows. And I would definitely love to perform on different award shows. That’s my big thing that I haven’t accomplished yet. And I have so many goals that I want to accomplish. So those are probably my two things I want to accomplish most.”
For my final question for you, what are you hoping fans get from not only your new music coming out this year, but everything that they’re going to see you in?
“Just to work hard. If you put your mind in something, do it. But you always have to have people around you that you trust. Because if you want to succeed in life, it’s different steps to it. You have to build a legit team and you have to have a great supportive system. And also just be yourself, man. And if you put your mind to it.”
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Photo credit: Antwon Maxwell