Daily Inspiration: Meet Dontrece Knox

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dontrece Knox.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Well, I grew up in College Park projects. And just like a lot of my friends fell into the streets life. At the age of 14, I was busted with drugs and was sent to Augusta YDC by Judge Glenda Hachette from Atlanta’s very own Jude Hachette show. Sentence to a year I was visited by Steve Harvey, who came down to talk to the kids to motivate them. And that he did, Steve told me two things that would stay with me for the rest of my life. He Said, ” it’s never to late to change.” Then went on to say, “If you have life in your body, you can change.

I never thought I was better than any of my or better yet anybody but I knew I was special. It was things that I did that I looked back at now that strengthens my thought even more on me being special. Like when I was younger and in the streets selling drugs, every Thursday at *pm, I would leave from the streets just to go home to watch the hit show In Living Color. It was my escape to see it was more out there than what I see everyday in the streets. Meeting new friends in the mid 90’s we started a Gangster Rap Group (The Untouchablez), Dropping two underground albums with features from some of Atlanta’s Legendary Artist, such as members of The Dungeon Family & The Attic Crew. But my stardom was cut short when the CEO of the Untouchablez was arrested by the Feds and charged with Drug trafficking. Not wanting to go back to the streets, I strived on what Steve Harvey had said to me. Trying to keep my foot in the industry’s door, I got a job as a club promotor, promoting my own events.

With my street rank and the little success that came with The Untouchablez, it was easy for me to acts like 2 Chains, Dj Unk etc. for my events. Now being close friends with Multi-Platinum & Grammy award Winning producer Mr. Bangladesh (Shondrae Crawford) also had it advantages. In my 44 years of living, I have ran three different clubs with success. My biggest being a small club called JPauls in Newnan, GA, where it is promptly a white town. With this being the only Black Hip Hop club in the city, the outcome was amazing. I started a Showcase Called ( Next2Blow) which took the city by storm.to the point where I started getting calls from other establishments here in Georgia and the surrounding states that wanted me to bring my event to their town. Next2Blow became the hottest showcase in the south. And this is where my life takes a major turn. Meeting a Native from New Orleans in 2000, we put our creativity together and produced our first Dvd documentary Called (New Orleans Exposed). This Film gained National attention and a primetime spot on the News. With celebrity appearances from Lil Wayne, Juvenile, B.G and Young Money Records, the film became a must-see.

In 2009, I received a call from Vh1 and with our footage, we helped produce our first show, which was Behind The Music with Lil Wayne. Since I have went on to produced several shows such as B E T (America Vs. Hip Hop (Gangland) for The History Channel and American Kids for Nat Geo Kids. Overall I have produced 4 Tv shows and have released 6 DVD film even my Bio-Doc American Nitemare, which follows my entire life story. My wife and my family has always played a big part in my life and my success. Married for 13 years with eight kids, life can be very challenging and having that support from my wife really makes a difference. All this that I have accomplished is all without a high school diploma. I never finished school. Hell, I never even been to high school and, I not saying it’s not a very important part of our life because it is. I just want everyone to know that things like that don’t have to handicap you. It’s never to late to change.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s never a smooth road when you come from where I come from. When a kid is surrounded by fast life, drugs guns, women and of course, money, it’s hard not to get caught up in that lifestyle. From prison to being shot six times, I couldn’t see any further than that day. We all look at failure as a bad thing. We as humans, must find common ground to accept failure as a learning mechanism. But at an early age, I never seen it that way. When failure came into my life, I always wrapped myself up in a cocoon and hid myself from the outside. But how can we get that true feeling of winning if we have never lost?

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I started Freddie Mae Films with two of my cousins in 2015 and at this time, we are back in pre-production with our first Comedy feature (First Blunt Of The Day). We have different departments where we specialize in a variety of things, from Musical Videos to full features. We supply all our apparel and wardrobe for our music videos and film projects. With that being said, I am plant manager at Custom Everything owned by first cousin Bengi Fendi who is also Co-Owner of Freddie Mae Films. My Bio Documentary is one of my most proud accomplishments. My kids and grandkids can forever see, listen and watch my lifestyle and know who I was. When it comes to my creativity, that is the one thing that sets me apart from everyone. If it’s the breathtaking footage that I capture or the mind-blowing designs we come up with at Custom everything our creativity speaks for itself.

What does success mean to you?
I define success by the lives that you change. The people that you bring enlightenment too. Success can be measured in different ways and by different things but it all depends on who you are in life if you think success is three platinum albums and a lot of money. I think you need to reevaluate your thinking.

Pricing:

• Feature Film 6, 500
• Documentary 2, 500
• Custom Apparel 20-30
• Music Video Standard 400

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knoxfrank33/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dontrece
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DonKnoxx
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsWNt_cBhqVjfYrVLfNL73A/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/custom-everything-south-annex-fairburn

Image Credits
Me and My wife for Cover. (Lady With Glasses) Me & Soulja Slim Me and Beyonce Allowishes Me and Bengi Fendi Me and Cool Breeze Me & Mr. Bangladesh, D.TP , and Field Mobb Me & Pastor Troy American Nitemare Cover Fist Blunt Of The Day (Movie promo)