DK, DePaul’s own homegrown hip-hop MC, greeted a packed crowd at Chicago‘s Lincoln Hall April 9. Along with his counterparts DJ Step and drummer Kevin Kreller, DK opened for artists affiliated with the comedy-rap label Turquoise Jeep Records. Drawing positive responses from his audience, DK carried himself with the assurance of a seasoned performer during his nearly hour-long set.

“You could tell he’d been on stage before . . . everybody seemed to be having a good time,” said Lucas Barnes, a DePaul senior, who attended the show. “I had never actually really listened to his tracks before tonight . . . I had only heard of him around DePaul.”

Although DK’s name and logo are recognizable from the self-made flyers plastered all over streetlights and electrical boxes on DePaul’s campuses and beyond, few people know the individual behind the alias: 21-year old senior and graphic design student Dan Kozerski. Kozerski found his interest in and began his pursuit of hip-hop in his “middle to upper-class, very tiny, two-square mile” hometown of Northville, Mich., while still in his sophomore year of high school.

“At the time, (my music) was very basic,” said Kozerski. “People looked at it as more of a novelty because it was honestly pretty bad.”

After moving to Chicago to attend DePaul in 2009, DK issued several low-budget Internet releases. In the fall of 2011, he released what his official website called his “first properly engineered and recorded mixtape,” “Shy State Of Mind.” Three of this mixtape’s tracks – “Can You Hear Me Now,” “Summertime In The City” and “Be Somebody” – received airplay on the GO-ILL Radio program, hosted by DJ Timbuck2 on 107.5 WGCI, a Chicago hip-hop station. Several of DK’s music videos have also been featured on locally and nationally read hip-hop blogs, such as Chicago‘s own FakeShoreDrive.com, as well as YouHeardThatNew.com and FreeOnSmash.com.

DK’s latest release was the four-track EP “Outside.”

“(The project is) really based around the idea of just being open to different things,” said Kozerski. “I think that the majority of my music is positive, and I try to keep an encouraging message.”

DK also feels that the EP’s emphasis on having an open mind parallels his move from Michigan to Chicago.

“Part of the reason I moved to Chicago for school was because I wanted something different, and to see the bigger picture,” he said. “I think that was one of the best decisions I ever made.”

DK acknowledged the fact that he was not reared in “the most culturally diverse area” and is aware that his middle-class, college-educated background is usually seen as atypical of hip-hop artists. However, recent years have brought an influx of similar performers, and DK feels that the hip-hop community is changing.

“(It’s) more accepting, but it’s still not fully across the board, where everybody is completely open-minded about every type of MC,” he said.

Artists like DK are all part of an ever expanding and already heavily inundated music scene, where the rise of outlets like YouTube and SoundCloud has proved to be “a gift and a curse,” as he himself said.

“Now it’s really easy to put out music . . . so you’re in this larger pool of artists trying to achieve the same thing . . . I think that reaching people and booking shows is the most difficult part (of this).”

In addition to the demands of creating and promoting music, DK also manages a heavy workload outside of it. Not only does he take five classes per quarter, but he also works 30 hours a week for Live Nation Entertainment.

“It’s difficult,” he said. “I’m pretty much gone all day, so I have to make time (for music) at night or on the weekends.”

Even with this busy schedule, DK has managed to keep up with his studies all the while and will be graduating after this quarter.

DK is also focusing on new musical projects. He hopes to put out a new release by either late summer or early fall 2013 and also has a May show at Lincoln Park‘s Tonic Room with several other artists in the works. Post-graduation, DK has big dreams for his music.

“I’m working at Live Nation till October, so that will support me till then, but I don’t really know my next step,” he said. “I would like to keep a schedule where I can put a lot of focus on hip-hop as well as graphic design. I want to take music as far as I can.”