{"id":16289,"date":"2025-08-08T15:42:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T15:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/?page_id=16289"},"modified":"2025-08-14T14:31:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T14:31:34","slug":"deafinitely-dope","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/deafinitely-dope\/","title":{"rendered":"Faces Behind the Screen: DEAFinitely Dope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Faces Behind the Screen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DEAFinitely Dope<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve been to any music festival in the last few years, you may have noticed someone else on stage who is not the performer but is still definitely performing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign language interpreters are increasingly making a regular presence at live music events, making concerts and festivals more accessible to people in the audience who are deaf and hard of hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Return to all “Faces Behind the Screen” stories<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Photo: Clayton Hauck<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Matt Maxey is one of those interpreters and happens to be hard of hearing himself. Matt is the founder of DEAFinitely Dope<\/a>, an ASL interpreter and performance group helping deaf and hard-of-hearing fans enjoy live music. As it says on their Facebook page<\/a>, the goal of DEAFinitely Dope is \u201cto provide a platform where deaf people of all ages, as well as hearing people willing to take the plunge into the world of ASL, can unite under a brand that shows YOU\u2019RE NOT ALONE.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By making ASL more common at shows and festivals, Matt and the other interpreters in his company want to \u201cinspire families, co-workers, classmates and more to learn sign language in anticipation of better communication one community at a time, while providing the resources in making the ASL learning experience more appealing and enjoyable!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, Matt and DEAFinitely Dope received the viral press treatment<\/a> after being chosen to go on tour with Chance the Rapper as his personal ASL interpreter for live shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Skyped with Matt to chat about his tour with Chance, DEAFinitely Dope, and how to bridge the musical gap between the deaf and hearing world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was it like being hand-selected by Chance the Rapper to be his personal concert interpreter?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MATT MAXEY:<\/strong> It was crazy. I was at Bonnaroo festival and I was doing D.R.A.M.\u2019s set (Chance\u2019s co-touring singer\/rapper) and Chance was backstage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, after his set was over, Chance hit up the Access Department and was like, \u201cYo, the black guy interpreter you had, I want to meet him.\u201d I\u2019m like, yes, that\u2019s me! I\u2019m the only one here, that\u2019s me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He was like, \u201cCome to Miami.\u201d I was like, say no more. And that was it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After we got that phone call, we met him after his show. And once we met, he started talking like, \u201cOh, I was watching what you were doing, and I like how into the music you got. You looked like you were vibing with the music. What are you guys doing for the next two weeks?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I\u2019m like, uh, what you want us to do? [LAUGHS] He was like, \u201cCome to Miami.\u201d I was like, say no more. And that was it. It was all in a 15-20 minute talk, and the next thing I know, we\u2019re going to Miami to work the tour. So, it was pretty crazy and pretty fast, all in a one-day time span.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wow, life can happen really fast like that. What\u2019s next?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MATT MAXEY:<\/strong> Tell me about it! [LAUGHS] This year we\u2019re doing our own tour with DEAFinitely Dope. We\u2019ll be going around, doing workshops, teaching an ASL music camp and basketball clinic and whatnot\u2026 so we pretty much have our own agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We have worked with a few other rappers \u2014 Andy Mineo, the Christian rapper, we worked with him for Deaf Awareness Week \u2014 and we want to do more projects. We\u2019re working on hosting a few shows in Kansas City, where we hope to bring a headliner in to help talk about how we can have more people come to shows, and how the interpretation could be allowed at the shows, and how they can coexist with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems like you\u2019re trying to really bring more interpreters into the world of music with your ASL camp.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MATT MAXEY:<\/strong> I\u2019m not so much trying to bring in more interpreters, but trying to improve the quality of music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole idea started from me watching interpreters. I was like, OK, I\u2019m deaf, and I\u2019m learning sign language\u2026 why can\u2019t I understand the interpreter? If I pay for a show, and I go to the show, and I can\u2019t even understand the interpreter, and then I can\u2019t hear the rapper, there\u2019s no point in it. But if I see other people who are also deaf or who have more knowledge of hip-hop, and I see how they interpret, and I enjoy it far more, then why not try to spread that around? Because I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not the only one who feels that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“I feel like it\u2019s easier to just identify as deaf because if I say hard of hearing, it gives me too much leeway. People think I hear more than I actually can.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve almost got to make it like you\u2019re performing it, too, because the way you act it out, the way you show me is how I understand and how other people understand, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not only deaf people. Autistic people use sign language, too, so there are so many other people that could be learning, just from \u2014 I guess you could say, our way of interpreting music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel like it impacts more people than just simply signing ASL, where it doesn\u2019t really fit with the music sometimes. We want everybody to be able to enjoy the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rock shows may be great. The jazz shows may be great. The country shows may be great. But the hip-hop shows are a work in progress, so let\u2019s try to help them out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you identify more as deaf or as hard of hearing?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MATT MAXEY:<\/strong> I actually identify more as deaf, even though I\u2019m technically hard of hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel like it\u2019s easier to just identify as deaf because if I say hard of hearing, it gives me too much leeway. People think I hear more than I actually can. And instead, I feel like I have just as much love for sign language as I do for talking. So I\u2019d rather just say I\u2019m deaf, instead of hard of hearing and making it more confusing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When did you start learning ASL?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MATT MAXEY: <\/strong>I grew up doing speech therapy, all the way from elementary school until my last year of high school. Gallaudet University was really the whole introduction to sign language and it took about three or four years before I really started to get the hang of it, because I was so used to talking in the hearing community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More people will start to say, \u201cHey, this should be part of the show \u2014 I went to another show, and they had sign language interpreting. Why don\u2019t y\u2019all?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I felt like pretty much all the ASL students. I had no idea of what to expect. But I was just really stubborn and stayed in the community and used music to help me learn. And here we are now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you immediately gravitate to music as a way of practicing sign language?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MATT MAXEY:<\/strong> Yes, because I couldn\u2019t talk with anybody! Everybody [at Gallaudet] was deaf, and I\u2019m here talking, but nobody can hear me. And nobody knew what I was signing, so \u2014 who was my friend? Music. I just always listened to music \u2014 Jay Z, Kanye, DMX, everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, you dropped out of Gallaudet and started delivering pizza for a while. Then what inspired you to start DEAFinitely Dope?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MATT MAXEY: <\/strong>As I was working, there was always difficulty because as a deaf person, it\u2019s harder to get a job. And it\u2019s harder to get a good job because there\u2019s always communication problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s always the ADA law. You\u2019re technically supposed to hire [non-discriminately] or provide equal access. But, if there was a manager and I couldn\u2019t hear them, it was always just more frustrating for everybody involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, when I started thinking about it, I was like, yo, there\u2019s nothing in society for the Deaf culture. There\u2019s nothing in the mainstream. There\u2019s nothing people can wear and be like, \u201chey, I\u2019m DEAFinitely Dope. I support the Deaf community. I support the Deaf culture.\u201d There is nothing at all. So, the more I struggled, it woke me up to the thought that there was a need for something in the mainstream to spread awareness or at least start a discussion. Like, \u201cOK, what is sign language? What is the Deaf community? Oh, they can sign music, too? Oh, they enjoy concerts. Oh, they play sports, OK,\u201d and it just kind of opens the doors. Really, the idea just grew organically on its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How do we make music more accessible to people? How do we make ASL become more of a common thing at concerts?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MATT MAXEY:<\/strong> That\u2019s part of our goal with DEAFinitely Dope. We\u2019re trying to become the premiere go-to for concerts and festivals. If you host a show, you call on DEAFinitely Dope, and that way we can provide you with an interpreter that fits each genre. You get the best quality interpreting that we feel will meet our standards and your standards too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think a lot of it is really just spreading awareness. The more you show it on social media, the more you make the use of sign language interpreters more available, the more it\u2019s exposed, the more it\u2019s seen, the more awareness, the more change is actually going to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Being deaf is cool. It\u2019s just really what you make of it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

With festivals, concerts, and shows, if you look back 10 ago years to now it\u2019s a lot of progress. There\u2019s still a long way to go, but there\u2019s been a lot more progress. Social media helps. Word of mouth helps. ASL is a growing language, that helps, too. There are more ASL programs in schools. That helps. So, it\u2019s pretty much organic, and, honestly, the way it\u2019s been going, the more you just talk about it, I think that\u2019s the best way change can come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More people will start to say, \u201cHey, this should be part of the show \u2014 I went to another show, and they had sign language interpreting. Why don\u2019t y\u2019all?\u201d Those are the kinds of questions that start to come up, then it\u2019s like, OK, we need to raise the bar. It\u2019s a different ballgame now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s one of the biggest misconceptions hearing people have about deaf and hard-of-hearing people?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MATT MAXEY:<\/strong> \u201cCan you read my lips?\u201d [LAUGHTER] That\u2019s probably the biggest one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But honestly, I think the biggest misconception \u2014 a lot of hearing people have made it clear to me that they always feel unsure about how to approach a deaf person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once you\u2019ve got your mind set on something, I feel like it\u2019s for a reason. Follow through and find out what that reason is.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Deaf people really just want to be a part of the hearing world, too. They want to communicate. So, they will figure it out by any means necessary. Whether it\u2019s typing into a phone, whether it\u2019s writing down, whether it\u2019s teaching you how to sign the absolute basics, just to get the message across, they will put in the effort to communicate 95% of the time. And I feel like, with the hearing community, a lot of them are so scared to make that jump and actually just try to have a conversation instead of freezing up and stopping once you hear, \u201cOh, he\u2019s deaf? She\u2019s deaf? Oh, I\u2019m sorry.\u201d What are you sorry about? It\u2019s the reality. We\u2019re cool with it. You can be cool with it, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the best thing about being deaf?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MATT MAXEY:<\/strong> Selective hearing. [LAUGHS] I sleep through the night like a baby. I don\u2019t have to hear anything I don\u2019t want to hear. I don\u2019t even have to talk if I don\u2019t want to. I can just be like, hey, I\u2019m deaf. And they\u2019d be like, oh, OK, I\u2019ll write it down \u2014 thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being deaf is cool. It\u2019s just really what you make of it. And at this point, I\u2019m 29 now, so it\u2019s like, nothing else you can do but laugh at it, to be honest. It\u2019s a reality, it\u2019s who I am, it\u2019s a part of my identity. So, hey, sometimes I hear you \u2014 sometimes I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But never should you let that bring you down. Never should you let that stop you from doing what you want to do because even now with this DEAFinitely Dope journey, so many people have been telling me, \u201cNo. You can\u2019t do it. Don\u2019t do it. Do something else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve got your mind set on something, I feel like it\u2019s for a reason. Follow through and find out what that reason is. And that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We would like to extend a huge thank you to the Matt Maxey and DEAFinitely Dope for the opportunity to conduct this interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out deafinitelydope.org<\/a> and keep an eye out for ASL interpreters at the next live show you attend!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matt Maxey is one of those interpreters and happens to be hard of hearing himself. Matt is the founder of DEAFinitely Dope, an ASL interpreter and performance group helping deaf and hard-of-hearing fans enjoy live music. As it says on their Facebook page, the goal of DEAFinitely Dope is \u201cto provide a platform where deaf people of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":10721,"parent":15848,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16289","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFaces Behind the Screen: DEAFinitely Dope<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Matt Maxey is the founder of DEAFinitely Dope, a company that provides sign language interpretation for live music events for deaf and hard of hearing fans. 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