Devi Dev is a Radio/TV personality and wife of Texans lineman Duane Brown (Instagram @DeviDev)
HBO’s Hard Knocks takes an inside look at the lives of player’s both on and off the field. Often times viewers are introduced to family members and spouses that hardly share camera time during the NFL season. When the Texans are on HBO, hip-hop fans will recognize a familiar face that doesn’t play on Sundays. Texans lineman Duane Brown is married to Devon Anjelica, more commonly known as Devi Dev. Anjelica has worked with SiriusXM and MTV in the past, and her interviews have been shown on major news programs like Good Morning America.
Here’s the details on Devi:
1. She’s Got California Love
Devi is the voice of hip-hop in Houston, but her heart will always be in California (Instagram @DeviDev).
Devon Anjelica was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended college locally at Cal State Northridge, majoring in broadcast journalism but leaving before earning her degree. Her first gig was with 93.5 KDAY, where her voice and personality stood out. After working on-air and as Music Director at KDAY, the station changed formats, forcing a change.
She moved to Houston, and became the host of the midday show for 97.9 KBXX. She crushed her time slot, earning her a trip to New York for a short time as the co-host of Sway in the Morning, the early show of satellite radio station Shade 45. She also appeared on MTV, hosting a hip-hop show called POV. Shade 45 and POV increased her visibilty, enabling her to interview some of the industry’s biggest names on the regular.
Currently Devi can be heard daily on iHeartMedia’s 93.7 The Beat, where she is also the Music Director. She also appears weekday mornings on Houston CBS affiliate KHOU channel 11.
2. Kanye Gave Devi Her Biggest Break
In 2006, Kanye West became a national figure after making comments regarding then-President George W. Bush during a Hurricane Katrina telethon. West was showered with negative publicity, and refused to do extended interviews. Kanye was going through a tough time in his life, and had just released his fourth album, 808s and Heartbreak. One day in LA, Kanye wanted to do an interview at KDAY, and Devi got the assignment. What happened next was an interview that lasted over two hours, where Kanye touched on fashion, relationships, and his music.
On a radio blog, Devi wrote about her experience interviewing Yeezy. “My station didn’t have a live morning show so I get a call around 6am…saying to get up and rush to the station because Kanye wants to talk,” she wrote.
“I make it in to the station and the label says ‘20 minutes that’s it!’ Well I believe in talking to artists for as long as they want to talk to me so I had no plans of wrapping it up as long as it was going well. Kanye ended up staying in that studio with me for almost 2 hours. The rep was pissed!”
Anjelica’s interview skills are considered some of the best in the industry. She does excellent research, and gets rap artists, normally known for tough exteriors, to open up about their struggles.
3. Brown Went From Twitter Follower to Husband
Duane and Devi have been married since July 2012 (Instagram @DeviDev).
While working in Houston, Devi informed her listeners she would be having her birthday party at Houston nightclub Venue. One of those listeners happened to be Houston Texans tackle Duane Brown, who had become intrigued by Dev’s personality and twitter avatar. He reserved a table at Venue the night of her party, and slyly introduced himself. After exchanging numbers on twitter, Duane invited her to see the A Tribe Called Quest documentary.
Duane and Devi continued to see each other when they could, but Devi was in New York at the time. Four months after that first date, Devi was invited to a listening party in Los Angeles, and invited Duane to tag along during his bye week. Little did she know, Brown sprung an elaborate surprise engagement, complete with her mother and best friends in attendance. The Browns were married in July 2012 in an outdoor ceremony outside LA. Brown’s party included Texans players, while Dev’s guests included Charlamagne Tha God and Slim Thug.
4. Devi Believes in Empowering Women
Anjelica has started a program to mentor young women in the industry (Instagram @DeviDev).
Anjelica makes it known that she is a female succeeding in a male-dominated industry. She states in bios that she succeeds despite “she herself never had any female mentors.” To combat this, Devi co-founded Power Play Women in 2013, a service where Dev can connect with young women in the industry and provide them with guidance.
The young women who are chosen to be mentored by Power Play Women work directly with Anjelica and her co-founder, gaming executive Christine Krzyzanowski. Women who are chose are given written assignments and must keep a journal. They receive personal Skype mentoring sessions bi-weekly, and are advised in the program for three months.
5. She’s an Avid Meditator
Devi believes in searching inward, and is learning to teach meditation (Instagram @DeviDev).
Devi does interviews with some of music’s biggest names, the person she asks the most questions is herself. Anjelica is big into meditation, and believes it is important to balance yourself. Last summer, she took a five-day trip to Sedona to practice meditation. Before that, it was a ten-day travel with author Deepak Chopra.
Devi is so into meditation, she’s learning how to share the experience with others. She is in the process of getting certified to teach meditation, and hopes to share her passion with others for years to come. Between now and then, expect to see Devi (and Duane) on your TV quite regularly, starting with HBO’s Hard Knocks.