Mello-D and The Rados

Mello-D And The Rados

Hip-hop band Mello-D & the Rados was founded by Darnley “Mello-D” Hodge in Richmond, Virginia in 1996. Mello-D was born August 1, 1977 in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1980, he and his family moved to Alexandria, Virginia. At the age of nine Darnley started playing clarinet and saxophone. He also began rapping. In 1995 Mello-D graduated from Mount Vernon High School and accepted a football scholarship to Virginia Military Institute. At VMI football training camp he suffered a knee injury and eventually transferred to Virginia Commonwealth University where he had been accepted into the School of Mass Communications. During college he started playing keyboards and bass and eventually started a band called "The Desperados" which eventually became "The Rados" and finally "Mello-D & the Rados". Mello-D & the Rados quickly earned a reputation for putting on a thrilling live show with performances all over Virginia and Washington, D.C. In 1998 Mello-D graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a B.S. in Mass Communications. He played in the Jazz program at VCU and he also competed in track and field. In 2000, Mello-D moved back to the Washington, D.C. area where he currently lives.