Deanne Dawkins

Mini was born Deanne Dawkins on October 22, 1987, in the island of Kingston, Jamaica to parents Cleveland and Euleta Dawkins. Growing up in a very close knit family she makes it clear that her three siblings Michelle, Dahlia, and Robert are her best friends. Being inspired at an early age by her father, she always loved to entertain whether through rapping, singing, acting,or comedy. Deanne moved to Brooklyn at the tender age of seven with a big dream and a lot of expectations on what the Big Apple had to offer. It was a life changing experience for Mini as she met dance teacher, and choir director Ms. Deborah Kennedy and step team coordinator Johnny. She was apart of the step group called the Lady Steppers, and has done a hand full of shows, and entered many competitions throughout her four years at Middle School P.S.399. At age ten Mini started Walt Whitman Junior High where she met her media teacher Mr. Foster and fell in love with filming, which she continued throughout her three year Junior High School career. At twelve years old Mini started South Shore High School, where she joined the women Vikings soccer team. Between playing soccer and wanting to find her true calling, Mini auditioned for a few acting agencies. She got accepted to all of them and later turned them all down because they got too expensive for her parents to afford. One of her biggest auditions was for the movie network Starz, in which she was the youngest person from New York to make it to the final eight out of about fifty two people before being cut. She also auditioned for B.E.T. new faces search, BET music mega star, and auditioned with little sister Dahlia (star) as a duo dance group at Show Time at the Apollo, but was not chosen as one of the finalist for either. Not being discouraged Mini got back focused on music. This time she was 18, approaching college, and wanted to be taken seriously as a female rapper. She met with a few underground producers to start making mix tapes and learning the dos and the donts of the industry, what to expect and the behind the scenes of the glitz and glamour. After a couple of songs under her belt and ready to be heard she tested the waters. She teamed up with manager Shauntelle Nelson who saw her vision and quickly joined her movement. With her manger in tow, Mini performed for the first time at a talent show at Medgar Evers College, the College she was attending. The results were so positive that she performed at another Medgar Evers event and then she did a basketball tournament later on that year. Mini, younger sister Star, and older sister Michelle set out to make Mini music as popular and as successful in New York as anyone you might hear on the radio. They pressed their own CDs and sold them at different events and shows. Recently Mini has entered the realm of acting in the upcoming film titled "Remember Me". Even though it's a small role, she made the best of it with intentions of doing more screen work.