Meet the man who's a Pittsburgh gym teacher by day and a champion battle rapper by night
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher lives a Clark Kent lifestyle. He's a gym teacher by day and by night, a recording artist and champion battle rapper.
Trevor Weller starts his day as the gym teacher at Lincoln Elementary School. He's been with Pittsburgh Public for 14 years and loves every second of being in a child's life. That means keeping his second passion a secret from students.
"It's so fun, you know what I mean? They have such good energy, such positive energy. They get over. You learn a lot from the kids the older you get," Weller said.
After the final bell rings, Weller becomes the music artist and battle rapper "Real Deal" at a recording studio in Bloomfield. Weller started rapping his senior year of high school. He's currently working on his seventh album over the past decade, and has had his work used locally on Pittsburgh SportsNet.
"Tedious process, but it's cool to be able to teach and then come right over here. It's awesome," Weller said about his job and passion.
While Weller doesn't want his early stuff even seeing the light of day, his current work has benefited from his battle rap reputation. Battle rapping is exactly as it sounds: two people rapping and taking shots at each other in the process.
"The funny thing about battle rappers is 99% of them are like the coolest people you would meet, man. They are so chill," Weller said.
That's where the "Real Deal" has made a name for himself as a four-time rap battle champion, competing around the world and in more than 200 battles in the highest leagues. But to his students, he's just Mr. Weller living out his dream.
"I always thought it would be very hypocritical for me to preach to kids 'follow your dreams, chase your dreams,' and then act as if doing something I loved stopped me from doing something else I love," Weller told KDKA.
He'll tell any students who stumble upon his videos that they have him mistaken, just like Clark Kent.
