Have you ever struggled to be understood?

Matt Maxey spent most of his childhood trying to fit into the hearing world. He went to speech therapy, avoided sign language, and thought leaving Deaf culture behind was the only way to succeed. But when he showed up at Gallaudet University — the country’s only Deaf university — he suddenly found himself in a place where everyone expected him to use ASL, a language he didn’t even know, and many labelled him as an outsider.

Instead of giving up, Matt flipped that struggle into his purpose. He went from resisting sign language to becoming one of the most well-known ASL music interpreters in the world. As the founder of DEAFinitely Dope, he’s brought hip-hop to Deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences, toured with Chance the Rapper, and even interpreted at the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show with Kendrick Lamar.

Matt Maxey’s organization, DEAFinitely Dope - https://deafinitelydope.org/

Episode transcript - https://uncomfypodcastbyu.blogspot.com/2025/10/becoming-hip-hops-biggest-sign-language.html

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

00:40 Meet Matt Maxey: Founder of DEAFinitely Dope

01:12 Matt's Journey with Sign Language

04:14 Challenges and Acceptance at Gallaudet University

07:53 Breaking Barriers with Music Interpretation

11:41 Collaborating with Chance The Rapper

14:36 Impact and Future Goals

16:12 Conclusion