Senior of the Year: Dissandou Becolli

By JINMIN LEE ‘26

As snow drifts slowly in front of the Jeremiah Smith building, a catchy kick-snare beat sets in. Illuminated by a singular lamppost in the pitch darkness, the rapper removes his hood and looks into the camera. His friends—his team—sit on the stairs behind him, watching the beat make his body flow naturally. When the beat drops, the video transitions into a classroom, where students around the Harkness table echo his rap back at him. You will often hear Exonians humming an unforgettable tune and get that sudden urge to add it to your Spotify playlist. When you ask what song it is, they’ll tell you: it’s Ranger by Dissandou Becolli.

Dissandou raps and produces his own music, and it is impossible to miss him on campus since he performs jazz concerts throughout the year and raps at every annual UnSilenced. He is also a co-head of Christian Fellowship, DJ Club, Electronic Music Club, and Exonians Against Domestic Violence. He is a verified artist on Spotify. But what links all of his activities together is his love for philosophy and theology. 

Becolli’s favorite subject is analytical philosophy, a branch of philosophy that examines metaphysics and existence. Becolli believes the world reveals its creator, God, through cosmology. Using his knowledge and philosophical interest in religion, Dissandou influences many students at Christian Fellowship. When explaining God’s existence, Becolli makes logical and secular arguments he studies in philosophy.

“My mom has always prayed with me for my whole life,” he explained, “and we’ve just seen the tangible effects of how God has helped us through many situations. But I discovered true faith alone, specifically through reading the Bible. What personally convinces me is the order of the cosmos; humans must have come to be this way for a reason. even the fact that we’re conscious beings can’t be a coincidence. I plan to go into academia with philosophy to publish my papers about God. Although I have a lot to learn, I excel at analytic philosophy, the branch that uses formal logic to prove challenging metaphysical concepts.”

Dean of Students Russell Weatherspoon, Becolli’s advisor and instructor in philosophy, also noticed Becolli’s philosophical talent: “I saw his philosophical side when he would go to the roots of definitions in our conversations about theology in advisory.” 

Becolli helps other students understand God better by having personal philosophical discussions about religion. “When I provide reasons to believe in God to someone, I suit them to that person,” he stated.

 “When I first knew him from Christian fellowship, we had a lot of conversations about religion,” echoed lower Mary Olasore, “he did give me advice concerning religion, but he also gave me a lot of advice concerning just life in general.”

Senior Vera Aimunmondion explained Becolli’s influence on students on campus: “He took on an early leadership position; starting lower year, he became the co-head of the Christian Fellowship Club. There are a lot of people who look up to him on campus. He seeks the Lord and helps other people be better people. And he lives his life to be a good example.” 

Upper King-Diorr Wilsun agreed, saying, “I met him through Christian fellowship, and we bonded over talking about the love of Christ. In Christian Fellowship, he has a very significant role. Oftentimes likes to start with the conversation or chooses to bring in some type of content or context to kickstart the meeting. He helps us contextualize the quote in a way that makes it more relevant to life at school. I believe he is a very strong Christian, as he is open about his faith, especially to those who run the club.”

Becolli is always open to having debates about his beliefs and learning more about God from his mentees. “Although he could be initially headstrong about his theological beliefs, when you bring up different Bible verses, he’ll always be happy to bounce ideas off of you,” continued Olasore: “Sometimes he mentors me, and sometimes I mentor him.” 

Weatherspoon also emphasized Becolli’s caring and curiosity: “He would always continue the exploration with whoever the person he was speaking with. Among the main things I like about him is that he is, though quiet, very personable. He has a sense of humor that never gets turned on other people. He is what I would call self-deprecating; when I say self-deprecating, that means he’s not trying to draw undue attention to himself. He cares about other people.”

Outside of Christian Fellowship, Becolli seeks to spread his faith through his music. His rap is well-known both on and outside of campus, where he blends Christian virtues and themes. Other artists and his environment inspire him. He aims to engage the Exeter community with his music and often brings his friends into his music videos. 

“I had developed my interest in rap before I came to Exeter,” said Becolli. “I got into music at 12 years old, and when I started listening to it, I knew I could make it too. But more importantly, I had many different sources of inspiration. My favorite artist is Donald Glover, AKA Childish Gambino, a singer, rapper, actor, director, dancer, and producer. He brings his own creativity to each and every one of those aspects, and it’s something I really admire, especially because I had ideas of acting and dancing before starting my music.”

“I need to also mention Cyrus,” continued Becolli. “He was a senior when I was a prep, and I admired how he was well-known in the Exeter community for his work. He was confident with what he was doing and skillful and hardworking; I wanted to be like him. During upper winter last year, I visited him at Brown University. I slept a night in his dorm and got to see him actually perform at Brown, which inspired me to perform more at Exeter.” 

“I also get a sense of divine inspiration. Recording one of my recent songs, Hallelujahwei, felt very supernatural. The feeling I got hearing the beat can’t be put into words. I just went to the studio one night and then made it on the spot without adhering to my usual process. It felt instantaneous because it was as though God was talking to me. And it was even in a style that I had never done before: Afrobeats. But it’s one of my favorite creations.”

Lower Andrew Gould, an avid fan of Becolli’s music, reflected on how Becolli’s Christian themes impacted his own life: “I met Dissandou my prep year when I wasn’t yet super into to rap. However, I remember later in that year I listened to Hallelujahwei, and I realized I had to talk to Dissandou. He finally put it on Apple Music—I told him to put it on. I listened to that song when I was feeling down in my life, and he connected with me on another level. It fascinates me how he merges rap with melody and creates this sound that ties so well into his lyrics. And I think that’s what’s the most powerful part is that he’s a true lyricist as he’s always able to take the sound of the beat and the song that truly connect with you.”

At Exeter, Becolli has found a team that supports him in his musical endeavors: his close friends. “I’m glad I have a friend like Yoni Ganza,” nodded Becolli. “He always gives me constructive criticism. He would repeatedly point out parts to improve for me. He helped me bring my music to the Spotify level. He also helped me film one of my music videos: Ranger.”

Upper Yoni Ganza agreed: “When it comes to his music, I consider myself like a critic in the way that I’m not gonna say everything he releases is good. I think that’s a necessary figure for any artist. he trusts me enough to let me tell him whether a new release is a good song or not. I’m happy I helped Dissandou film his music video.”

“It was my pleasure helping Dissandou edit his music video,” recalled senior Yoeku Sam, “Ranger is definitely my favorite out of Dissandou’s songs, but I’m kind of biased because I edited the video for it.” 

Aimunmondion also had a great experience helping Becolli. “It was a fun experience for everyone involved, and it was beautiful to see how the community would rally around to support him and be in the video,” she reflected. 

It is remarkable how Becolli strives to manage his schoolwork with his music production. Exeter’s curriculum demands rigorous work from its students, and this often creates a challenge for Becolli’s creative endeavors. 

“Focusing on academics takes a long time, but mastering and perfecting an album takes like hundreds of hours,” noted Becolli. “Sometimes, academics have taken the toll, unfortunately. Nonetheless, I find so much fulfillment in connecting with my creative side.”

When asked about how Becolli manages his time, Sam replied, “He’s a smart worker because he’s so talented. He finishes the work in the quickest amount of time possible to continue making music, and I really respect that.” 

Weatherspoon reflected on guiding Becolli in balancing creative and school work: “Trying to create poetry and rap itself involves not just method but also rhythm. That requires attention to a lot of detail, and that requires a lot of time. So, we had to spend many conversations talking about the importance of getting back to that balance.”

Aimunmondion also saw the struggles Becolli went through to produce music, saying, “I think that what drives him to be able to manage that is that he’s very passionate about what he does. And so if you’re passionate about something, you’ll find time to do it. That’s something that he’s never let up. And I’m proud of him for that because sometimes it’s easy to start something and not finish it. But he’s sustained this over the past four years, and I know he’s gonna continue to grow.”

Wilsun agreed, “He has that confidence in his abilities, which really shows in his personality. So he has a lot of faith in his vision, and I think that’s something that will bring someone very far in their life.”

Becolli’s confidence can be frequently seen around campus. He often performs on stage at the academy and plays his music in public.

“I don’t listen to that much music, surprisingly,” he confessed. “I usually listen to my own music to constantly refine it. I play it in public to get feedback from strangers, too. I performed my lower year on UnSilenced. That was my first time on stage, and people liked it because I had stage presence, which I learned from theater. I was also performing at the MLK Jazz concert. I performed in an orchestral composition, and I loved collaborating with other instrumental artists at Exeter.”

One may think that Exeter’s rigorous classes, homework, and stress may hinder Dissandou’s creative freedom. And maybe they would be right; if Becolli had more free time, his fans might be able to get more albums dropped every year. However, one must remember that Dissandou’s music stems from his love for philosophy and God. Both of these crucial parts of Dissandou’s life are at Exeter, where he inspires and learns more about himself and God through the communities he leads and finds the team that supports him. 

The very fact that Dissandou strives for lyrical and productional excellence alongside academic success motivates other students—so it is not surprising that Dissandou has a large following on campus. The next time you see him, ask for an autograph before he becomes world-famous. And the next time you watch the Ranger music video (because it is indeed impossible to watch it only once), remember that the hours spent on every single line were hours he had to make in the midst of his busy schedule. Beneath all the beautiful snow in front of Jeremiah Smith lies the assiduous work Dissandou has devoted to his music, friends, and mentees.