The first season of Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow introduced the world to D Smoke; his life changed almost overnight after championing the reality competition that Cardi B, T.I. and Chance the Rapper judged. Now that he’s had time to establish himself in hip-hop, a new panel of celebrity experts (Ludacris, DJ Khaled and Latto) has crowned a season two winner on Dec. 4, cementing his status as a reality TV icon. While beating the odds to come out on top in Rhythm + Flow is a major accomplishment for 22-year-old DreTL, he has his sights set on accomplishing much more now that he’s secured the $250K cash prize to set himself up for success.

Celebrity Judges and Other Contestants Give DreTL His Flowers

In a conversation with Tudum, Ludacris shared what inspired him to pick DreTL as the champion. “It was his heart, man. You know how in school there’s that kid that just does well and does everything good, and then you have that kid that is the most improved? For me, that’s what did it,” the legendary MC explained. “Just getting better and working [on your craft] consistently every day is going to be better than just perfection. Perfectionists may be stagnant and stable and doing the same thing over and over again. Those that are consistently trying to do better every single day, you’re going to get a little something different. And as humans, we want a little bit of imperfection. That’s who we latch on to.”

Though he came in second place, Jay Taj still has great respect for DreTL’s lyricism and passion. “I think that we see something in each other. I mean, I can’t speak for him, but I see something in Dre that is remarkable,” the former said. “And I know that there is a vast difference in the way that we present our art to the world. But the thing that is the same is: I give Jay to the world. Dre gives Dre to the world. And this is one and the same with every great artist that’s ever lived.”

Rising Rapper’s Mom Was Overjoyed To Hear Of His Win From Prison

Though his mom is behind bars, Dre was still able to celebrate his victory with her over the phone. He spoke with Tudum about being overcome with emotion when hearing her reaction to the big news. “I didn’t answer right away,” he recalled from his phone call with his mom after winning. “I was still in disbelief. After a couple seconds I was like, ‘I won.’ I just said it just like that, ‘I won,’ real calm. She’s like, ‘Dre, are you serious?’” the “High Definition” artist asked.

“Then I said, ‘Yeah, Mom, I won,’ and then I mean, she just belted out so loud like, ‘Oh my God!’ She was screaming and she just let everyone in the prison know. They all know me because I always do visitation and they’ve been keeping up with what’s going on in the show. The entire cell block just was screaming, yelling like, ‘Oh my God, congratulations!’ They were chanting ‘Dre-TL, Dre-TL,’ so that moment was just as special as when they announced me as the winner, honestly.”

After ‘Rhythm + Flow’ DreTL Hopes To Inspire and Motivate Others

Even with so much to be proud of, DreTL is glad to have advice from Latto that’s pointing him in the right direction post Rhythm + Flow – the 777 hitmaker rose to fame after competing on a reality series herself. “Her advice was like, win or lose, it’s about what you do with the moment, what you do after it. If all I do is win Rhythm + Flow, I still see that as a failure. I’m grateful that I won, but I want to be inspiring people. I want to be motivating people. I want to be helping people in life in general, not just through art. That’s why I didn’t drop out of school,” he told Tudum.

“It’s important to have a legacy that’s greater than just music. Music is fun and it’s good and it’s what I love to do, but a lot of stuff is going on in the world… I don’t really care what people’s expectations are. I don’t care about charts and billboards and plaques and Grammys. I just want to be happy. I got a little money now, and I can really be set up to do what I love to do. As long as I’m able to do that, I’ll be happy – and for whoever listens, I’m glad that I’ll be able to connect with people in that way.”