Leesburg man works to make a name in the music industry.

The obvious perks to being a musical star are fame and money.

Demetrius Way, who is trying to make a name for himself on the rap circuit, would have no problem filling his pockets with Benjamins. However, he could do without the autograph hounds.

“I prefer money. I’ll let everybody else enjoy the fame. I just like making music,” he says.

The 31-year-old aspiring Leesburg rapper has made plenty of music under the pseudonym D Wody. Demetrius has released one album (“D Rock”) in 2010 and a mix tape (“Hannibal Lecter”) in 2012. He anticipates that his next 18-song album, “Sack Chasing,” will release in August.

He creates the beats for each song inside the comfort of his home studio. Outside the studio, he performs live at various clubs throughout Central Florida.

The independent artist hopes to ultimately sign with a record company. However, that would come with one serious stipulation.

“As long as they don’t try to change me as a person, I’ll be good. How is somebody else going to tell me how to be me? Just let me be me and tell me what I need to do,” he says.

Nobody needs to tell Demetrius what to do if his musical career fails to pan out. He recently started his own hedge-trimming company in The Villages so he can support his 7-year-old daughter, Miracle, and a son to be born soon.

“I’ve been doing landscaping for 16 years with my grandfather, and he has taught me a lot,” Demetrius says. “I’ve got to focus on this, too, because it would be stupid for me to put all my eggs in one basket.”

Demetrius was raised on the unforgiving streets of Atlanta’s inner-city neighborhoods. His playground wasn’t filled with swings and slides, but instead was littered with dirty needles and crack pipes. Gangs ruled the streets, cooking crack, shooting rival gang members, and running prostitution rings, he says.

That harsh upbringing is reflected in some of his music. And yes, his songs do contain profanity.

“Music lets me vent and allows me to tell how I feel about things,” says Demetrius, who moved in 2000 to Lake County. “I saw some horrible things as a kid, but I remind myself that those things happened yesterday and today is a new day. Those experiences motivate me to make sure my kids have a better childhood than I did.”