When Dakota Shafranski first started making music, it wasn’t to chase fame — it was to survive isolation and mental health struggles. On a spring day in 2019, a raw, melodic hip-hop track called “Don’t Leave Me Here” shot the Wausau local from underground obscurity to international virality.
Thirty million YouTube views and 18 million Spotify streams later, Shafranski now has fans worldwide and an inbox flooded with messages from people whose lives he’s saved, but he has yet to set foot on a stage. Behind the hip-hop moniker “Coldsteeze” is a 29-year-old from Wausau who uses his personal battles and darkest moments to help heal strangers across the globe.
Dakota’s defiant musical journey started long before these accomplishments. When Dakota was young, his family moved to the Weston area from Merrill and Dakota was enrolled in the D.C. Everest Area School District. It was a new environment with new people, but it wasn’t long until elementary schooling finished, and Dakota moved once more, this time into the Wausau area at the age of 10.
“I think at first [transitioning] was initially challenging as a kid, because you meet some friends and then you move to somewhere else and then you have to meet new people,” Dakota said. “What I loved about it was that it’s such a small town that it’s not too hard to meet people.”
But Dakota’s mother, Tracy Shafranski, recalled their reality in Weston from a harsher, more contextualized perspective.
“He grew up in the Schofield area kind of in a dumpy trailer park. It was hard for him at first because … he was the only mixed person in that area, and at his school, he got picked on a lot,” Tracy said.
The combined stress from moving, isolation and bullying heavily impacted Dakota’s mental health during his elementary years, eventually leading to a severe mental health crisis and a stay at a local health care center.
“I was diagnosed with bipolar depression, which is kind of a weird thing as a kid. It’s kind of confusing,” Dakota said.
Amid these fluctuating life factors and a critical mental health diagnosis, Dakota was given the proper tools, stayed resilient and found a new personal outlet through music. It became his steady ground, and Tracy knew his love for sound was distinct.
“It was funny because when he was real little, he would listen to [rock or R&B] with me, but I would go check on him and he would always be playing different music,” Tracy said. “Something you wouldn’t hear little kids play, like jazz music, and he always had headphones in … I remember he kept pushing for a laptop this one year, and he kept saying ‘for music.’”
Years of absorbing music went by and Dakota eventually took inspiration from hip-hop greats like Kid Cudi. By the start of high school, with no guidance except for YouTube videos and his own tinkering within music software, Dakota took the first leap in making his own melodic pieces for the world to hear.
“The start of freshman year … I initially sat there and I’m like, ‘Hey, I kind of want to be remembered in a way,’ but I’m also listening to music heavily, a bunch of different artists, different genres, and I’m like, ‘You know what, maybe I’ll give it a try,’” Dakota said.
Throughout high school, Dakota experimented with different genres and styles of music in his own time. He posted clips to Facebook and took feedback that was given, but through it all, he didn’t let his lived experiences drift too far away. It wasn’t until 2018, a few years after graduating high school, when he decided to go all in on making music, simultaneously using his creations to spread awareness of mental health.
“There was an artist named XXXTentacion, and he would rap a lot about mental health and things like that. I would end up finding beats and from there I would just kind of, ‘Hey, I want to rap about mental health and depression and suicide awareness,’ and it just kind of picked up,” Dakota said. “I got my first 100,000 views around that time, and from there I was like, ‘Oh yeah, we have to stick with this, this is what people want to hear.’”
His early tracks that gained traction shared lyrics like “And ever since you left it hasn’t been the same, you told me from the start that you weren’t going to play these games,” revealing the depths of Dakota’s personal feelings.
“At first I felt nervous. I felt like it’s kind of a diary,” he said. “You don’t want people to read that or hear about it, but I felt like I would be vulnerable in a way. Eventually I would open up more and it seemed to be what people wanted to hear, which was insane to me. I fought that feeling, but just kind of went with it.”
After a year of making music, Dakota’s vulnerability on the track “Don’t Leave Me Here” earned him virality on multiple platforms, record deals from music industry giants like Universal Music Group and listeners of all ages flooding his comments. His secret was revealed when he came sprinting into the room with his phone in hand to show his mom, Tracy, the numbers.
“[I was] shocked,” Tracy said. “Very shocked. But ... overly happy. He was always one that when he wants something that bad, he will do anything to get it. He will fight, he won’t stop until he gets to that point again. Like ... that ... I ... I just ... I can’t even put into words how proud I am of him.”
Today, the “Don’t Leave Me Here” music video on YouTube sits at 26 million views and 9 million streams on Spotify. With such breadth, Dakota has received personal messages of all sorts — some degrading and hateful, but many others sharing life-saving gratitude for his music.
“It felt very intense because there’d be a lot of ... people that just wanted to use me as a stepping stone to get to a point where I was at and it just gets overwhelming ... and then after that, you never hear from those people again,” Dakota said. “And then obviously at a larger scale you’ll deal with more hate just because it’s more widespread.”
But for Dakota, the life-saving feedback outweighs the messages focused on self-gain.
“I’ve talked to hundreds if not a thousand [people], like kids struggling in school to veterans to all sorts of different types of people. Like ‘Hey, you’ve really saved my life,’ and it’s hard to believe,” he said.
“One of my favorite things is when people will message me like ‘Hey, I don’t listen to you anymore, but I’m married now, I have kids and I’m doing great. I’m not having suicidal thoughts anymore,’ and just seeing the evolution of them over years. It’s just one of the greatest things about it.”
This impact on listeners grew entirely online, as Dakota hasn’t performed his music live — yet. Nervousness and anxiety still remain a barrier that he hopes to someday overcome. As for the future of his “Coldsteeze” branding, it’s about overcoming these invisible battles to amplify the impact and reach of his music.
“I definitely want to collaborate with artists, give myself more of an image, put a face to the music I’ve been making and do even smaller venues or concerts,” Dakota said. “I’ve definitely had offers before and I just kind of say, ‘Hey, I’m sorry,’ or I don’t reply and it’s not because of anything bad, it’s just I just get really nervous and I don’t really know what to say because I’ve never done it before. It’s held me back on a lot of opportunities … But I really want to break through that … [Performing] is one of the final pieces to the puzzle. I’ll feel way more complete.”
Another barrier in the way of connecting with a larger audience is a misconception some hold of Dakota’s hip-hop/rap and trap discography.
“I wish people understood him and gave him a chance and sat down and listened to his music,” Tracy said. “A lot of people think of the old R&B, they think of the gang stuff and that, and that’s not what his music ever was. He was never that type of person. He’s just out there trying to help everybody along with himself at the same time.”
Ultimately, Dakota’s music cuts through negative rap stereotypes and misconceptions to find those who can benefit most from his words. In an age where so many are desperate for human connection, it’s artists like Coldsteeze who are reminding the world that no one has to fight alone.
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