Kriti Mehrotra
Although not much regarding the background, upbringing, or personal experiences of OneFour’s Dahcell “Celly” Ramos is known at the moment, we do know he is this hip-hop group’s founding member. Thus, of course, it appears as if he too grew up in the suburb of Mount Druitt in Western Sydney, Australia, all the while proudly identifying as a Mormon of Samoan descent, like his fellow bandmates. In fact, some reports suggest he essentially grew up alongside Jerome “J Emz” Misa and Spencer “Spenny” Magalogo, with J Emz’s younger brother Pio “YP” Misa plus Salec “Lekks” Su’a joining them later on.
“If I was to describe Cell,” youngest member YP candidly expressed in Netflix’s ‘ONEFOUR: Against All Odds,’ “yeah, it’ll be – – he’s a loose cannon. He’s just… You know, had it really rough growing up.” To this, J Emz matter-of-factly added, “See, Celly, he always had talent in rap. He loved rapping,” which their Moorebank-based Street University youth counselor Esky actually elaborated upon a bit later. “He wanted to use his rap skills to paint a clear picture of what it’s like to grow up in the Housing Commission” of an already disadvantageous area, Esky said, which is why he formed the drill rap band.
But alas, everything turned upside down for Celly in July 2018 as he, YP, and Lekks got involved in a messy brawl with two men at the Carousel Inn in Rooty Hill, West Sydney, New South Wales. According to CCTV footage, he’d ended up wielding a heavy hammer against one of them, leaving him unconscious and bleeding, soon resulting in his official indictment on three special charges. These were two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm, plus wound with intent to cause grievous hurt, for which he was ultimately sentenced to 10 years in prison without parole for 6 in 2019.
Celly Has Since Gained Freedom and Reunited With His Group
Despite the fact Celly would have become eligible for parole in December 2024, he appealed the sentencing against him on the grounds of it being too harsh — he’d received the maximum penalty. It initially didn’t appear as if this matter was going anywhere, yet once it was clarified he was remorseful and had rehabilitated following a tough childhood leading to substance abuse as well as ongoing depression, a judge ruled in his favor. Therefore, around March 2021, his term was shortened to eight years behind bars, with absolutely no possibility of parole for a total of four years and nine months.
After this decision was made public, OneFour’s Instagram page shared a formal statement on Celly’s behalf, reading, “Just wanna give a big thanks to the heavenly father, family, friends, the people at AC Lawyers for making this outcome happen, and everyone that was behind me. I’m thankful and glad to say that my appeal was won and my sentence was reduced.” He hence served the required time and was released on parole in early June, shortly upon which — the 7th, to be precise — he reconnected with his fellow bandmates and shared a video of the same, seen above. This honestly made it evident Celly is excited to continue developing new raps, laying down sick beats, as well as essentially making more music that represents the core truth of who he really is.
Read More: Lekks: Where is the OneFour Member Now?
