This article originally ran in the August 2017 issue of AVN magazine. Click here to see the digital edition.
When he first got into the industry in late 2008, DeAngelo Jackson did so out of necessity. The self-described Army brat had been traveling around the world and had to postpone one of his goals—going to college—when his father was shipped to Afghanistan.
“I stayed with my mom a couple of years, took some credits while I was still over in Germany. In the meantime, I was applying to Florida State. Once we moved back Stateside, it was time for me to go to college,” he recalls. “Financially, it was a little bit more difficult. I realized I needed a job.”
With an exhibitionist streak already in him and an open mind about his body, he made a decision. “Just to wing it, I said, ‘Let me apply to a couple porn sites.’ I didn’t really think that I would get a call back,” he says with a laugh. “And sure enough, two weeks before classes started and I had to go down to Tallahassee, I got a call from Flava Works. I think I waited another week before I replied, because I was so taken aback at even getting a call back.”
The rookie was eased in slowly when the studio had him do a small event. “I had my shirt off and I was greeting people. It was really weird, but I was comfortable. I was used to having my body kind of exposed. It was eye-opening, because the people I was around were already in the industry and had done scenes. I was intrigued by it.”
About three weeks later, he went to Orlando to do his first scene—which held more significance than most first-timers go through on camera. “Prior to that, I had never done anything with a guy or a girl, so I was just a complete virgin.”
Wait … what? “Yep,” Jackson confirms. “I had done nothing.”
And there he was, walking into a hotel room with bright lights everywhere, the videographer setting things up for his big debut. “It was weird. I had never even met my co-star prior. The director asked me, ‘So, what do you do?’ I didn’t know what he meant by that. So he asked me, ‘Are you top, are you bottom, do you eat ass … what do you do?’ I said, ‘I’ve never done anything before. I’m a top, but I’ve never sucked dick or ate ass, but I’m open to it.’ So my first time ever was actually filmed,” Jackson laughs. “It was very nerve-wracking, but after I broke the ice, everything went from there.”
After his debut in 2009’s Mixxxed Nuts, he had a busy streak with the studio until around 2013. “It all moved so quickly, it was kind of like a blur. I was traveling around, going to London and Germany, I was sort of just wrapped up in it,” Jackson recalls. “After five years as an active model, I kind of grew tired of traveling, appearances and events … I was kind of burned out from it. I needed a break.”
While he wasn’t active in new scenes, he never retired his persona. He kept active in terms of growing his fan base and his followers, one of the reasons he wanted to come back. In June, Flava Works signed Jackson to a new and exclusive two-year contract.
“I had my break, I re-charged,” he says. “I always wanted to broaden my fan base. I don’t want to say I felt trapped or stuck, but I kind of did. I needed a break from it, and just listening to my fans and my followers, building up my fan base and looking at the demand for it, I said I would love to come back versatile.”
Yes, the fans have spoken: They want to see Jackson bottom, and he’s game.
“In my personal life I am versatile, but I’ve never been a versatile top on film, and I think that would be extremely hot. I’m excited for it, I’m ready for it, and when it is released it’s gonna open up another door. I am nervous, because it’s been such a buildup and a lot of my fans have been wanting to see that for a while now, so I just want for it to be hot.”
As for who that model might be, Jackson says as long as the chemistry is there, he can work with anyone. “A lot of my fans, some of them do care if he’s black. They’ve seen my work, so they know that I’ve worked with all kinds of guys … Latino, black. In my personal life, I’ve never dated a black guy. For me, I just want for it to be natural. It doesn’t matter what color you are, the chemistry has to be there,” he says.
“When I come back, I don’t want to be stuck in a box of just being a ‘black porn model.’ Sometimes you kind of feel like you’re boxed into one sort of genre. ... I really wanted to branch out from the ethnic-type niche. That was something that always bothered me, but I was
just a baby in this, so I wasn’t going to say anything. I always just
wanted to cross over, not just be stuck in a box, just be the ‘African-American co-star.’ Like I said, I’m an Army brat. I grew up around, and all my best friends have always been white. … I appeal, I think, to all guys; I don’t want to be boxed into sort of being a thug or anything like that.”
Jackson says it has gotten better over the years for models of color, but progress has been at a snail’s pace. “You see a lot of beautiful male actors crossing over, but they still have to point out the fact that you’re black, or the black cock … it’s like, ugh! It’s something that always kind of poked at me a little bit. I want for the industry as a whole to move beyond that. If a guy is hot, it doesn’t matter; but usually, he’s a black thug. Whatever. We’re still kind of stuck in that niche, the big black cock, the all-white twink. It’s something I want to try to move beyond.”
Flava Works CEO Phillip Bleicher says Jackson was very popular during his initial run with the studio, and is excited to help him take that next step. “We’re looking for some awesome guys that would be a great pairing with him that would either flip with him or top. He has done it in his private life, but doing it on film, something he hasn’t done before, is gonna be a big step for him. But he seems to be in the right frame of mind and ready to take on this role.”
Bleicher has reached out to other studios to hopefully do a cross-promotion where they can shoot one of their popular performers with Jackson, or vice versa. Flava Works also plans to conduct a fan vote once they get a list of potential performers, with the hopes of securing the most popular choice.
“He has an amazing physique. He’s beautiful, his skin is perfect. He’s nice and muscular, he goes to the gym every day, and not only that, but he’s the friendliest person, the most well-mannered person that you could meet. He doesn’t do drugs, he rarely drinks, he doesn’t smoke. He’s very sweet and humble. And I think that’s what his fans like about him, too. He’s just so realistic. He’s more of a gentle attractive guy, and he’s great to work with.”
The studio took Jackson to Brazil last year and had another trip planned in August for shoots. The new content featuring Jackson is scheduled to start releasing in September. Flava Works plans to shoot him 20 to 24 times during two years, with appearances also planned.
“He’s more mature, he knows how the operation runs, he’s progressed very well and knows how to deal more with the industry and with other models. There’s a brand-new model that we just signed, and DeAngelo was giving him some pointers about the industry, about how to better perform and look great and sexy for the camera and things like that. He’s a great model; a lot of people look up to him. I see him actually starting his own brand in the future, maybe his own underwear brand or his own website. He’s very intelligent.”
Jackson, who is bisexual, agrees that his head is in a much stronger place, and he has always been true to himself: “If you don’t come into it with your shit together, the industry can screw you up and spit you out. You really have to have a strong character about you. Be down to earth. There are a lot of beautiful guys out there, but some can be very full of themselves; that can also burn you out. You have to be humble about it.”
Along the way, he has moved past his initial career path. While Jackson graduated with a degree in criminal justice, it’s an interest that waned after he moved to Atlanta and spoke more with his brother, a cop.
“I always wanted to be a police officer when I was growing up. Once I moved to Atlanta, I saw what he was going through; he used to tell me everything that was going on. This was right on the cusp of the whole Black Lives Matter movement, [George] Zimmerman and all the stuff. So I’m looking at this, and even him being a black police officer, he has to put up with a lot of crap … my passion just kind of waned a little bit.”
Instead, he turned his energy to his body. “I started seriously training my body when I was 19 years old, that’s really where my passion lies. I would love to be a personal trainer. That’s what I’m doing now, working on getting my certification. I can train right now without having it, but my thing is, I know how to train me, but I don’t necessarily know how to train you. I look better now; I filled out a little bit more. I’m still the same, I’m just a little thicker,” Jackson laughs.
That passion has helped him broaden his fan base through social media—although that increased popularity has made it harder for him to keep his private life fully private.
“Some of my family does know. I do believe my mother just found out,” Jackson says with a laugh. “I’ve been doing it for a few years; I think that she now is becoming aware of what I’m doing. The more known I’m becoming, it’s harder to keep it secret. You know, someone’s going to say something, and that’s fine. I have yet to have conversations with her. You know, it’s your mom, so it’s like [humorous sigh] … but some of them do know about it, and they’re fine with it.”
