Exposed Vocals Interviews D-Reezy

Darien Davis also known as D-Reezy, is a 23 year old musician, rapper, singer, producer, and songwriter. He has a passion for any kind of music. His favorite artist and inspiration is Michael Jackson. He can write to almost any genre. He has done shows and many songs with his three brothers, in a group called Third Generation. Apart from Third Generation, he does solo projects and collaborations with other artists. His style is a fusion of East Coast Hiphop, R&B, and Pop. He has been playing piano since a very young age. He is chasing his only dream hoping one day to make it in the music industry as an artist, songwriter and producer.

Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?

 D-Reezy:  I heard about Exposed Vocals through twitter. I signed up to expand and exposed my music on the social media and the world.

 Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

 D-Reezy: I grew up in a small town in Central Florida called Cocoa. My dad is a Police officer, and my mom stayed home to raise me and my three little brothers. My mom was brought up in the church, and was that little girl with the big voice in the choir, so I guess you can say that’s where I started with my music genetically. But, as I grew up, I loved to sing, and dance, and I admired artists that nobody would’ve ever thought I’d knew, like the ones from Motown records. The Temptations, and The Jackson 5. I grew up listening to the old school classics. Then as I got older I realized I had an ear to play piano and from there it was history. I followed Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Elton John, to develop my own style. As I got older my brothers started to develop their interest in music as well and we all got into rap and hip-hop. We all had a favorite rap artist at the time, and we tried to fit the style and mold of that artist. Then one day we decided to come up with a group called Third Generation.

 Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

 D-Reezy: It’s kind of funny you ask that. I’ve honestly been through more name changes than Diddy. When I first started I was just called Dee. That was my childhood nickname so I figured I could run with it. It didn’t stick with me so I looked at my name “Darien,” and I really loved listening to Will Smith’s album Born to Reign. So I took my first initial, and reign and came up with the name D-Reign. It looked like a rap name at the time. Then I thought I really didn’t fit the name with my style of music. At the time I was following and listening to a lot of Kanye West and he had the nickname Yeezy. So I said why can’t I be D-Reezy?

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

 D-Reezy: I think it’s a great way to exposed yourself and get discovered. I give out some songs for free if there just singles apart from certain projects. I’m doing whatever I can to get discovered.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

 D-Reezy: The biggest advice I can give is, you reap what you sow. If you want to make music for just your enjoyment as a hobby, that’s fine. But, if you want this to be something that will make you money,  it takes money, consistency, and hard work. You get what you put in and sometimes the reward is bigger than the initial deposit. Get out there and network and collaborate, keep making music and give it to friends who do music as well, give it to people who will spread your name and get you connections.

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

 D-Reezy: Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, but the thing is to make it seem like it wasn’t. If you’re on stage and you mess up the words, don’t stop, keep going.

 Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

 D-Reezy: I don’t really tour that much anymore. But when we first started we did a lot of shows in a span of a couple months. Nothing is never uninteresting in my life so I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned.

 Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

 D-Reezy: I get my inspiration from God, and Love, and things that go on in the world and in my life. I usually like to sit down and just watch the world pass by. When I say that, I mean that I stop thinking about what’s going on with myself and give a deep observation to what’s going on around me.

 Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

 D-Reezy: I use Reverbnation.com

 Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

 D-Reezy: I really don’t have anything embarrassing. I don’t get embarrassed by liking a certain artist, because I listen all types of music. I’m not even embarrassed to say I listen to Taylor Swift. Music is music and if you can find a way to relate to a song, it’s like Melody and Harmony coming together in your soul.

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

 D-Reezy: $500,000 and half a year off? I’d definitely pay off all my debt. My house, my car, my girl’s car, and my student loans. I’d buy my Dream Car, which is a Corvette, build my own home studio and the rest would go to advertising, shows and venues, and music distribution.

 Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

 D-Reezy: I’ve been recording in the studio, in my parents house, and I recently moved out and bought my own home, so I plan on building a studio in one of my rooms in the house and make it state of the art. I don’t use anything special. But I can promise you the new studio I build will have all the bells and whistles.

Exposed Vocals: How do you promote your music?

 D-Reezy: Social Media makes promoting so easy. It’s not like back in the day where people had to buy your whole album in a CD store, people nowadays can promote singles, and do it all at home if they wanted to.

 Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

 D-Reezy: I would like to perform at a Superbowl, or the VMAs with Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Bruno Mars. Those are my favorite artists and we definitely put on a show.

 Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

 D-Reezy: Of course I’m coming up with a couple projects. But my brothers and couple friends came up with a new group called Vizual Mastermindz, and we have an album called ALL IN that just came out this year. This album is free to download and I’m excited to showcase all the talents in the group. We have found a way to blend each style into each song.

 Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

 D-Reezy: I’d probably be in the NBA playing ball. Basketball is my 2nd love behind music. So I know I would’ve tried to perfect my craft in that if I had to put all my time into it. I mean honestly it’s crazy to say that I’m 23 years old, I’m a store manager, I’m in school, and still have time to record, and do shows. If you love something, you do it until it’s your career.

 Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

 D-Reezy: Yeah, My first album that I bought was Bow Wow’s first album. I was like this kid isn’t but a couple years older than me and is killing these songs. I really started listening to rap after this album.

 Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

D-Reezy:It’s hard because I have a lot of responsibilities and have to make sure my bills are paid, but I make time for my music, and if I’m not doing music, I’m promoting my music on social media until I get more time to work on my projects.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

 D-Reezy: In 2016, the fans should look forward to more D-Reezy, more Third Generation, and more Vizual Mastermindz. It’s about to be June and summer time is coming up, so we have a lot that’s about to go on. Music videos, maybe a couple shows, and maybe even dropping an album from myself, I’ve already done a lot so far in 2016 but it’s not over yet.