From Kentucky to California, the passionate R&B Singer/Songwriter Da'Ante releases his long-awaited and desirous single, "Loving You."
Turning to any creative venture to help mend inner-turmoil, Da'Ante faced adversity while coming out as gay within a conservative, close-minded town. Packing it up and moving to California has allowed Da'Ante's music to flourish in the way he intended.
With his debut release, "Loving You," Da'Ante mentioned that the song was his very first solo write. Also touching on vulnerability within his songwriting, Da'Ante intends to capture listeners in a state that opens their minds to further relate with his longing lyricism. With a heavily passionate ballad that wins us all over, we're drifting through the clouds alongside Da'Ante's tender words.
"Loving You" begins with calming acoustic guitar melodies and Da'Ante's melodic vocals over top of a mid-tempo hip-hop beat. As he begins depicting a situation where he's head over heels for someone who doesn't necessarily feel the same way, we can't help but find peace within this saddened message as its ever so relatable.
While the supporting instrumentals serve a modern hip-hop beat with blissful acoustic guitar, modern production effects, distant keys, Da'Ante throws listeners into this serene and heartfelt atmosphere that perfectly reflects his desirous lyricism.
We can't get enough of the passion and heart exuding from Da'Ante's debut single "Loving You," and we're eagerly anticipating more heartfelt tunes from the R&B up and comer.
Congratulations on the release of your debut single, "Loving You." Why did you want this single to lead the way of your discography and act as an introduction for new listeners?
First off thank you for liking my song it's my very first one and it means alot. Secondly, The story behind "Loving You" and why I wanted to introduce it as my first single is that it was a journal entry turned song. It was what I was thinking about and focusing on. I have this journal I write all my thoughts in and with this situation, I was in an on and off relationship with a guy who was just confusing and mentally draining and deep down I knew it would never work and I realized a long time ago that I only continued to be with him because I wanted attention and didn't want to be lonely which I wrote down and that sparked the melody to the song " Loving you is hard I feel always in the dark..." I wanted to lead with this song for my discography because I'm at this point in my life where I want to be vulnerable and transparent in my connections and with my music. I feel music these days doesn't serve the actual purpose to express yourself and what you going through. To me music is therapeutic and that's why I feel loving you is a song for everyone. Like everyone has been through this similar situation. Everyone knows heartbreak or has been in love and questioned if it would last or even if it should.
Could you tell us what your songwriting process was like for "Loving You," and what it was like writing your first single with immense vulnerability? I have learned over the years that we don't really get to know each other like we should or say we want to. We don't talk about our feelings but love to talk and help others but when it comes to ourselves we shy away. I realized I wanted genuine connections in my life and that I wanted to be transparent and vulnerable because that's growth and it takes a lot of strength to do so. With my song Loving you, I wrote out the lyrics and thoughts about my current feelings of loneliness, love, and confusion. All connected to allow me to write this song just reflecting myself in a way that other people the listeners could view and put themselves in. I feel people who grow to like my music will learn to understand me and get to know me through the song which is the goal. My writing process is simply journaling. My mom bought me a songbook that I hold dear to and that holds everything in my brain. 9 times out of 10 what's in there turns into lyrics. I listen to the beat of music on a higher frequency being a dancer so I can find the pockets of the song I hear from the instruments or the beat being played. Which makes me write songs fast. It started with loving you and then next thing you know I have 8 more songs i"ve written and coming soon with!
Speaking on the instrumentals within "Loving You," do you perform the instrumentals as well? How did you reach your end-goal in terms of the instrumentals? I do not actually! Although I am learning how to play the acoustic guitar I use Beat Star and buy beats from producers. The ones that catch my ear have an acoustic guitar and hip hop r&b beat mix to give it that sultry sensual vibe. If I had to describe my type of music or sound it would be bedroom pop vibes or sad pretty boy music! all jumbled in one!
What changes has your music career seen since moving from Kentucky to California? How has the move inspired you to create more music? So in Kentucky, my music career was non-existent. I would always write music and lyrics but never actually had the courage to record a song and put it out to the world. that confidence truly came from getting on the plane and moving to California. I wrote to love you on the plane ride here. I also live with a bunch of artists and each one out of my 40 roommates has inspired me to grow as an artist to show who I am. I came to La as just a dancer but getting to know and collaborate with people in my house I started to tap into my artist journey! The move has inspired me to write more songs by the response my song loving you has gotten! Over 20,000 followers and listeners on Spotify. But before all that I wrote loving you the first night I flew to L.A. because the flight here just had me thinking about a new start and chapter and letting go. I finished the song and laid it down in the studio. After that, I was in a creative headspace and ended up writing a total of 8 more songs in which I'll eventually release a little EP or album. I also had a spiritual awakening back in Kentucky that opened my eyes to what I needed to do.
What has been your biggest source of inspiration while creating new music this year? My biggest source of inspiration was having a spiritual awakening back in Kentucky that opened my eyes to what I had to do. Which was dig deeper. This year going through COVID has made me look inside myself and want to be more vulnerable and transparent in my daily life as well as my artist one. I'm the type of person that doesn't talk about my feelings often and I can write them down better than I can speak them. So the idea of making music and letting that in a way be therapeutic and vent worthy to me has been amazing for me. While doing that I wanted to give my listeners an outlet to let them know that being vulnerable and letting what's going on in your head out onto paper and giving it to the world will make you happier might touch someone else or spark a conversation or create a movement to talk about your feelings. Especially to my black and gay men, we tend to not dive into our feelings or mental health and I think that's because we tend to brush that off. I want my music to combat that and allow other people to let go of their past traumas and live their lives fully authentically. Musically I am inspired by Aaliyah, Frank Ocean, Billie Eilish, Jhene Aiko, Kehlani, mixed with Jeremy Zucker and Conan Gray! I have a lot of influences and those are just some off the top of my head who've I've been taking notes and studying.