GFM Fam should be familiar with the work of DB2 from his work with Anais Aida(Gravity and Say You’ll Go covers). DB2 is an artist/music producer who just graduated from the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU. He has recenltly produced a 9-song EP entitled Settle For Greatness as a collaborative effort with hip hop artist Najee The 1. Their first single was just released via Jay-Z’s Life + Times.
DB2 and Najee The 1 recently chatted with GFM about the project.
GFM: The title of the project and final track on the set is Settle For Greatness… for me it was an immediate attention grabber, can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind it?
DB2: Najee and I have been interested in the word “greatness” for quite some time and in the process of understanding the subjective nature of its definition, we fell in love with it. To us, greatness is a state-of-being where you constantly push yourself towards excellence; you are constantly growing, bettering the things that you do. Settling by contrast is a much more passive word. It is the action of accommodating yourself, to be conformed or comfortable. Even though it sounds oxymoronic, this figure of speech has become our lifestyle. We have adapted it to essentially everything we do. From the music we make to the way we carry ourselves, we will not settle for anything other than greatness.
NT1: You live before you create. Gather inspiration then reveal it as you feel. So, I was in a space where I was looking to push myself and really take it to the next level. Inspired and ready to elevate, hence the intro title. It just so happened that my bro Marat was telling me about this talented producer from NYU for a while. Let me tell you, this is after not too many successful attempts at putting the original yet to be titled album together. I finally met DB2 and took some tracks to check out that night. We had the same vision and great things started to follow.
GFM: Tell us a little bit your collaborative process for this project.
DB2: The collaborative process has been very effective since day one. Everything we’ve managed to do has been a byproduct of a mutual friendship that built itself organically. The same way we’re able to just hang out and talk about random things without any sort of effort is also the way we make music. There are lots of ideas thrown in the air; some are executable, some have to be watered-down. In the end, we always come to a resolution. Both me and Najee try to bring out the best out of each other. It’s almost like a friendly competition to see who can be more artistic but there is no loser. (more…)
From his work as musical director for artists such as Maroon 5, Eminem, Jay-Z, Janet Jackson, Drake, Mary J. Blige and Kanye West, and many others, Adam Blackstone is truly a musical force to be reckoned with and what’s just as amazing as the list of acts he’s worked with is the fact that Adam has done what would seem like several lifetimes of playing and producing at age 30. (more…)
Yeah, we know it’s “Valentine’s Day” but who said we gotta pay Cupid some damn tribute!!!! If you’re one of those lovesick puppies and hopeless romantics looking for your fix on V-Day, we got your fix but it sure as hell ain’t what you think!!! On this day of love, we wanted to send Cupid a special mixtape! A list of songs that really express our deep passion in the subject of amour. So if love has kicked you in the ass, made a complete fool of you, had you crying like Lenny Williams and broadcasted your shame all over Facebook and Twitter, then welcome my friends to our official “F!ck, Cupid,!!” mixtape!! A Valentine’s mix that is sure to have you burning down someone’s car and lighting a cigarette afterward!!!
And Cupid, in case you missed our sentiments, let us say it again……….”F**K YOU!!!” (in my Cee-Lo voice) (more…)
In the latest episode Bloomberg’s new series, Game Changers, the focus is one Mr. Shawn Corey Carter, aka Jay Z. Love him or hate him, it’s a pretty amazing story and you’ve got to respect the entrepreneurial vison… and execution.
“….. he is opportunistic, but from the very beginning he’s been very strategic as well”
– Josh Tyrangiel, Editor of Bloomberg Businessweek
Great new documentary from Kenny Burns, lifestyle specialist and key influencer who has been responsible for the promotional success of Monica’s “Miss Thang,” Jay-Z’s “Reasonable Doubt” and many others… who then stepped out on his own orchestrating the double platinum selling girl group Dream having the highest debut for girl groups at #2 on the billboard charts. Kenny also served as Vice President at Mariah Carey Monarch Music and Roc-A-Fella Records respectively.
