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Talent on Tap – If You Can’t Get Enough DRU Has the Answer

Music is life! Birds singing thousands of years ago may have inspired it, but we embraced it and made it our own. It’s evolved and it’s become a universal language that we all recognize. If you are a music artist, then you’ve helped to keep the machine running and your contributions are so appreciated, so thank you!

One amazing music artist that has been contributing most of his life, is none other than the Juno award winning and multi-talented, multi-dimensional, multi-faceted and always evolving, DRU! With his latest release of the track, Can’t Get Enough, you will have a reason to turn up your stereo again! This song brings the ‘FUNK’ back that we all love and miss so much! His R&B will always build a bridge to your heart, your home and on the dance floor.  It’s been said… that the music video has a high energy, edgy & sexy vibe that DRU brings naturally & with ease, and I couldn’t agree more.  Directed by Charlton Visuals, DRU busts out his dance moves from yesteryear when he was with the Juno Award winning R&B group, In Essence.

Can’t Get Enough may inspire you to turn it to 10 but please don’t blame DRU for the noise complaints, instead tell them that this artist also has an album coming out this month and you’re buying bigger speakers. The Rebirth 2020 is a chest of treasures that every R&B music lover will need to have. DRU is a natural entertainer that has earned a seat at the table with the best of the best! His singles are burning up the charts and I think I hear the Junos knocking. In 2020, DRU teamed up with Hip hop artist M.O. Littles for the single, “TILL THE MORNING,” dubbed the song of the summer. 

This seasoned performer took the stage on a European tour, has opened for reggae artist Sean Paul, headlined TDOT FEST, Christmas in the Square, 2020 Black Diamond Ball and was a semifinalist on The Voice Russia. This artist is unstoppable and his pursuit to bring his music to the masses in our time of need is welcomed more than ever. Let’s light this candle, drop the needle and cut a rug!

 

“’The Rebirth 2020′ comes from my heart.  It’s my re-introduction to the music industry, but I’m bringing 20/20 vision along with lessons learned.”

 

    

           

 

I caught up with DRU in Toronto, where we discussed his new video and much anticipated album.

 

HNMAG “This new track, Can’t Get Enough really brings the funk. I love it!”

DRU “I feel like that lane never dies. There’s a lot of artists like Bruno Mars and Pharrell Williams that still use that sound and I’ve always loved that sound, so I just wanna do what I love.”

 

HNMAG “Where did the inspiration come from for this song?” 

DRU “I wrote this song about 4 years ago and I started this album with this sound in mind. There’s another song, Déjà Vu that is soon to have visuals added to it. The style came from the influence and I still listen to Earth, Wind and Fire, I still listen to Roger Troutman, Sly and the Family Stone… that funk and soul.”

 

HNMAG “Will you continue to make more music like this?”

DRU “I’m always open to change and never want to put myself in a box. Currently, I’m delving into different sounds and the new album coming out will touch on a lot of 90’s, Funk, Soul… R&B with a little edge. But then again, you never know, I could change my mind tomorrow (laughing).”

 

HNMAG “The music video turned out amazing. You do some dancing with your backup dancers, which looks like fun. What was it like to put the music video together?”

DRU “We had about a week and a half to put it together. There was a lot of original planning but with Covid, we had to try and make the cast smaller. Also, with the social distancing, we had to keep changing the shooting date. Once we finally committed to a shooting date, I only had 1 ½ – 2 weeks to learn the choreography and get used to moving like that. We had shot some of the dance scenes previously and pieced it together but the bulk of the work was done within a week – 2 weeks.”

 

HNMAG “Have you worked with this director before?”

DRU “I’ve never worked with Charlton Visuals before, he’s a new director on the scene… a young kid and insanely talented. We’ve scheduled another 2 videos to shoot. He does a lot of hip hop videos, so he was pretty happy to make a Pop/R&B video and spread his wings a little from his usual street Hip Hop videos. He was able to get really creative and really have fun with it.”

 

HNMAG “The lead female dancer was pretty stunning too. She had some great dance moves as well.”

DRU “Shout out to the lead dancer, Marlie Goddard, she was amazing! There was literally 1 lead model and 1 lead dancer. Normally, there’d be a much larger production but because of Covid, we needed to keep it small and simple. She had worked with the director before and he had referred her for the video. She did an amazing job and was completely professional. We’re definitely going to work together again.”

 

HNMAG “Did you produce the track or did you work with another producer?”

DRU “The song was produced by Hollywood Pro and together we created the entire album. It’s due to come out in the spring but we’ve been working on this album since 2017 and we can’t wait to get it out. Can’t Get Enough was the first track and we intended to release it in 2020 but for obvious reasons we held it back.”

HNMAG “How many tracks are on the album?”  

DRU “There’s 18 tracks on it. I haven’t put out a full album since 2012. There’s been singles and Déjà Vu was nominated for a Juno in 2016. I put out Caroline, Like I Do, A Girl Like You; I’ve still been putting out singles but this is my first full body of work. These songs have been in the works for years, so I really wanted to get these out there before I get started on an entirely fresh new album.”

 

HNMAG “Do your songs ever reflect social issues?”

DRU “No, there’s no real social issues on this album, it’s more just about relationship issues. I did put out a song in February, Black History month with a rapper, D.O. Gibson, who won the Guinness Book of World Record for the longest rap freestyle. We were both touring in Europe and met up, he had mentioned that he wanted to do something together. The whole Black Lives Matter movement came and went; I don’t really speak on those issues too much. I like to touch on positive issues, I think there’s enough people talking about the issues in the world, so for me to go and talk about them some more isn’t really necessary. For me, I prefer to be more positive. He came to me with the song he wanted to put out called 365 and he wanted to put it out on Black History Month. I wanted to know what the song was about because I didn’t want to talk about Black Lives Matter in the song, whether I believe in it or not. I don’t want to put negative energy out there, talk about revenge, anger or any of those things. We had a good talk about it, there’s another rapper on the song – Rochester, who’s a big Toronto rapper. I was so happy when I heard the finished result of the song. Black 365 is a positive message about Black youth and how we can achieve anything if we work together. I was pretty happy about it. It’s probably the most social issue song I’ve done and I’m proud of how it went.”

 

HNMAG “Would you like to give a shout out to the studio where you did the mixing/recording?”

DRU “Shout out to Sheldon Moore, shout out to Waveland Studios in Brampton, Nick Appa and Steve Derago at Hollywood Pro; that’s the team right there.”

 

HNMAG “What do you enjoy more, making the videos or making music?”

DRU “I think I enjoy making the music more than the videos. As much fun as the video looks, but really – that 3 ½ minutes is the best 3 ½ minutes of the day and outside of that 3 ½ minutes is 9 hours of work and it’s not as much fun as it looks. With making the music, I don’t have to worry about who’s watching or making mistakes, I feel free to make music, so I much prefer to make music.”

 

HNMAG “What would you consider your biggest strength in music?”

DRU “That’s a good question. I came from a Juno award winning group (In Essence) and I used to do all the vocal arranging for the harmonies and background vocals. I think people would say that my vocal production and arranging are some of my greatest strengths as well as conveying emotion vocally and letting people feel something when I sing. I think that’s a strong trait, if I do say so myself.”

 

HNMAG “Would you consider your voice a baritone?”

DRU “No, I’ll go into my falsetto. My range is an alto, a mid level alto but I’ll flip up to a falsetto and really play with the colours of my voice also.”

DRU is a class act that brings his best every time. He’s charismatic and charming with his eye on the top of the charts. Let’s help this Canadian icon feel the love by supporting his music. It’s a win win! 

Fun fact – In Essence is the most recognized R&B music group in Canadian history. As Canada’s first all-black group, they truly paved the road and opened doors for artists like Dre and The Weekend, in terms of a Black music group getting radio play. 

 

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