DUJON, “Success”

Toronto native Dujon follows his ambitious 2009 mix-tape “19 Steps To Success” with five-track EP “Success,” showcasing the rapper’s skills as producer and frontman—as well as autobiographical songwriter. In opening track “Illi Intro,” he reflects on the early days: “DJ by the sixth grade, making mixtapes, I was amazed when the shit played,” complete with a riotous “Disco Duck” enhanced vocal. On the finger-snapping “If U Were Me,” Dujon states his case, lamenting about the death of his mother: “If you were haunted by your memories, and makin’ music was the only way to set ‘em free…” but still manages to have a fine time as he jokes, “What if your name was similar to a condiment?” Overall, it’s a dark number, driven by a nervous, pensive beat, but nicely contoured with sung layered choruses. Making an encore appearance is “Everything But the Girl,” which Dujon released as a single last year, garnering radio airplay from nearly a dozen Quebec outlets. That remains his greatest bid for potential mainstream success, with a robust, upfront rap, retro New York freestyle production, swirling harmonies and a keen message that “A lot of things I already got—except a girl who I love, and is really hot.” Dujon offers a fine balance between the expected elements of hip-hop, attention to melody—which is missing from so much of modern rap fare—and enough humor to temper the rough and tumble variables of the genre. And youth is also on his side. Dujon sounds ready to evolve into the main course.

- Cortney Harding, Billboard Discoveries

Everything but the Girl

This song was written, produced, performed and recorded by myself, Dujon Walker. It was recorded at my home studio, which I call ‘Studio DHB’, in Toronto. It was then mixed by Darius Szczepaniak, and mastered by Steve Benford at Rouge Valley Studio, also in Toronto.

The song was created in the summer of 2009, while I was working on what was going to be my first official album. As I was going through my collection of old beats and half-finished songs to see if there was anything album-worthy, I came across a beat I made a couple years before. I felt that it had some potential if only I changed a few things and worked on it a bit more. Using my MPC1000, a MIDI controller, a few soft-synth plug-ins and Cubase SX 3, I tinkered with the beat for hours. By the next day, it turned into a completely new beat, which really liked, and inspired me to write lyrics to it right away. After I spent a couple days penning the words, I rented a Neumann microphone and started recording.

The way I record when I’m by myself is to set Cubase to loop infinitely while I recite the lyrics, keeping only the last take. So I would press record, run in the booth, and record a vocal part over and over again until I’m satisfied with my performance. Cubase also saves all the previous takes so I would usually cut and paste parts from previous takes if I’m still not 100% satisfied with the last one. Once the song was recorded, I immediately called up a former college professor of mine, Darius Szczepaniak, to mix it. Darius is a platinum award winning producer and engineer, who’s worked with the likes of Sum 41, Aaron Carter, Kardinal Offishall, and many more. Needless to say, working with Darius was not cheap. Because of that, I told him that I would mix the majority of the album myself and I only needed him to mix the songs that would be released as singles, and this was one of them. And with that, I took the session to Rouge Valley Studio to be mixed on a big, beautiful SSL mixing board with tons of shiny outboard gear. It was mastered a few days later by Steve Benford, another former college professor of mine. Like Darius, Steve is also a world class engineer who’s worked with many artists from major labels. On June 22^nd, 2009, the song was released to radio through AM to FM Promotions to be played on all major radio stations across Canada. It was simultaneously released worldwide on iTunes and all other major online retailers through Tunecore.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Listen to the song on YouTube

The project continues to showcase Dujon as an experimental multi-talent, both alternative hip-hop artist and producer. The Intro is an electronic-sounding production piece that features Dujon’s typical lazy and laid-back flow. If U Were Me is a chilled-out, introspective jam with supporting vocals by Ashley Nicole. The production and rhyme style on Hollywood Luv are characteristic of Dujon’s unconventional rap style that features melodic production landscapes and a flow that blends seamlessly with the production landscape. Everything But the Girl is more fast-paced than the rest of the EP but retains the signature electronic and relaxed tempo feel that encompasses the EP.

To read the full review, click this link.

Also be sure to read their review of my “19 Steps to Success” mixtape while you’re at it!

My debut EP, “Success” is now available for $5 on all major online retailers (iTunes, Amazon, etc).

Click here to listen to the whole thing online for free.

Album credits:

Illi Intro

Written by Dujon; Produced by Dujon for DigitalHeart Beats; Recorded by Dujon at Studio DHB; Mixed by Dujon at Studio DHB; Mastered by Steve Benford at Rouge Valley Studio

If U Were Me

Written by Dujon; Produced by Dujon for DigitalHeart Beats; Recorded by Dujon at Studio DHB; Additional vocals by Ashley Nicole; Mixed by Dujon at Studio DHB; Mastered by Steve Benford at Rouge Valley Studio

Hollywood Luv

Written by Dujon; Produced by Dujon for DigitalHeart Beats; Recorded by Darius Szczepaniak at Rouge Valley Studio; Mixed by Darius Szczepaniak at Rouge Valley Studio; Mastered by Steve Benford at Rouge Valley Studio

I Hope Ur Bad

Written by Dujon; Produced by Dujon for DigitalHeart Beats; Recorded by Dujon at Studio DHB; Mixed by Dujon at Studio DHB; Mastered by Steve Benford at Rouge Valley Studio

Everything but the Girl

Written by Dujon; Produced by Dujon for DigitalHeart Beats; Recorded by Dujon at Studio DHB; Mixed by Darius Szczepaniak at Rouge Valley Studio; Mastered by Steve Benford at Rouge Valley Studio

Executive Producer: Dujon A. Walker

But Dujon?! W….w….Why is called “19 Steps to Success”?

First of all, stop stuttering. Second of all, its 19 tracks and my album is called “Success”, DUH!

Download it here: www.19stepstosuccess.com

As you may or may not know, my first single, “Everything But the Girl” was released to radio and online music stores on June 22. As of right now (almost exactly a month later), the song is in rotation on 9 stations:

1. CIXX-FM – 106.9 FM London, ON
2. CJAN-FM – 99.3 FM Asbestos, QC
3. CFVD-FM – 95.5 FM Degelis, QC
4. CIPC-FM – 99.1 FM Port-Cartier, QC
5. CJBE-FM – 90.5 FM Ile de Anticosti, QC
6. CHOE-FM – 95.3 FM Matane, QC
7. CHRM-FM – 105.3 FM Matane, QC
8. CFLM – 1240 AM La Tuque, QC
9. CFIN-FM – Passion FM 100.5 FM Lac-Etchemin, QC

A big thanks goes out to all these stations, I love you!

In other news,

I just finished my first album. It’s 9 tracks, about 30 minutes long, so I guess you can call it an EP – I call it “Success“. After 9 years honing my craft, the album is finally in the mastering stage right now, and should be out by the end of August/early Septemeber.

To help promote the release of the album, I’m putting out a mixtape in about 2 weeks time called “19 Steps to Success“. It’s 19 songs (about an hour in length) of all the best unreleased material we’ve cooked up over the past few years. All the beats are original DigitalHeart Beats productions, so it’s really more of a free album than a mixtape. It features guest appearances from Erik Flowchild, Gyasi Omari and many others.

For more updates, follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my RSS feed!

The song used in the vid is my new single ,”Everything but the Girl”, which is being released on June 22nd.

Check it out!

Click here to view the embedded video.