New Music: Q. Parker (featuring Dondria) - "Keep On Lovin'"

Q. Parker of the Grammy Award-winning group 112 shares the release of his new single entitled "Keep On Lovin'" featuring Dondria.

Produced by Ghost Kid and Rico Love, "Keep On Lovin'" samples The Deeles' 1987 classic "Two Occasions".

Dondria Interview: New EP "Perspective", Launching Health & Wellness Podcast, Poetry Book & More

For R&B singer/songwriter and artist, Dondria, the last two years have been a productive season of metamorphosis and reinvention! After going through a healing, explorative time, she’s back to her first love, music, and steering her career with a renewed purpose, self-awareness, attitude, and direction. To kick off 2023, she has released a new EP, Perspective, on her newly formed company, Awe Me Entertainment, in partnership with 630 Productions.  She pours all her love, joy, trauma, and pain into the eight new songs available on streaming platforms.

TERRANCE: First, congratulations on the release of your new EP Perspective. Talk about the thought process behind it.

DONDRIA: Thank you. So, this project is, I would say, was a very inclusive one. Every song is written by myself and my co-writer and executive producer Josh Bias. We're also really good friends, so I'm grateful that he made space for me to just talk about my personal experiences and maybe even how I was feeling that day. A lot of these songs were written in real time and I was going through a breakup at the time.

TERRANCE: If there's one particular song that speaks to your current state of mind, what would it be?

DONDRIA: That would be "Let It Be". I call that song my re-introduction song. Kind of accepting that yes things have happened with music and the experiences have not all been great, but I still love music. I will never not love music. So, just with the wisdom I have and the knowledge that I have gained over the years, I'm ready to do it again. I'm ready to give it another try, but this time as a different version of myself and just trusting that it will be great and coming to this space of understanding because at the end of the day, music will always be my first love. This is where I live. This is my vehicle to impact, inspire and motivate the people, so we're gonna get to work.

TERRANCE: What do you appreciate the most about what Avery Wilson and Josh Bias brought to the project?

DONDRIA: You know I have yet to do a collaboration with another female and I'm open to it. I have some things in the works, but just up to date, I've yet to do one and I feel like whenever I connect with another male that's talented and great in their own space, it's just always a beautiful marriage, I think. I love duets, male and female in particular. With Avery Wilson, he's just amazing and unique. I don't know what all to say about Avery, but outside of his amazing talent, he's a great person and he's genuine. I remember conversations that we've had earlier on before even thinking about doing a song together, about our experiences in the music industry. He's had moments where he's been let down as well and so that's where we connected and I knew that with "You And I", he would appreciate the essence of the song and that it's a true R&B, soulful record. So, I was excited to present that to him and in fact that was the first record that Josh and I wrote before we even knew there would be an EP. That was the first song we wrote and we were trying to figure out where we wanted to go from there, so that song is pretty special. And then Josh, that's my friend, that's my homie. We've known each other for over ten years and so I thought it would be nice to have something fun and something to share on this EP since we've both put so much work into it. I thought "What I Need" was kind of like our celebratory song like our trophy, like, we did it! And we do the business together because we're business partners on this project, but we're also friends and we're also artists. Like, let's just do it all together on this project.

TERRANCE: What inspired the song "Lose Myself"?

DONDRIA: I was in that space when we wrote that song in real time. There is a dual perspective, but the very first perspective was me kind of reflecting on my previous relationship and just asking myself, have I gotten what I feel like I want from this. Is this relationship still serving me? And facing the hard fact that if I wanted to continue to grow and reach where I know I'm going, I'm sorry I'm going to have to lose you because I can't lose myself again. I've already done that and I found myself and I refuse to go backwards, so that goes for romantic relationships, I've also had to walk away from some friendships and even business relationships. I finally feel like I'm free. I have the people around me to really support me in a way that I haven't been supported before. And, it's also about me leaving behind my younger self, old ways of thinking and old habits and just coming into this new woman too, because I can't operate how I use too either. 

TERRANCE: "Good Company" is one that stands out for its upbeat energy. How did that song come about?

DONDRIA: Josh and I were kind of talking and I like to have fun. I like to turn-up with my girls. I love to dance and twerk especially when music is playing. I really like to enjoy myself, but I've never really shown that in the past to my audience. They may get a little glimpse every now and then, but I've never had a record to express that before and I just wanted to be able to have some fun. Why do I gotta listen to everybody else's songs to turn-up? I wanted at least to have one and Josh was very instrumental on that because I was a little uncomfortable, but he was like, this is you and these lyrics are you and you are these lyrics, so like, I know it's something new that you haven't done before but it's not inauthentic, it's very authentic to who you are. So, that helped me to embrace it and have more fun with my music because that's who I am. I love to have a good time.

TERRANCE: Talk about the visual concept behind the music video for "Him".

DONDRIA: Yes. I had a lot of fun shooting that. The concept behind it, I definitely wanted to show, I guess like a current day situation and what was lacking from it, but also show what I felt was what my dream guy was like. How would he show up for me, how would he show me love. I wanted him to be affectionate and just tall, dark and handsome. We kind of go back and forth between reality and my dream world and it's all set on this TV show we call like a soap opera that I see on the screen with myself as the lady and he's the dream guy. 

TERRANCE: What has it been like navigating your newly formed company, Awe Me Entertainment?

DONDRIA: It's like a bittersweet thing. I definitely am empowered and I am happy to have the freedom to do what I want to do to put myself out in the world in the way I know what's best for me. It's challenging because I come from a culture of just being an artist and showing up and singing the song and wearing this and you got this photoshoot. It's challenging but I'm up for the challenge because it's kind of like the cost of being your own boss and so I'll take it. I'm learning and it's been a great journey.

TERRANCE: There's been talk that you're launching a health and wellness podcast. What can you share with us about that?

DONDRIA: So, with this podcast that's called Detox with Dondria, I wanted to create a space and use my platform to reach the people that listen to me, specifically women, but anybody can listen to it and I want us to just pay more attention to things like the expectations, the habits and the thought processes that we have or around that don't serve us. Detox yourself so that we can add more things that are in alignment with who we are and who we want to be. That's very important to me and I have suffered from depression and anxiety in the past and still sometimes anxiety can creep in and so I wanted to use this podcast to tell my story, because I'm on a journey. I haven't arrived anywhere. I also want to grow with my audience too.

TERRANCE: You're also writing a poetry book?

DONDRIA: Yes. So, this poetry book is called In the Dark. These are poems that I had written actually in the midst of my depression. It was one of the ways that I was coping with it because I didn't have anybody or I thought I didn't have anybody. I was kind of too ashamed to share with people how I was really feeling, so everybody thought that everything was great and butterflies and rainbows, but inside I was really going through it. So, this poetry was my outlet and some of the poems are a little dark and they reflect some of the pain I was in, but some of them are light and kind of my hope to where I would one day want to be. The things that I desire in my life that I hadn't had in that moment. This is a pretty special project and I call it In the Dark, because I wrote these poems in the dark, literally. But the cover is a beautiful landscape which is in connection to the cover of my EP. It's the same sky, the same grass, there are butterflies. Because I feel like sometimes, especially people that are functioning in depression, the outside looks real nice and you probably could never tell they were suffering from depression and that's how it was for me. Like, I did not tell anyone what I was really going through. Maybe one or two people. So yeah, this is really special to me and I hope that it can touch and help people relate to that space and know that they can come out of it too because I've been able to.

TERRANCE: Are there any upcoming shows or events you can tell us about?

DONDRIA: Right now I'm just working to promote. I have a play that I'm in on stage that's coming out in May, on Mother's Day. I'm kind of going with the flow. So far things have been flowing in. I talked to someone earlier about putting the intention and desire out there and then allowing it to flow back to you, so I'm just in a space of flowing and floating like a butterfly, like, we're just going with it.

TERRANCE: Overall, what do you hope listeners take away from the Perspective experience?

DONDRIA: Honestly, me and Josh's goal from the beginning of this project was to make something that people could feel. I wanted people to be able to relate to these emotions and be inspired to do something either scary or possibly end a relationship or connection with someone or something, but also be brave enough to fight for who they love or what they love like their dream. I just want them to have something they can feel and are inspired and motivated by. That's my only goal, everything else is icing on the cake. 

TERRANCE: Any final words you would like to share with your fans, followers and readers?

DONDRIA: I think I just have the attitude of gratitude. It's been quite a journey and my last EP, I dropped in 2017 and one thing about my day one fans, they support and so I'm just really grateful for them and I'm also grateful for the new people that may not have known that I've been out working since I'm independent now in comparison to when I was on a major label and they saw me everywhere, so I'm just grateful to see even those people coming back, like, oh my God I've been waiting, you know? So yeah, I'm just excited and there's so much more to come in 2023.

Follow Dondria:

www.dondrianicole.com

www.twitter.com/dondria

www.instagram.com/dondrianicole

www.facebook.com/officialdondria

www.soundcloud.com/dondria

New Music: Dondria - "Let It Be"

R&B Singer-songwriter Dondria has released her latest smooth groove entitled "Let It Be" across all streaming platforms.

Produced by Bryan-Michael Cox and co-written with Josh Bias, "Let It Be" will appear on Dondria's highly anticipated EP Perspective.

"Let It Be" follows after previous singles "Haunted" & "Take You There".

New Music: Dondria - "Haunted" (From Upcoming EP 'Perspective')

Singer-songwriter DONDRIA delivers her new offering of music "Haunted", which reminds all who have done her wrong of the karma coming their way.

"Haunted" which was produced by Josh Bias who co-wrote the track with Dondria, will appear on her upcoming EP Perspective, slated for a Summer release.

RnBJunkieOfficial recently caught up with the Songstress where she dished on her upcoming EP, how she got discovered and much more. 
See HERE!

Video Premiere: Dondria - "Take You There"

Singer-songwriter DONDRIA returns with the visual for her latest song "Take You There" which was directed by G Visual with assistance from Starr & Zu.

The sultry song was produced by First Kontact Music Group and written by Dondria & Josh Bias.

RnBJunkieOfficial recently caught up with the Songstress for an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW and she shared this about the song:

"Take You There" is the new single off of my upcoming EP called Perspective. "Take You There" on the surface is very seductive and very sexual. It's inviting you with me to a place of ecstasy on the surface. It's a song that ask the listener to allow me to take them to a place where we can be our natural and authentic selves. Our highest and best selves. We can not have anxiety or worry or we don't have to be intimidated by what people are posting on Instagram. I want people to allow to take them to that place."

"Take You There" is available for purchase on all digital music streaming platform services.

Dondria Interview: New Single "Take You There", Getting Discovered & More...

 

R&B Singer-songwriter DONDRIA returns with her new single "Take You There" from her upcoming EP Perspective. I caught up with the songstress who shares her earliest musical beginning and how that led to getting discovered and signed by Hip Hop mogul and legendary music producer Jermaine Dupri.

Dondria also share her thoughts on women in music, R&B today and much more...

 

TERRANCE: Briefly tell us about your earliest musical beginning and when did it all start.

DONDRIA: Of course. So I started on YouTube doing covers in 2006 because I just wanted to get an unbiased opinion of what people thought. Because you got your family and friends gassing you up and I just wanted to hear from strangers because I feel my friends and family are supposed to cheer me on because they love me. So I chose YouTube to get that unbiased opinion and brutally honest opinion and I've got so much from that. I kept making videos and doing covers and my thing was, I would eat and talk for two minutes before doing every cover. Some people would like it and some wouldn't.

TERRANCE: How did you get discovered?

DONDRIA: I reached a million views on multiple videos on YouTube and got discovered by Jermaine Dupri. So he discovered me and it kind of happened super fast. He hit me up and I went to him in Atlanta with my mom. We just talked about his plans and what he was trying to do and next thing I know, I'm signed and moving to Atlanta.

TERRANCE: This year marks the 10th anniversary of your debut album, Dondria vs. Phatfffat. What do you remember the most about the process?

 

DONDRIA: I mean, I've just always written music. I used to write music in middle and high school. When I got discovered, I think I had just gotten into the studio to record this music I was writing for the first time, so I was pretty new and pretty fresh on how this thing go. My story was not the artist that was in the studio with all of these songs and trying to send them to labels. I knew nothing about none of this. I literally was just going off of the people who I was blessed to meet and work with like Jermaine Dupri, Bryan Michael Cox and Johnta Austin. I just was going with the flow, you know? They have made such an impact in this game, why wouldn't I? They knew what they were talking about. So I was like, whatever you guys think and such, I'll just do it. 

TERRANCE: Were there any challenges going into it?

DONDRIA: My first challenge, I guess I would say is that Jermaine Dupri gave me a beat and he was like, write to this and that was it. I was like, wait... what? You want me to write to it for an album? He was like, yeah. So I wrote to it and it made the album and that was like my push into songwriting, because he honestly didn't know if I could write or not. Maybe he was testing me out as well, but I guess I past the test, because after that I just started to write more and more. The album came out and it did fairly well. I toured all over the country and went on 106 & Park and just did everything that I guess you would think an artist is supposed to do when they come out with new music.

TERRANCE: Were you all satisfied with the end result?

DONDRIA: I guess it didn't go how we all thought it would. I'm sure JD thought we would have made millions by this point, but it didn't quite go that way and there were different factors as to why. When he first signed me, we were with Def Jam. It's so funny looking back at it now, because everybody that's out, ten times out of ten, were discovered from the internet, but when I got discovered, that wasn't happening, so the label was like, you found her where? On the internet? Please. They were so far behind that they looked at both JD and I as if we were crazy. We didn't really get that much support to push the music because they just didn't really think it would work and because of that, I kind of had to figure out, okay what am I going to do? The most successful people have all had a moment where they were just like that. Where they had to kind of ask themselves, alright now am I gonna kind of just lay down or am I going to figure out my purpose? Because obviously I'm here for a reason. I stepped away from music publicly. I was always writing, recording and creating, but I didn't put anything out and so during that time I guess I kind of was trying to figure out how to live a normal life. It was a weird time and I was very lost and didn't know who I was. 

TERRANCE: What inspired you to step back into it?

DONDRIA: I don't know if you're familiar, but there was always a guy who used to sing with me on YouTube and his name is Broadway and we pretty much grew up together and so we were kind of like sharpening each other's pen in the studio. Just writing and writing for other people and really honing our crafts, because initially I was thrown in it. Between that and just life experiences with my love life and things I'm watching my family and friends go through. I was just writing about it. I would write poems and I would write songs. I was able to put all of those feelings and emotions into a journal. There were times when I was depressed and I would put it into the music and I think that's one of the best things because it comes off authentic.

TERRANCE: So bring us to date with your new single "Take You There" and the concept behind it.

 

DONDRIA: "Take You There" is the new single off of my upcoming EP called Perspective. "Take You There" on the surface is very seductive and very sexual. It's inviting you with me to a place of ecstasy on the surface. It's a song that ask the listener to allow me to take them to a place where we can be our natural and authentic selves. Our highest and best selves. We can not have anxiety or worry or we don't have to be intimidated by what people are posting on Instagram. I want people to allow to take them to that place.

TERRANCE: What inspired the title Perspective for your upcoming EP?

DONDRIA: The reason I'm titling it Perspective is because everybody have a different life. Things happen that one hundred percent of the population on Earth can't all agree on. Everybody have a different perspective because we are all looking at it from a place where we are in life.

TERRANCE: Sonically what can we expect?

DONDRIA: I would say the sound is very inviting. There aren't any high tempo songs on the EP which I'm not really that girl anyway. (Laughs). It's very midtempo. You can ride to it. If you wanna lay in your bed and smoke a blunt, you can. If you want to cuddle up with boo thang, you can. It's that type of vibe.

TERRANCE: What's your perspective on women in particular pitted against in the music industry?

DONDRIA: That really annoys me because we all have whatever talents we have, our personalities, all of that is different for a reason and we're supposed to be able to join those thoughts together, especially in the industry because we're not blessed with these platforms just to have them. We're blessed with platforms to spread a message and to share messages of love which is what I'm in. Some people message is to help our community be better with money. I really love that we're buying more homes and getting our credit together and start businesses. Everybody has their message and so when we're pitted against each other, it's almost like religion because there are so many. That alone pits us together, because you're Christian, I'm Catholic and he's Buddhist and I can't even keep up with all of the bickering because at the end of the day whether you call it the universe or God or whatever you call it, it's the same thing. So going back to music and women in the industry, I love Megan Thee Stallion. I feel she's doing a real good job of showing women how things are supposed to be done. So shouts out to her.

TERRANCE: Are you happy with the way R&B music is going today?

 

DONDRIA: I guess I am happy with the way it's going. Now a couple years ago, my answer probably would've been no, but I feel like I've seen a lot of progress. I am definitely the 90's R&B lover and so when this new sound started to happen, don't get me wrong I like it and I'm a fan, but I know that's not my lane. I think it's okay. I mean, we can't let things be the same forever. That's the one thing that's constant... change. I feel like you just gotta figure out how to flow with the change and that doesn't mean to sell yourself out. It doesn't mean to not be authentic to who you are, but do a little work. Do a little work and figure out how you fit into this, because if you're really trying to be a household name that stand the test of time and always be respected for your craft, that's kind of your job to figure out how to fit in no matter what the climate is. It took me a while to realize that, to be honest. I was like, what is this? What is this sound? I blame it on Drake for the singing because everybody just jumped on this sound and ran with it, you know? But it's what it's supposed to be. I'm cool with it, because I'm comfortable with who I am and what my role is.

TERRANCE: You mentioned being a 90's R&B lover and so with that said, can we expect a follow-up mixtape to last year's Dondria Duets 5: The 90's Edition II?

DONDRIA: I think so. To be honest, that's why I went back to the 90's because there hasn't been in my opinion, good enough male R&B music which I try to focus on when I do those duets, that I felt needed or deserved to be on a mixtape, because I think it slipped away for a second, but I'm definitely planning and it will be coming.

TERRANCE: Are there any artists you hope to collaborate with in the near future?

DONDRIA: Yes. I'm such a big fan of Tori Kelly. Jazmine Sullivan is my girl. I also love J. Cole, Mali Music and I think Jon Bellion is so amazing.

TERRANCE: What are your favorite things to do when you're not working on music?

DONDRIA: I love to eat. I know people be thinking I'm playing, but my nickname was not "Phatfffat" for no reason. I love to eat. (Laughs). It's so different with friends, but whether we're at the house cooking or whether we're going out to eat, I love to do that. I also love to be really active. I love bowling, skating, laser tag, that kind of stuff and travel. I love to travel to new places and learn about culture and music. Anything and everything that I haven't tried once I would love to.

TERRANCE: Can we expect any upcoming shows or tour in support of your project?

DONDRIA: Yes. I'm actually in the process of getting together a tour for Perspective. So stay tuned for that. I have some amazing music on this EP and I have some amazing artists who will be on the tour with me, so I'm really excited about it.

TERRANCE: What are your thoughts on the idea of The Millennium Tour: Female Edition?

DONDRIA: I think that would be a great idea, especially that time. Y'all don't forget now, I was putting out music too. I think that it should happen. It would be amazing if we could all be in one. So, hopefully there will be a female version.

TERRANCE: Any final words you would like to share with the readers, fans and followers?

DONDRIA: I just want to say thank you for believing in me, especially for the pre-existing listeners and followers, because up until 2017, it had been since my debut album that I had put any music out, but somehow, some way, people were still there rocking with me and asking me when is new music coming and all I was saying, it's coming, it's coming and it never came, but when it finally did, they were there to receive it. So just a thank you and even for the new listeners, welcome to my perspective. This is going to be an amazing ride. I think that I definitely am a creator of good authentic R&B music.

 

 

Follow Dondria:

www.dondrianicole.com

www.twitter.com/dondria / www.instagram.com/dondrianicole

www.facebook.com/officialdondria / www.soundcloud.com/dondria

 

 STREAM "TAKE YOU THERE" BELOW:



New Music: Dondria - "Take You There"

R&B Singer, songwriter DONDRIA returns with her new single "Take You There" on all digital music streaming platform services.

"Take You There" follows after Dondria's collaborative mixtape, Dondria Duets 5: The 90's Edition II, which she released earlier in the year.