Fresh on the heels of his recently released single, “Good Mood”, which features grandson, De’Wayne made his debut at Bonnaroo 2022. The Houston native had previously performed at Governor’s Ball, Bottlerock Music and Arts Festival and Sunfest, along with his own U.S. headlining run earlier this year. The new music, along with the recently released “Die Out Here” is his first new material since last year’s debut release ‘Stains’. Of “Good Mood”, De’Wayne explained, “Good mood explains what’s been going on in my head over the last few years being able to sit and observe and most importantly learn how I’m going to infiltrate in the most beautiful/raw way. No matter how hard life and doubters kick you
down, you go harder than them. I would say the overarching theme is to get to it by any means necessary.” Noting his long time friendship with grandson, he went on to explain, “my true feelings about this is pure joy… it was just perfect timing. We got the drums going, and he hopped on the mic and bodied it. I laid down a verse, he laid down a melody, and we cooked the whole night. It was awesome.” De’Wayne’s started performing at age 12 when he got his first lead song at his local church. “Singing in front of people, f**k, I got turned on man. I was always very insecure and could never say what I felt but holding that mic, having people listen…” he felt seen. Alongside a crash course in Houston rappers from his dad, it wasn’t long before De’Wayne was writing his own tracks. It was when De’Wayne moved to L.A. at 19-years-old that he would discover alternative rock and became a disciple of the words and voices of legends from 90s grunge to indie rock. The sounds resonated with De’Wayne and set him off on a path to making his own brand of alt-rock.
De’Wayne speaks with B-Sides host Pete Mar at Bonnaroo 2022 about playing the festival, how the community of black artists in rock music have supported each other, his collaborations with POORSTACY and Grandson and more.
