Dulanzo Talks About His Producer Origin/Style, Health Habits & More

Intro:

Dulanzo is one of the most talented Hip-Hop/R&B producers on the come-up today. Starting at a young age, the Philadelphia-based musician has been creating sound palettes & instrumentals for at least a decade. He’s excited to begin this new year strong & has tons of plans in the work. It’s rare to see a music producer with so many skills in other areas as well (more on this later). Check out our brief interview below & learn more about the multi-faceted producer.

Summary:

Me: What first got you into music?

Music has been something that has run through my blood all my life. Since I was little, early 2000s, a lot of dope music was dropping and being played at the time that I couldn’t really get away from. I was young at the time you know so it wasn’t like I was repeating lyrics word for word but I was moved by the production of Hip Hop/Rnb and these songs I was hearing. I was breakdancing growing up, 106 and park or music videos were always on the TV.

I started beatboxing a lot and I was just immersed into it from the songs to the videos I was watching. Once I got into my teenage years, I was also into EDM, specifically progressive house during that time. As I listened to all these different DJs releasing these tracks/mixes and seeing them on YouTube perform at these festivals, moving a crowd just off of the drop of a beat, my love for production just kept going up and my love for hip hop never left so about the time I was 13 I finally got fruity loops and started practicing making my own beats.

How would you describe your production style? 

Versatile/Nostalgic. I take a lot of sonics or sounds I've been a fan of growing up since I was little, put my own twist to it, then implement some of today’s sounds into it to keep it simple.

Where does your producer name originate from?

So I believe it was around like 8th grade, our English class had these notebooks where every day we would write a new story in them based on a topic we would get daily on the chalkboard. So there was one where it was like “create a mystery story” or something like that with an antagonist and protagonist. I decided to put myself in the story as the protagonist and wanted a dope hero/character name to go with me so I came up with “Dulanzo” as the name.

When I got into producing and was starting to post my beats onto Facebook, I knew I needed a producer name to go with, so Dulanzo was the name that stuck with me and since then more and more people are getting to know me as Dulanzo.

What got you into audio engineering? What project are you working on now?

I’m still early in doing my own on-hand engineering, but I know my way around the process. Having the right engineer in the room with you just makes things easier in bringing that vision you see for a track come to life.

When I’m able to get in the studio, I want to make sure the vibe of a track is approached with the right energy along with navigating the process of what could be added in or be taken out of a song. Also just making sure the room’s energy is on point because that’s a place where you could really just focus in, be creative, and have fun, so that’s my role I particularly play as of right now.

Project-wise, I have one on the way I’m producing with two artists from Philly, Heem Savage and Maine Wade, both are versatile-melodic artists who are getting a buzz in the city and I’m hyped for everyone to check that out when it drops later this year.

How does maintaining your physical health affect your career & daily habits?

Health is everything, without good health you won’t be able to operate in your career or personal life correctly. So just making sure I’m eating enough every day, getting water in, staying active, and taking vitamins allows me to stay on top of things.

Your creative process during the pandemic?

I took a lot of the time to work on improving my production skills instead of looking to work with a lot of artists early in the pandemic. To me, it was the perfect time to learn more about music theory, try out new DAWs and plugins, and just keep improving my mixing.

How has your upbringing influenced your career? Was your family always supportive?

Coming from a big Caribbean family, we had family parties all the time where the music never stopped blasting sometimes until the next day. Most of my family didn’t take music as their approach for a career but they know how music drives them. When I was younger, my parents always had music playing throughout the house during the weekends and it always varied in the genre so I was taking in a variety of vibes at an early age.

My family has always been supportive in my journey with music. Since I was a kid they saw how music hit me and knew it was something I loved getting into. So when I knew that producing was gonna be my career, they had no problems with it. They just wanna make sure that I’m able to take care of things where I’m at now along with taking this journey in music.

What are some of your favorite hobbies outside of music?

I do graphic design as well outside of music, art is just something I’m always around. I watch a lot of throwback shows and movies like Martin/ Fresh Prince/The Jamie Foxx Show or Friday/House Party/Paid In Full etc. I’m into checking out stocks and crypto and learning more all the time about investing.

Who are some of your favorite artists to work with?

Already mentioned Heem Savage and Maine Wade but I’m also working with a few other dope artists right now. I got some stuff on the way with Klassik Poet, a dope Hip-Hop artist from New York that I met a while back around the time he was releasing his first project in 2019. We've been putting together some dope work that I'm excited for everyone to check out this year.

Me and C. Coze (“so-zay”) from Philly connected this past few months for some heat. So far we dropped “Norfside” “Numb” and recently “3’s 4’s ‘10s” with some dope features on it so y’all go check those out lol! But I definitely am going to be tapping into some R&B artists this year so stay tuned!

Who’s your dream collaboration? And who are some of your favorite artists/producers?

Producer wise Timbaland/Pharrell are like the legends I would love to work with but the list goes forever for who I would want to work with as a dream collaboration for both artists and producers. Some artists in my dream collaboration though would be Busta Rhymes/Ye/Jay-Z/Missy Elliot/Wu-Tang/etc but today’s artists/producers I like are like J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Cordae, Hitboy, Metro Boomin, Lil Baby, Tyler the Creator, and Tems..

Any advice you would give to someone that is thinking about getting into music production?

Find your sound, Don’t be afraid to have a different sound than what’s going on right now. It’s fine to implement things from today’s music but just put your own twist to it and just make sure it sounds dope. Also, don’t keep yourself stuck in your own head.

Future Plans? Any specific goals for the new year?

Getting to travel more this year and connect with more artists in other states. Getting into the room with industry artists and A&Rs. Get my music placed into a TV show or movie and get a lot of music out there for people to hear this year!