A driven musician from the heart of Washington D.C., D'Antré has a unique style that blurs the lines between genres, crossing the boundaries between pop, hip-hop, and classic RnB. A diverse and accomplished artist, D'Antré’s music is a form of self-expression, a channel through which he can connect with his audience on a much deeper level.
With a life spent in music, D'Antré grew up listening to Notorious B.I.G, The Fugees, and Michael Jackson, among others, shaping his own sound by studying the greats and blending their influence with his own personal moments. Viewing music as an expansive and essential element in life, D’Antré’s focus lies not on his career, but in creating real and poignant, human connections. In his efforts to create those perfect moments, D'Antré initially released three deft singles, the highly successful ‘Big Thrill Life’, ‘Honestly’ and ‘No Excuses’.
Larger-than-life and built on a series of massive hooks and unchained melodies, those three songs set that standard for D'Antré’s debut mixtape, ‘Escape the Ordinary’, paving the way to over 80,000 thousand streams online and announcing his style in clear and unquestionable way. Bringing his hits together with nine original pieces, ‘Escape the Ordinary’ carries forward sonic aesthetics and crystal clarity, combining new trails of invention with a familiar balanced production and forward-thinking compositions.
With a sound that feels refreshingly modern, yet wonderfully organic, the mixtape opens with a ‘Last Night’, an overlapping cascade of linger guitar notes, soulful vocals, and enjoyable refrains. It’s simple, repetitive fun, never quiet stepping out of the shallows, but never quite needing to. Complete and well built, the constant rolling beats demonstrate a comfortable formula that D’Antré seems keen to stick to. Following tracks ‘No Excuses’, ‘The Weekend’, and ‘Love No More’, and ‘Certified Drippin’ all follow suit, offering their own unique flourishes, but the same cut-copy process at their core.
There are moments of real invention where D'Antré steps away from his comfort zone, particularly once you’ve cut away some of the inherent clichés. Closing track ‘She Gon Go’ offers an emotive series of keyboards in place of the usual backing beats, and ‘Swing My Way’ looks to build off an emotional depth that is lacking from the rest of album, creating islands of refreshing sound in an ocean of familiar RnB sounds.
A solid debut, ‘Escape the Ordinary’ is easily a cut above a lot of aspiring hip-hop hopefuls, and his work on the mixtape clearly demonstrates a developed sound and confidence within his own style. Along with the production and almost cinematic nature of the album, there is a familiarity and easy-listening quality that makes the album flow nicely, and while not every song is a solid gold hit, there is enough great moments to showcase D'Antré’s talents in a very positive way.
Score: 7.5/10
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