R&B/Hip-Hop

To borrow a query from a Jagged Edge hit: where the party at? If you’re D-Nice, it will be at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. That’s where he’s hosting his “Deck the Hall” holiday extravaganza — featuring D-Nice & Friends — on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31). For this particular blowout, the classic R&B/soul, hip-hop and pop hitmakers joining him to usher out 2024 and welcome in 2025 will include: Next, Big Daddy Kane, Case, Estelle, Jon B., Tweet, Lady London, Mike Philips, Nice & Smooth and Johnny Gill.

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Explaining how the upcoming show came together, D-Nice (Derrick Jones) tells Billboard, “Sometimes the curation is extremely random. Like whatever the flow is like while I play a set, I’ll think, ‘Oh, this could be so good for a show.’ Like for instance, Johnny Gill. I can’t believe he agreed to do my show, but I’ve played his music so much during my sets. When I reached out and told him what the concept was, he just jumped right on it. The same thing with Big Daddy Kane. And I’ve never worked with Case before. We’ve been trying to figure it out and finally did for New Year’s Eve. So I’m really excited about the show.”

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But the partying doesn’t stop there. D-Nice will be setting up his first 2025 Club Quarantine Live session at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 11. That soiree’s special guests include Grammy Award winners Anthony Hamilton, Arrested Development and Big Daddy Kane, current Grammy nominee Rapsody, Tank, Goapele, Rakim and Tweet. Produced by BrandNice and co-presented by BrandNice and the Kennedy Center, the black-tie event will be hosted by multi-media personality Kenny Burns.

“I use the word excited a lot because I really feel like wow, I can’t believe this is happening,” says D-Nice, who’s also a member of the Kennedy Center Hip Hop Culture Council. “I curate all the shows myself for the flow that I want. And to be able to bring all of these different types of people and genres together keeps me extremely excited about what I’m doing.”

A self-confessed fan boy — “I just love the music and the culture” — D-Nice also spoke to Billboard about his most memorable moment from his popular Club Quarantine, launched on Instagram during the Covid-19 pandemic, the hoped-for guest artists still on his wish list and where his love of photography is taking him in 2025.

What was your most memorable moment during Club Quarantine? And also talk about how you’ve been evolving the brand since then.

The big night, March 21, 2020, will always be memorable for me. But it’s not about the amount of people that were there, the millions that were listening. I was always in the usual position of being the DJ that’s performing at someone else’s event. Like I DJ’d for Rihanna, President Obama and others before. But for me to have this virtual party, and for all of them to actually come to a virtual party that I was throwing? It was extremely special because it wasn’t them hiring me for something. It was something that I was doing. They all jumped on to support and show love to people. That moment was not only good for music, but it was also good for people’s morale. We knew we were all in this together; that we all had to be locked down together. But to see some of your favorite people and actually just say hello? Some got a response; they obviously couldn’t respond to everyone. But the feeling we all had at that time will always be the highlight for me.

As far as the evolution of the brand, there’s nothing really tangible about this. It’s a feeling. The way I play is about the music. It’s about communities, about happiness and having some fun, laughing … it’s all of those things. The fact that we can still do these shows live, that’s really what I’m recreating. All I’m doing is using the formula that I was rocking online, playing a little bit of everything. So to be able to put a show together where you can have everyone from Nice & Smooth to Lady London, who’s a new artist out right now. Or go to the Kennedy Center with Rapsody and Rakim. To be able to bridge the gap between all of these eras of music is just incredible. That’s the spirit of it all.

What artists are still on your wish list?

I’m a big fan of both Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan. If I could get them on one of my shows, that would mean everything to me.

As an ardent music fan, what musical trends do you see on the horizon; are there Afrobeats-curated events on your to-do list?

I received a call last week to do a few shows in Africa. I’ve always played Afrobeats and Afrobeat. I love Fela [Kuti] but also Burna Boy and that vibe. I love South African soulful house vibes, amapiano … all of that. In terms of trends, it’s just good to see that people aren’t sticking to just one thing. Create something and it will find an audience. Look at what’s happening with Tyla and her music. Then on the flip side, there’s Chris Brown selling out two nights in Africa. It’s beautiful to see how global our culture is.

Might a book about your DJ experiences be in the offing?

I’m working now on a photography book of images taken during the journey that I’ve been on and also a photo exhibition that I’m already putting together, a kind of touring exhibition that will be starting around June 2025. It’s all these images that I’ve shot from behind the scenes. I’ve had a camera with me ever since I was super young and making records. I wanted something tangible to show my family and my future kids, so I decided I was always going to have a camera. And I’ve literally gotten these great moments like of a young Kendrick [Lamar], of Mary J. Blige in South Africa and candid moments of her praying. Or Dave Chappelle when he returned to the scene with shows at Radio City Music Hall. I captured a beautiful silhouette of him with his signature cigarette. And I have other moments like when Tyra Banks asked me to document her throughout one day. So I want to spotlight these great images and not just the music.

What advice do you have for aspiring DJs?

Everyone has their own thing, so I think it’s extremely important to be unique. EDM DJs mainly play their own music, their own records. But when you think about someone who is actually playing someone else’s pre-recorded music, we all have the same songs. So it’s about the way you play it and the energy that you bring. What’s carried me a long way in my career is that it’s not just about the music. Sometimes you can walk into a room and see an artist, a DJ or a performer and you instantly feel comfortable because you know what that person represents. You know what that person’s energy is. I always try to tell people, especially young people, to not only just focus on the music but focus on your personality. Focus on what you’re feeling from people; focus on your showmanship.