The relatively short but extremely dynamic history of R&B/hip-hop vocalists with the rare ability to seamlessly bridge the gap between urban music's groundbreaking past, chart-topping present, and globally impacting future, now adds another distinctive name, voice and charismatic personality to its ranks, RCA's hot newcomer, Danté.
A singer/songwriter of vision and conviction, Danté's irresistible songs and potent delivery populate his debut album INFERNO, featuring the sexy, funk-fortified lead single, "Lawdy, Lawdy."
Produced by proven hit maker All-star (Madonna, Joe, SWV), the song instantly reveals Danté's ability to imprint his unique sound, style and direction on edgy, street-honed, new millennium rhythm and blues. "It's a feel good, party-type song about a guy who can't believe how super fine and desirable a young lady he sees for the first time is," notes Danté, 19 years old and an avid fan of Michael Jackson. "At times like that, when a girl looks that good," he adds, "you can get speechless, so "Lawdy, Lawdy" says it all for you."
Actually, there's so much more to say about Danté, both the artist and the man...
Predominantly co-written by Danté and Teron Beal (Brandy, Next, Mya), the deliciously diverse INFERNO CD offers five powerhouse tracks produced by All-star, who in addition to "Lawdy, Lawdy," also studio directed the bounce-beat future hits "Who Dat," "Got My Back," "Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda," and "Sugar Daddy," penned by soul/R&B great Joe, and punctuated by hard-edged hip-hop flavor. "All-star is one of the best producers on the planet," Danté acknowledges. "His talent and input had a lot to do with making my first album one that I'm very proud of."
The album's other impressive producers include Bryan Cox from the production team Noontime (Jagged Edge), whose two stellar contributions are the super-syncopated, lyrically explicit "Call Me," and the "dirty South"-sounding "She Bops," featuring a cool guest rap by platinum emcee Nelly, whose chart-busting smash album "Country Grammar" is one of 2000's biggest hits. By the way, Nelly, a close personal friend of Danté's, also wrote "Favorite Girl," an absolute gem of a show-stopping jam.
Adding more depth, not to mention sex appeal, to Danté's album mix is "Up In The Club," featuring the sensuous vocals of talented female vocalist Toya, whose sultry voice blends brilliantly with Danté's smoothed-out, soulful leads. "Walk Away, produced by Atlanta's Organized Noize, takes the proceedings on a serious journey. "It's a message to the fathers, as well as the kids who they've left," explains Danté, raised by his loving mother and grandparents, after his parents' unfortunate break-up. However, despite his life's paternal upbringing void, he says, "I didn't write the song to dis my father or anybody else's. It just tells kids who are in, or who come from single parent backgrounds, that they can become somebody, be strong, have hope and confidence in the future. I'm also telling fathers who don't do it, to take responsibility for their children by giving them not only financial support, but unconditional love and quality time, which in the long run is even more valuable to the welfare and growth of their kids." It's been a series of exciting, eventful experiences reaching this important career plateau for Danté, who knew since he was nine years old, around when Michael Jackson, Prince and R. Kelly became his idols, that music would play a large part in his life.
Born in Florida, and raised by his mom and grandparents in Atlanta, Georgia, Danté started singing when he was very young. Then, rap turned his head and began to explore hip-hop in earnest. "So instead of singing, like most of my friends, I started writing rhymes and rapping."
Since rap has been the lifelong soundtrack of young urban dwellers for more than two decades now, Danté stuck with rapping for a period, but came to the conclusion that he wasn't as good an emcee as he was a sensational singer. In time, the reluctant emcee became an aspiring R&B vocalist, with unlimited superstar potential. Almost immediately, he began making a name for him by singing at various venues, earning rave reviews everywhere he performed. Handsome, intelligent and down-to-earth, Danté, an artist of substance, brings an intense delivery to the table, which has an impressive, energizing effect.
Encouraged to reach the next level, Danté joined forces with MizChief, an exciting, harmony savvy, street sanctioned vocal group, wherein he was the show-stopping lead singer. Subsequently, an industry veteran named Debra Killings, who in addition to being a vocal coach, background singer and songwriter for TLC, became the group's mentor. "The time I spent with MizChief, working with Debra, sharpened my singing skills and increased my confidence," Danté recalls.
The solo artist turning point for the ambitious singer occurred on July 4, 1999, Independence Day for the nation and graduation day for Danté, who went from unsigned hopeful to signed professional within a week, thanks to his industry-attuned manager bringing him to RCA Records in New York. "I went to RCA and sang for the A&R person, who liked me enough to give me a demo deal seven days later."
The resulting amazing demo he turned in to RCA led to a full-blown recording contract, and subsequently Danté's debut album. "Sometimes it seems like all of this is a dream," he says, sounding quite humble. But then, my mother and grandmother always supported me and encouraged me to follow my dreams, so I should have expected it to come true, because they haven't been wrong yet! That's why any success I have, I share it with them."
Obviously a talented, well-reared young man on a serious mission, with his path-paving new INFERNO album and hit-bound "Lawdy, Lawdy" single, Danté brings a refreshing, creative focus and positive energy to the new millennium's musical table. Like the man, his music is highly contagious, yet impossible to definitively categorize. He tries to anyway..."It's R&B with a strong hip-hop edge and a futuristic funk-type feel that's just...well...different."
Music is his priority, but being multifaceted Dante, who plans to compose for and produce other artists, acknowledges that he has set his sights on other creative endeavors, including acting. He was recently cast in the feature film, "Snipes," which has whetted his appetite to act again. "I've never put limits on myself," he says. "So, with any acting jobs I get, I'm going to give the role, big or small, all I have to give, just like I do when I'm writing songs or doing my thing live on stage. For me, it's all or nothing."
Making a major musical difference and adding to the urban contemporary music diaspora is at the heart of Danté's quest for recording success. He digs deep into himself and his extraordinary talent, tapping into the time-honored, soulful essence forged by R&B legends such as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.
Succinctly put, Danté is an artist of integrity and innovation, who stands miles apart from so many of today's cookie-cutter-sounding male R&B/hip-hop vocalists. Unlike them, he takes risks and breaks molds; therefore, playing it safe is not an option. "It's important to me to stand out from the crowd," Danté firmly asserts. "As long as I can do what I do the way I want, and how I feel I have to do it, I know I'll be making quality music that can appeal to a wide spectrum of people for a very long time. And longevity is my ultimate goal."
Danté's solo debut is a diverse, infectious combination of music, which truly defines both the man and the artist. He can charm you with a smile, serenade you with his voice have the fellas nodding in agreement and can defiantly get the crowd jumping. Whether it's singing, the beat, the lyrics, the dancing, or simply Danté, everyone's bound to be moving. Like that other famous INFERNO, Danté is too hot, and the temperature is steadily rising!
Backstage interview with Dante (taped 5/19/01)
Soul Train: You're debut album is "Inferno." When does it drop?
Dante: We don't have a slated date yet, but, [it will] be out in the summertime -- I'm guessing around August. Check for that! Pick that up!
ST: How would you describe the record?
Dante: It's everything. It's funk, it's hip-hop, traditional R&B, a little futuristic in there, message songs, party songs, something for everybody.
ST: And "Lawdy Lawdy" is the first single. When does that drop?
Dante: The first single is going to radio in June, the first week in June I think it is, produced by my man Allstar, who brought you Koffee Brown's "After Party," [and] Teron Beal, who also wrote that song and "Lawdy Lawdy" as well, so check for that too.
ST: Now, Michael Jackson, Prince and R. Kelly are some of your idols. How does that come through in your music?
Dante: Like my delivery -- sometimes if I listen to Prince or Michael Jackson in that day, I'll go in the studio and I'll think, like, 'How am I going to interpret this? How would Prince interpret this? What would R. Kelly do here and there?' And make it come across [as] my music and make it come out my own way.
ST: Now, you have Nelly on the record, and you guys are friends. How do you know each other?
Dante: What's up, Nelly! I actually met Nelly through my A&R [representative] who is VP at BMG Publishing who signed Nelly to a publishing deal, and we needed a rapper for the song, he introduced me to Nelly, and it just flowed from there. And we just become boys.
ST: And he also wrote a track on the record, right?
Dante: Yeah. He wrote a song called "Favorite Girl" which is -- it's hot! You did ya thing!
ST: Now, you wrote a lot of the record and hope to do writing for other artists. Who are some of the other artists you'd really like to write for?
Dante: Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliot, Michael [Jackson], someday Prince, Janet -- so many people, so many. Aaliyah, so many -- I could keep going, I could keep going --
ST: And I know there's a story behind the song "Walk Away." Why don't you talk about that a little bit?
Dante: Yeah. "Walk Away" is a personal song. It's about growing up in a single-parent household. It's a message song to my father explaining to him how I felt growing up as a kid without him being around. But also it has a positive note saying, you know, 'I grew up fine. I'm here. I'm living. My life is good.' So, you know, pretty much sums it up.
ST: Now, you also have a movie coming out, "Snipes," which Nelly is in, right?
Dante: Yeah.
ST: You're in it together. Who do you play in "Snipes?"
Dante: I play Nelly's little cousin, Damon. I get killed in the first five minutes of the movie y'all, so don't look for no big parts! [Laughs]
ST: Well, what was that experience like?
Dante: It was cool. It was like, it took two weeks just to shoot my little part, but it was cool. I actually play Nelly's cousin who was a rapper. I get killed and Nelly steals my identity and becomes a superstar. Hey! That's how life goes sometimes.
ST: Aside from that project, where can people see you? Are you going to be touring aside from this promotional tour, or where can people check you out?
Dante: You can check me out on my Web site www.dantedante.com. I'm also on shine.com, which is a teen empowerment, teen views Web site. Thanks, shine. Hi out there. Promotional tour starting up soon. I'm going to try to get into a lot more TV and acting and stuff as soon as I get my music career flowing and people know who I am and love my music, so -- [laughs].
ST: All right. And how about a shout-out to Soultrain.com?
Dante: Soultrain.com, thanks for having me. This is your boy, Dante, representing ATL, RCA Records, 2001, "Inferno."
ST: Thanks very much.
Dante: No problem. Thank you.
Dante update-he was released from RCA Records before his album was released in 2002. A few copies were released overseas.
Dante Site
