Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dwayne Reed. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Dwayne, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I have learned so much in the short period of time that I have decided to make my art a full time job. Most of my learning about the music business was obtained by persistent and detailed research on the subject matter at hand with online resources available for free ( better known as Google, Reddit, and YouTube ) with the production being taught to me by my mentor Lamont aka Nuq over the course of about 4 years so far.

If I knew what I knew now I would have spent more time applying researched topics instead of sitting on the information, I believe it would have helped create a pattern of consistency early on.

The most essential skill in my opinion is critical thinking and the patience to do your OWN research.

The only obstacle I have ever faced while on my artistic journey is myself and my reluctancy to change at times so I constantly battle it to make sure I am not my downfall.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Well I have been a visual artist since I was a kid , I have drawn things ranging from simple cartoons to extremely detailed portraits of people. But I never had the interest to make music or anything involving the music business growing up, I just wanted to draw and get my art to be recognized on a level of someone renown like Davinci or as close as I could get.

Unfortunately the cards I was dealt at a young age art didn’t seem like a viable career path for me, not only from the examples around me, but also from the environment I was forced to be raised in. Artistic careers of any kind weren’t exactly encouraged as much as other routes were growing up so eventually I stopped drawing all together and just started working.

Eventually had enough of living in my situation and dealing with the harsh reality Baltimore has to offer so I decided I would join the Army after a conversation with my best friend about how we promised to join after school but neither of us saw it through yet. I Joined the army as a Healthcare Specialist and once I got out of the army fell on hard times with things getting as low as sleeping on a bus stop.

While going through my period of homelessness I decided for some reason to start writing in my phone notes. I worked my way from homelessness to my own apartment with determination to be a father who could provide all along side practicing and perfecting what I just assumed to be a hobby. A friend of mine, soon turned investor, told me that he believed I should take it serious due to the work ethic he saw I had so I did just that and dove into the rabbit hole of the music industry.

I have been being consistent and showing up everyday even after losing my job to covid during the pandemic I kept going by funding my career and bills with haircuts until I found other means of income. And now I just focus on the music and my art full time.

I am most proud of being myself and not being scared to express who I am in the way I feel I want to instead of what’s popular all the time, which is also what I believe sets me apart from a lot of other artist. I’m always willing to be the one who doesn’t fit the mold but has the work ethic to make it undeniable that I deserve a seat at the table.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I am sometimes to focused on what I want something to be that I get narrow minded, though a clear vision and goal has always been something that helps me move forward, I had to learn to hear other people out more often and take note of their experiences as well as document anything I find while researching to apply to my own journey. Nothing is clear, cut every path is different, and that’s something I am learning and adapting to each day.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I believe that supporting artists directly can always be a great way of helping them, If your favorite artists drops merch buy it from their store, if they come out with exclusive music behind a small pay wall , consider paying to listen to something no one else will have a chance to hear. Their aren’t many streams of income an artists can earn until they have built a substantial brand, reasons most work part or full time to support their dreams, so if you believe in them and their art adds value to your life consider finding ways to help them continue creating what you enjoy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.410noodlez.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/410noodlez/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/410NOODLEZ
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/410Noodlez
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@410Noodlez
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-346344128

Image Credits

All images shot by @NoahHowdy ( On Instagram )