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

Acoya, appreciate you joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

Before I committed to being a full-time musician, I was finishing my undergraduate degree at UC Davis. In 2022, I graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, with an engineering GPA of over 3.7. I was really good at engineering but it was during Covid that I really dove deep into my love for making music.

During quarantine, aside from taking online class, all I had to do was make music. I moved back home at the start of Covid-19, about 5 months into my sophomore year of college. At that point I had already started making music. I loved it then but didn’t quite see it as something I could turn into my career, but I just kept creating new music for the love of it.

I taught myself how to produce, watching tutorials on how to best record myself in my dad’s office-turned bedroom. I would work on music all day and all night simply because I loved doing it and loved the thought of having my next song being better than my last. At a certain point, probably within a year of being done with quarantine, I realized that music was all I wanted to do with my life. I moved back to Davis for the final one and a half years of my degree, while at the same time making new music. I graduated in 2022 and with the full support of my parents, I started my journey as a full-time artist.

Given that I spent almost 5 years becoming an engineer, through a global pandemic and other life changes, I have definitely wondered how different my life would be if I stuck to engineering. It’s certainly not something I think about now, mainly because of how active I am in the music industry, but it was in that last year of college. I was also dating someone at the time who was also in the engineering/design space, so it was an ever-present topic even with her support in my music endeavors. I would say that had I stuck with engineering, I’d be more set financially speaking, since the average salary is close to $70k/year out of college. That would’ve been the main reason I stuck with my engineering career at the time, but I’m very lucky and grateful that my parents are able to support me financially + the money I make as a model.

Regardless, this is the journey that I chose and I wouldn’t trade it for a thing. Music is what fulfills me so no matter what some other job would pay me, this is what I’d rather be doing. I’d be doing this if I was broke and there was no one there to listen to me.

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?

The last question really got into a good chunk of my story but I’ll fill in the gaps here. I started making music at the beginning of college in 2018 after my heart was broken by a girl I was seeing. I definitely got way too involved and caught up, but during winter break, she started talking to her ex again when she went home and essentially split things off with me over text about a week into break.

I got super torn up and didn’t know what to do with myself, so I just started writing music about it. I hadn’t really written a song before, but the morning I got that text I wrote 8 songs out of pure passion. Ironically, it was an album that she put me onto that ended up being the driving inspiration for my music; Bryson Tiller’s TRAPSOUL album. I ended up writing a 13-song album about our whole situationship saga and releasing it on SoundCloud, even with multiple friends telling me not to, and thank God I didn’t listen to them.

I kept making music all throughout college and when I graduated in 2022, I started watching YouTube videos on how to expand your audience as an artist, and one video suggested making playlists of small, local artists and posting it on social media and tagging them. One of the artists I found was Anusha Savi (also a great interviewee) who also went to UC Davis just a couple years before me. I started looking into her and found that she went to this music program called LAAMP, a 9-month long music intensive founded by Stargate. I applied and they gave me a full-ride scholarship, so I moved to LA in September 2023. Since then, I’ve met countless friends, collaborators, and mentors in the music industry. Currently, I continue to release music, expand my audience, and create my own lane in the industry.

I’m certainly most proud of how far I’ve with my music. It’s so easy to get caught up in what you haven’t achieved/what you want to achieve, but it’s so important to remember and be grateful where you came from. Even just a year ago, I couldn’t imagine that this is what my life would be like.

For people who are new to me and my music, I’d describe my style as an artist as very flirty, romantic, and compelling. My goal is to write the words that you want your boyfriend to say to you. I combine a lot Pop, R&B, and hip-hop elements, drawing from inspirations like Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, and Jung Kook. So if you’re into all that, come be a fan before all your friends are <3

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal as an artist is to inspire, reach, and become a part of as many lives as I can. Music has always been something that I can retreat to and feel motivated by, and I’m definitely not the only one who feels that way. I want my music to be that for others. To do that, I have to be the biggest artist in the world and that’s what I plan to do.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I’ve read tons of books throughout my journey as an artist, mainly “self-help” and spiritual ones. I would say the MOST important book I’ve ever read is The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I feel that no matter what you’re doing, you can only do it to the best of your ability when your mind is fully present. Many people live in their past or future without much grounding into the present, but it’s through the present that I find my intentions, purpose, and discipline to be the most clear. TPON isn’t a book that tells you what to do but rather guide your mind to make up the right conclusions on its own. It’s kind of hard to explain, it’s really like an experience.

Another notable read:
The Almanac of Naval Ravikant — All about entrepreneurship, happiness, and life

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.acoyamusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acoyamusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acoyamusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@acoyamusic
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@acoyamusic

Image Credits

@films.mark