We were lucky to catch up with YO! Dave recently and have shared our conversation below.

YO! Dave, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful project I have released since beginning the journey of my music career would be Time Capsules. It tells a story about a sequence of events overtime that I’ve endured since the passing of my best friend. These times reveal both exciting and depressing moments in my life where I felt comfortable to speak on. He was the one who really introduced me to writing music. We would freestyle in the car, and he would ask me what I thought about it. One day he told me to try it, and I just fell in love with how I could write my thoughts down on paper and hear the sound behind it. The making of the project really helped me grieve and grow as a person, and as an artist. I released the project on his birthday as a tribute to him and named it Time Capsules to portray how much of an influence he had on my life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

For those who do not know, I go by the name YO! Dave. It kinda screams at you! I’ve released several projects, including my most streamed project Time Capsules. I’ve worked with a bunch of great producers and engineers over the course of my career including EverybodyKnowStroud, DineroTarantino, Dionne, and my brother Hippiebeats. They all have great sounds and I would recommend them to anyone in music looking to work with different sounds in the industry. I’ve been streamed in 32 countries, and have 70K streams to date with my music. I like to consider myself to be a multi-talented musician because I don’t really set a barrier on how far I can go with my music. To any artist, I say love what you do first, worry about the money later. When you love what you do and enjoy the process and craft, God will make all things possible he feels that are best for your journey.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist for me is the process of writing and composing music. I can remember a time where my brother Don came along to the studio with me one day, as I was finishing up my album Time Capsules. I held a session at the studio to listen to the finished products of my work and figured out the order of how it would be played. The excitement we shared hearing the finished product was a memory I’ll never forget. He stated that our best friend who passed away would be very proud of how I am carrying out his passion. Music is something we both shared deeply within our hearts. I feel like he’s with me every step of the way during this whole journey. I consider recording and writing music to be the most peaceful thing in my life. It allows me time to think, create, and be one with myself. I find the process to be very rewarding and beneficial to my life in aspects where I benefit mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The biggest thing for me that I would consider a goal driving my journey as a Musician would be to positively impact others. I’ve gotten tons of messages from people all over the world who explain to me that my music is very different from what most artists release, and that it resonates with a lot of things that people are going through in today’s times. I’ve also heard that my music can be very fun, exciting, and upbeat. I like to let my imagination wonder when I record music because the goal is to enjoy yourself. I also like to speak on current issues that we are facing in today’s society to remind people that I am in tune with the world. My goal is to make sure that people can feel motivated to make change in our society, as well as have fun while doing so in the process. Music brings a ton of things together at one time, making it very rewarding at the end.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/paperboydave1
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCSmju3nJSMxM12fUPKfzJgw

Image Credits
Tray Productions @tray.productions (Instagram)