We recently connected with David Je’ and have shared our conversation below.

Hi David , thanks for joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of being an entrepreneur or creative is the kind of crazy stuff that happens from time to time. It could be anything from a disgruntled client attacking an employee or waking up to find out a celebrity gave you a shoutout on TikTok – the sudden, unexpected hits (both positive and negative) make the profession both exhilarating and exhausting. Can you share one of your craziest stories?

Crazy things indeed happen all the time when running a business, and in the music industry. The craziest story for me would have to be the recording session that ended up being the reason I am Grammy Nominated today. At the time my former business partner and I had a recording studio in Glendale, California. We had a couple songs on LA radio at this point, and had just finished doing scoring and music composition for the Aaliyah movie that was coming out on Lifetime television network. That movie ended up having the highest ratings of that year. The excitement of getting into the film composing world had us not really focused on getting Grammy Nominated for music we did with any recording artist at that point.

We told ourselves tv and film is where it’s at and we’ll let artist work happen as it comes. Then a good friend, who I now call a brother came to town from Jersey to visit and work on a couple projects. He is a Grammy Nominated producer, composer, and executive who goes by Delivery Boy. He calls us and says he spoke to Mya’s manager and they want to have a session with her at my studio for a record he produced. Now this is already Grammy Winning, Number one song having, Jay-Z feature Mya so of course we were excited.

I was only slated to be the recording engineer for the session as she had a songwriter coming to write with her. So we lock in the session and on session day Mya arrives and is the sweetest, most down to earth person ever. The thing is she is by herself and her songwriter is not with her. She says he is on the way so my brother Delivery Boy starts playing the record and I am sitting at the computer with the session set up ready to record. The track is dope and the whole room is vibing to it. A couple of hours go by and the songwriter still hasn’t shown up.

The whole time while everyone was vibing I was doing what I normally do as the singer I am which is sing different melodies that come to me while the music plays. All of a sudden Mya says to me ‘I like what you’re doing a lot can you go in the booth and record that?’. I turn around and say no problem and end up recording basically all the melodies that would end up being the song. From that point on Mya, myself, and my previous business partner finish writing the song. By the end of the session I had now recorded and vocal produced the whole song. On top of that Mya liked my background vocals so much that she wanted to keep them on the record. I was of course super excited about this.

So we get the song done and everyone is happy with it and as usual upon leaving we all show love and say peace. My brother Delivery Boy tells us we did a great job and to stay tuned. A couple weeks later he calls and says ‘Mya wants us to do the whole project’. We were super excited and of course said we were ready to get to work. That led to us doing about 8 songs total with Mya. 3 of which ended up being on her EP ‘Love, Elevation, Suite’, and 3 of which ended up being the singles on what became the Grammy Nominated R&B album ‘Smoove Jones’.

So a recording session where I was supposed to only be the recording engineer, led to me co-writing, recording, and vocal producing 3 singles from a Grammy Nominated album. When the call came from my brother Delivery Boy that we were officially nominated for ‘Best R&B’ album I immediately cried tears of joy. It had been a long journey to get to that point and still only get like I was just getting started. This was a major turning point in growing my business. Moral of the story is opportunity can come from anywhere and when you least expect it. The blessings that are for you are indeed only for you so keep going and stay ready. At a time when making music for artists was an afterthought God sent the artist that would change the whole trajectory of my company at the time.

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?

I am a Grammy Nominated producer, singer, songwriter, composer, recording engineer, and vocal coach. I call myself the Dream Walker. I came up with this because my favorite phrase is Dreams to Reality. Another reason is because my favorite artist of all time Michael Jackson was the moonwalker. So I combined the 2 and voila. My company is called Dream Walker Entertainment, and being that I currently walk out my dreams I help others do the same.

I have written and produced songs for Grammy winning artist Mya, and Grammy winning artist Eric Bellinger. I have also been blessed to chart on Billboard with a phenomenal independent RnB artist named Nam Jonez. Currently I’m excited about my new song ‘Human’ which I also produced and wrote.

The biggest problem I solve for my clients is providing something that doesn’t exist in the music industry anymore which is artist development. In an era where being ‘popular’ or ‘viral’ has taken the forefront more so than actually being excellent at your craft, I teach artists just that. At my studio which I call ‘The Spaceship’ I provide and environment that helps artists build belief in themselves and their gift through consistent work. Excellence happens when you combine gift with work ethic, so focusing on these 2 factors I help artist operate at their top tier level.

What sets me apart outside of this perspective is that as a singer myself I am able to vocal produce every singer I work with. Most recording engineers while being great at what I call the ‘science’ of recording or operating the chosen program (DAW), are not able to hear where an artist should be singing. Because of my ear and ability to sing I am able to not only guide artists on their lead vocals but craft full background vocals and harmonies for them. So I essentially become an executive producer on every record I record whether I produced it or not.

I am proud of every client I’m blessed to work with as I work with a wide range of people ranging from kids as young as 12 years old to adult artists. One notable recent thing I am proud of is a record I recorded and vocal produced for a very gifted independent R&B artist named Nam Jonez which charted number 12 on Billboard in 2022. Nam was also nominated in 2023 for the Hollywood Independent Music Awards for the same record which is called ‘Complicated’. As I stated earlier helping creatives walk out their dreams is something I’m very passionate about so it is a blessing indeed to watch, and be a part of things like this happening for the artist I work with.

Have you ever had to pivot?

A time when I had to pivot in business came about a year ago when business in my studio got really slow. I had built up a good number of consistent clients but after their projects are produced and recorded it is time for them to go do the other side of being an artist. This means they are not in the studio which means no business for me. I also teach vocal lessons which kept some clients coming, but that is not the same level of business as actually producing records and recording artists.

This went on for a couple of months and as with any business expenses are still due. I had a conversation with a good friend of mine who I consider a business mentor and he gave me some phenomenal advice. ‘You need to start thinking of yourself as more than just a producer, singer, or engineer and think of everything you embody as a brand.’ This really opened my eyes because I would talk to artists about this but never applied it to myself. It gave me the wake up call I needed to think bigger and expand.

This advice led me to starting my new clothing line ‘The Dream Walker Clothing’. This extension of my brand is about everything I stand for in life and in music but in clothing form. Being a ‘Dream Walker’ is about embodying greatness and living your king or queen life to the fullest. This combined with my favorite phrase ‘Dreams to Reality’ is what became the Dream Walker lifestyle. I am also a guy who likes simple, stylish, and comfy clothing so this is what my line is based on.

I call it ‘the fly comfy clothing for the dreamer’. The Dream Walker Clothing consists of a variety of items from high quality hoodies, tees, and joggers, to workout apparel, slides, and accessories for both men and women. I like to be comfy and stylish while making my dreams a reality, so I know there are others in the world who feel the same way. The clothing line can be seen and purchased at www.itsdavidje.shop.

I am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason so slow business in the studio led me to ‘pivot’ and expand in ways I was not before.

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

The most rewarding part about being a creative for me is the impact my creations have on people. My goal at this point in life is to walk in the fullness of who I am, and for that to help others be inspired to do the same. When I put out my latest song Human, which I produced and wrote, the feedback from people was amazing. The song is a reminder to myself that ‘it’s okay to be human’, and was in fact therapy for me to let out. But through that it also serves as a reminder to others of the same thing.

I have received texts, calls, and even messages on IG from multiple people about how the song has helped them feel better when they are going through a tough time. The fact that my creation that was so helpful at uplifting my spirits can do the same for others is priceless.

Another amazing thing is I started working with a company called Songfinch about a year ago. Songfinch is a company that allows people to request personalized songs for special occasions or special people in their lives to be written and recorded for them. The company pairs these people with artists who fit the type of song and style they are looking to have made. I recently did a birthday song that a wife order for her husband and she recorded a YouTube video of his reaction. The pure amazement and joy in his face, along with him saying ‘this is the best birthday gift ever’ brought me to tears. That kind of impact on a life is literally the reason I believe I was given my gifts from God. So the best gift I can ever get is knowing that my gift can have a positive impact on a life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.itsdavidje.shop
• Instagram: Instagram.com/itsDavidJe
• Facebook: Facebook.com/itsDavidJe
• Twitter: Twitter.com/itsDavidJe
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@itsdavidje?si=6KLElgsRdTRruJy0
• Other: https://linktr.ee/itsdavidje

Image Credits
David Je’