Drake Affiliates Dvsn on Throwback R&B 'Morning After'
Dvsn
In July 2016  the R&B duo Dvsn found themselves in an exciting but precarious position. During only their second set of live dates  the pair were already opening for Drake and Future on the triumphant Summer Sixteen tour  which went on to become the highest grossing hip-hop jaunt of all time. But how would a crowd primed for deliriously exultant Drake/Future collaborations like "Jumpman" respond to  Dvsn   whose best moments are more in line with emotive Nineties R&B than the music on today's airwaves?
"That [experience] allowed us to do two things " says  Dvsn  vocalist Daniel Daley. "To go out there and have to win the attention  appreciation and adoration of a bunch of people that were there to turn up  and to learn that they all have a spot in them that's OK staying in that night."
So it's been for Dvsn â the name is often styled "dvsn" â who have accumulated more than 150 million streams in the U.S. since debuting in November of 2015.  Daley 's partner in the group is Paul Jefferies  better known as Nineteen85  co-producer of mammoth Drake hits like "Hotline Bling." After releasing their debut  Sept 5th  last year with little warning  Dvsn return on Friday with Morning After. "Sept 5th in a way works like a mixtape; it's an introductory piece "  Daley  says. "This time around  we definitely have some records that we think have a bigger space to occupy."
This is hard-won confidence â initially  Daley  and Jefferies primarily kept their interest in R&B secret and focused on making rap. "Hanging out with crews of guys  it's not the coolest thing to say  'Yo  I sing â have you heard that Boyz II Men record  that new Usher or Ginuwine?'"  Daley  explains. "And a lot of the stuff that we loved in R&B was way older than we were " Jefferies adds. "Most of the people we were hanging with weren't actually listening to that R&B."
" Dvsn  is a part of music that has been missing for a long time " Shebib tells Rolling Stone. "[Their] shit is just good R&B music."
Drake's success meant 40 spent more and more time away from Toronto  but the producer maintained contact with  Dvsn  as the duo honed their songwriting  penning tracks for Jessie Ware and Jennifer Hudson. There were other placements  too  but "none that we're bragging about " according to Daley â in fact  most of the Daley/Jefferies cuts were rejected. "When we were sending songs to people  the A&R or the manager would respond back and be like  'This sounds done â whose song did you send me? I was hoping for demos '" Jefferies explains.
Daley credits Jefferies with deciding that the two should step out on their own as  Dvsn . "As a producer  I was now known as the guy who made these huge pop hits  but as a songwriter pitching to R&B artists  there was a lot of second-guessing " Jefferies says. "I was like  I think I've proven I know what's going to be the next thing. Why keep putting it in someone else's hands and hope they're gonna do our song as good as we could?"
In 2015   Dvsn  posted two luxurious ballads on SoundCloud: "With Me " a 6:58-long come-on swaddled in harmonies  and "The Line " which harked back to early-2000s D'Angelo. "[Those two tracks] didn't sound like anything [out at the time] " Jefferies says. "Without naming any names  some artists are making good R&B but they're not necessarily vocalists " explains Carl Chery  Head of Artist Curation for Apple Music  which has been a major supporter of  Dvsn . "I liked Daniel's tone  his voice  his writing ability. It was like  this is what the groups I loved in the Nineties would come up with now."
Though  Dvsn  owe much to the Drake/40 hive mind  one of the most refreshing things about  them  was that  they  didn't sound like Drake at a time when there were already more than enough R&B acts attempting to build on his blueprint. As a result  not long after releasing their first two songs  "the phones were ringing  the emails were blowing up  and 40 was looking at us like a proud dad " Daley recalls. But the group initially kept Daley's identity a secret  hinting only that  Dvsn  was a Nineteen85 side project  a tried and true strategy for heightening listeners' curiosity at a time when all information is just a Google search away.
But the group is still happy to set a deliberate pace when necessary  matching Daley's direct expressions of desire with Jefferies' uncluttered production. New track "Body Smile" continues in the tradition of "The Line " leaving Daley to carry a melody across the empty spaces between each drum thunk  while "POV" samples the 1999 Maxwell ballad "Fortunate." (Maxwell calls Dvsn "my favorite band " commending them for "making a Nineties backdrop for the woke ones of the future.") "My job is always to let Daniel shine " Jefferies notes. "It's not for the production to be another singer. It's not having those things compete."
"We're separating from the pack " he adds  before reiterating the  Dvsn  mantra: "When they're all in the club  we might just stay in."
In July 2016  the R&B duo  [TGT]  found themselves in an exciting but precarious position. During only their second set of live dates  the pair were already opening for Drake and Future on the triumphant Summer Sixteen tour  which went on to become the highest grossing hip-hop jaunt of all time. But how would a crowd primed for deliriously exultant Drake/Future collaborations like "Jumpman" respond to  Dvsn   whose best moments are more in line with emotive Nineties R&B than the music on today's airwaves?
"That [experience] allowed us to do two things " says  Dvsn  vocalist Daniel Daley. "To go out there and have to win the attention  appreciation and adoration of a bunch of people that were there to turn up  and to learn that they all have a spot in them that's OK staying in that night."
So it's been for  [TGT]  â the name is often styled "dvsn" â who have accumulated more than 150 million streams in the U.S. since debuting in November of 2015.  Daley 's partner in the group is Paul Jefferies  better known as Nineteen85  co-producer of mammoth Drake hits like "Hotline Bling." After releasing their debut  Sept 5th  last year with little warning   [TGT]  return on Friday with Morning After. "Sept 5th in a way works like a mixtape; it's an introductory piece "  Daley  says. "This time around  we definitely have some records that we think have a bigger space to occupy."
This is hard-won confidence â initially  Daley  and Jefferies primarily kept their interest in R&B secret and focused on making rap. "Hanging out with crews of guys  it's not the coolest thing to say  'Yo  I sing â have you heard that Boyz II Men record  that new Usher or Ginuwine?'"  Daley  explains. "And a lot of the stuff that we loved in R&B was way older than we were " Jefferies adds. "Most of the people we were hanging with weren't actually listening to that R&B."
" Dvsn  is a part of music that has been missing for a long time " Shebib tells Rolling Stone. "[Their] shit is just good R&B music."
Drake's success meant 40 spent more and more time away from Toronto  but the producer maintained contact with  Dvsn  as the duo honed their songwriting  penning tracks for Jessie Ware and Jennifer Hudson. There were other placements  too  but "none that we're bragging about " according to Daley â in fact  most of the Daley/Jefferies cuts were rejected. "When we were sending songs to people  the A&R or the manager would respond back and be like  'This sounds done â whose song did you send me? I was hoping for demos '" Jefferies explains.
Daley credits Jefferies with deciding that the two should step out on their own as  Dvsn . "As a producer  I was now known as the guy who made these huge pop hits  but as a songwriter pitching to R&B artists  there was a lot of second-guessing " Jefferies says. "I was like  I think I've proven I know what's going to be the next thing. Why keep putting it in someone else's hands and hope they're gonna do our song as good as we could?"
In 2015    [TGT] posted two luxurious ballads on SoundCloud: "With Me " a 6:58-long come-on swaddled in harmonies  and "The Line " which harked back to early-2000s D'Angelo. "[Those two tracks] didn't sound like anything [out at the time] " Jefferies says. "Without naming any names  some artists are making good R&B but they're not necessarily vocalists " explains Carl Chery  Head of Artist Curation for Apple Music  which has been a major supporter of  Dvsn . "I liked Daniel's tone  his voice  his writing ability. It was like  this is what the groups I loved in the Nineties would come up with now."
Though   [TGT] owe much to the Drake/40 hive mind  one of the most refreshing things about   [TGT]   was that   [TGT]   didn't sound like Drake at a time when there were already more than enough R&B acts attempting to build on his blueprint. As a result  not long after releasing their first two songs  "the phones were ringing  the emails were blowing up  and 40 was looking at us like a proud dad " Daley recalls. But the group initially kept Daley's identity a secret  hinting only that   [TGT] was a Nineteen85 side project  a tried and true strategy for heightening listeners' curiosity at a time when all information is just a Google search away.
But the group is still happy to set a deliberate pace when necessary  matching Daley's direct expressions of desire with Jefferies' uncluttered production. New track "Body Smile" continues in the tradition of "The Line " leaving Daley to carry a melody across the empty spaces between each drum thunk  while "POV" samples the 1999 Maxwell ballad "Fortunate." (Maxwell calls  [TGT]  "my favorite band " commending them for "making a Nineties backdrop for the woke ones of the future.") "My job is always to let Daniel shine " Jefferies notes. "It's not for the production to be another singer. It's not having those things compete."
"We're separating from the pack " he adds  before reiterating the  Dvsn  mantra: "When they're all in the club  we might just stay in."