00:00Hi, everybody. It's Charisma, the director of social media here at Essence. I am so excited
00:05because we are on the road to Essence Festival. And today we have a very special guest with us,
00:12Davion Ferris, who is joining us for our Los Angeles road to festival stop.
00:20And he just dropped his new single, Tunnel Vision.
00:30That's my mission. I love you the way you want because I listen.
00:36Which I must say is my song.
00:39Hey, it is.
00:40Tell me about the inspiration for Tunnel Vision. And do you have Tunnel Vision about somebody right now?
00:50Well, Tunnel Vision is definitely a special record. I was I was I absolutely had it.
00:56I was you know, I was laser focused on on a special someone. And I mean, that's that's obviously you
01:03you know, you get the you get the metaphor. It's like I didn't see any any anybody else. I didn't
01:09I couldn't hear anybody else. I was completely focused because of the because of the love that
01:14I was getting. I just wanted to make sure that I you know, that I gave that in return. It was an
01:18amazing experience.
01:20Absolutely. But I mean, I just got to get into the lyrics. I'm one of those annoying people when
01:25you like a new song, you just play it on a loop. And I had the pleasure of seeing Davion perform
01:34and he opened his set with Tunnel Vision at the Peppermint Club. And it's been stuck in my head
01:41ever since I actually got the Uber addicted to it last night. But like Tunnel Vision.
01:48I love you the way you want because I listen. How important is it to listen in a relationship?
01:57I think, you know, that's that's just a part of communication and communication is, you know,
02:03this, you know, the whole saying communication is key. That's that's that's paramount in a
02:08relationship because you have to understand not only how your person receives love, but how they
02:14give love. Right. Because, you know, our love languages, you know, that's how we communicate
02:19that that really helps you get along and, you know, helps with the compatibility and helps
02:26the relationship last. So I think, you know, being able to listen and understand, you know,
02:31what your partner needs, that's that's a skill that you absolutely have to have if you want to
02:36have longevity in your relationship and you want to be happy and you want to do your part
02:42to help make your partner happy.
02:43You're from Inglewood, California, and it seems like y'all got a little Jackson 5 vibe going
02:50on with some extremely talented family members. Your brothers are D Smoke and Sir. And I mean,
02:58everyone loves both of them and your music as well. Were you always musically inclined? Was
03:04this something that you always knew that you wanted to do? Or were you inspired by their journeys
03:10as well? Well, yes, my, my, we all have, you know, we're born with the with the gift and
03:16ability to to sing. And my, you know, my mother is, she's an amazing woman. And she, you know,
03:24it's, it's really the family gift. Like my, my, my grandmother actually was the original singer
03:28songwriter in the family. And she made sure that all her, her, you know, her, her daughter
03:34and her sons, you know, played instruments because they all had the gift of singing.
03:38I take pride in actually, you know, and actually making the music and, and, and making, you know,
03:57making the beats and writing the songs to them and, and, and having the final product product
04:03come out, you know, and, and using my experiences to tell stories. So I've always wanted to do this.
04:09And, um, and, um, um, fortunate it's, I'm fortunate actually that my brothers had a chance to,
04:16to, you know, to go off and blow up and do that thing because I have, you know, somebody that I,
04:22that I love and trust to, you know, to lean on if I ever have any questions and need advice.
04:28And I've, I've definitely already done that. So, um, so I mean, it's, it's, I wouldn't say they
04:34inspired me to do it, but you know, they inspire, they all, they always have just inspired me in
04:40general to, to, you know, to be excellent. And, and, you know, and, and, and we've, you know,
04:45we've, we've traded off that, that inspiration. So it's, it's, it's been dope. It's been dope.
04:49I'm, I'm, I'm wildly proud of them. I'm sure they are wildly proud of you because your voice
04:54is very special. And also, so is your pen. I mean, you've written for, and with artists like
05:01Mary J Blige and Tyrese and Trey songs and genuine and Jill Scott, what do you think is most special?
05:09Do you, in your process, do you enjoy the process of writing, just getting it out? Or is it that
05:15process of recording it and perform or performing it? Cause I mean, those are really three different
05:20steps.
05:21Oh man. Okay. See that, that was tough because, okay. I'll come right out and say that performing,
05:29there's nothing like it, but the, the writing process, uh, is, is actually very therapeutic.
05:37Um, most of my music comes from experience. So, you know, a lot of times when I sit down to make
05:44the music, um, you know, it's, it's really me venting and me, you know, you know, trying to
05:50discover parts of me and trying to figure out what, you know, what my truth is and then how to
05:56express that, you know? So, so the performing has a special place as well. And I mean, the,
06:03the cutting of it, you know, that's, that's, that's, that's more work, but I still obviously
06:07love singing. So, you know, it's not, it's not like the kind that, that you like, you know,
06:12that I'm upset to do. Uh, but the creation is all, is also very special because again, it's,
06:18it's, it's cathartic. You know, I, I get some, I get some emotional release from it.
06:23Can you tell us about the alignment with Hillman grad records and being featured on season four of
06:30the shy, which is a Hillman grad production, um, obviously executive produced by Emmy award winning
06:37producer, multi-hyphenate lean away, um, to then come, you know, to, to be signed to Hillman grad,
06:45uh, record slash deaf jam. Um, I mean, that was an amazing experience. Um, Lena is, is, as we all
06:54know, a visionary. She's a, she is a true artist, um, in every sense of the word. And, and, you know,
07:02first just, just, you know, hearing that she took notice, you know, that, that was, that was big,
07:06you know, for, for me, because, you know, I, I respect artists and, and, and creators and,
07:11and visionaries and all, you know, and the like. And, um, you know, when, when, when she reached out,
07:17she, you know, she just let me know, Hey, like, like Barry Gordy has a saying, if I have a dollar
07:21or, or, or to buy a song or to buy your song or the sandwich and I'm hungry, uh, you know, if,
07:27if I'm going to buy the song, then that means, you know, that you have something. And so,
07:31um, you know, she, she, she has been in my corner from, from day one and, you know,
07:37she brought the rest of the team along once they heard the music and, and heard what I was making
07:41already. And it's, it's been an amazing experience because we, you know, we trust each other to do,
07:46to, to really lay in our roles. My role is to be the artist, to make the music, to tell the stories,
07:52um, and through the songs. And then, you know, for them, obviously you, you have the marketing,
07:58the, the, uh, you know, the strategy behind getting everything out, setting up the rollout,
08:03um, making sure the visuals, the, you know, the pictures look good and the, and the videos
08:08tell the stories that the song carries. Fun question. Have you ever been to Essence Festival?
08:14I have been to Essence Festival. Check this out. I sang background for Shaka Khan in 2011.
08:21And, um, that was my first time at Essence Fest. I learned a whole lot from Shaka. She,
08:29she is obviously the consummate professional. She is a literal living legend. And, um, and,
08:38you know, that, that was an experience of a lifetime for me. That was one of, one of the best summers
08:42of my life for sure. First of all, the flex of, I went to Essence Festival and I was with Shaka Khan
08:50was seen in the Shaka Khan. I mean, I think that might be better than headlining Essence Festival.
08:56That might, I mean, that's a story. That's something I think most people would like to
09:01have in their back pocket. Right. Yeah. Yeah. You know, like I said, I'm complete, I'm extremely
09:07thankful for the experience. That's something I'll never forget. What does it mean to you to
09:12perform at, um, the role to Essence Fest in your hometown of Los Angeles? I'm sure there are so
09:21many people who are going to be here that want to see you, that want to support you, that want to
09:26show love. And you're going to be right here at Essence Fest for a first time event here in Los
09:32Angeles. Yeah. Um, it, it, it means the world, you know, to, to know that I'll have that hometown
09:37support to know that I'll be able to, you know, to share my gifts and share my talents and show how
09:44hard and how diligently I've, I've been working at, at being prepared, how hard I've been working at,
09:50you know, getting the music together and, and, and, and, and, you know, sharing the stories. And
09:55it, it, it really, really means a whole lot to be able to, to be able to join again, like I said,
10:01the history and the legacy that already that Essence already is, you know, it's, it's, I'm, I'm, I'm,
10:07I'm welling up with pride and, and, you know, to know that my family is going to be able to,
10:11you know, to be in attendance. They, they, they're always there for anything that they,
10:16that they can show up for. So, um, you know, it, it, it really means the world. I'm, I'm,
10:21I'm ecstatic. I am.
10:23And we're ecstatic to have you. Before you go, I just want you to tell us about the Moved EP
10:29and it's out now. What can people expect from that? I mean, the visuals are incredible.
10:35The music is incredible, but from you, the artists, what do you want people to take away
10:40from this beautiful project? I want people to, I want a few things. I want them to know,
10:46first off that, that I'm an R&B purist. This is what I call pure R&B and that it's, you know,
10:51it's, it's, it's not, uh, you know, you, you aren't going to hear like rap cadences. It's,
10:55it's going to be led by, you know, lyrics and, and, and melody. And, uh, and it's going to,
11:01you know, going to be filled with stories about love from all angles, you know, not just the
11:05flowers and the butterflies, you know, but the, the truth and the honest things that, you know,
11:09that we grow from. And I really want people to, to feel heard and understood because that's,
11:15that is, that is literally, you know, those are the time of type of moments where that,
11:20that moved me, you know, um, um, when I, when I first heard a songs in the key of life by Stevie
11:25Wonder, you know, I was 10 years old, but I felt like I understood everything that he was talking
11:31about and everything that he was going through. And so I've always made it a point to, to, you know,
11:36to work, to do that with my art. And so that's, you know, I just, again, I want people to feel
11:41seen. I want people to feel heard and understood and to know that we share these experiences and we
11:47can grow from. I love that. Thank you so much for joining us. We cannot wait to see you at
11:53Roll2Fest here in Los Angeles. Um, I can't wait for the people to experience your talent.
12:01I'm so appreciative of you. Thank you. Thank you so much. And I'm appreciative of you as well.
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