First impressions aren’t everything, but they definitely go a long way. For DESTIN CONRAD, his debut album is important, but he doesn’t let any expectations define him. “I try not to make things too crazy for me as far as pressure,” he says. “It’s because I know that I can always make more music.”
Creating comes natural to the Florida native, who burst onto the scene with hysterical videos on Vine, giving viewers a glimpse into his musical prowess. Since then, the artist has been featured on tracks with industry powerhouses such as Kehlani, Alex Isley, Ambré, and Musiq Soulchild, among others, as well as delivering his SUBMISSIVE EP series, which has been met with critical acclaim. Now, with years of singing and songwriting under his belt, CONRAD is ready to traverse new waters with his freshman studio effort, LOVE ON DIGITAL.
This debut release serves as a love letter to the digital age, pulling influences from the early 2000s, and also speaks to how tech has impacted the entire genre’s current sound. The album boasts some amazing features, and provides listeners with another layer to his thoughts and emotions as a musician. The project also includes “KISSING IN PUBLIC,” a personal favorite for CONRAD due to his personal connection to it, along with the collaborative process that brought it all together.
“I made the song with my friends Mack Keane and KWN, who I really love working with—and the sound was different,” he explains. “So, it’s cool having people that encouraged me to finish, and encouraged me to do something that I wouldn’t normally do.”
In celebration of LOVE ON DIGITAL’s release, CONRAD spoke to ESSENCE and answered the age-old question about why artists make their best music amidst turmoil, connecting with his supporters in a unique way, and the type of experience he hopes the release will provide for anyone willing to listen.
ESSENCE: Congratulations on your new album. What made you feel like now was the right time to release your debut full-length project?
DESTIN CONRAD: I feel like tour assisted in that idea of just, I put out four EPs, and I toured them. I didn’t tour all of them. Last year, I did my first tour, and basically sang all those songs. And I don’t know, I just felt, after doing my first tour, I was like, “Okay, I need to actually work on a full-length thing, because everything I put out has been very short.” So yeah, I think, touring, I think, playing shows, just assisted in the idea of it being the time now.
Your EPs have been so well received. Do you feel any pressure, with this being the first official album at all? Or is your process and your thoughts on it kind of the same as previous releases?
I always try to remind myself that I can try my best, or what my best looks like—now is probably not going to be my best in even a year, and that’s going to shift, and that’s okay. So I’ll try to remind myself that how it’ll be received doesn’t define me. But, of course, I do think about it. I’m like, “Oh, I do want people to like it.” It definitely does cross my mind, but it’s not like the end-all be-all. If I put this album out right now, and everybody’s like, “I hate it,” I’ll just make more music. And even if they hate that shit, at least I’ll try to, you know what I’m saying? I have the ability to make more music, so I feel like I want to exercise that as much as possible.
You’ve described Love On Digital as a love letter to the digital age. How do you think your experience with virtual intimacy helped to shape the storytelling on this upcoming album?
I’m an internet baby. I grew up on the internet, and I feel like that just plays a role in me as a person, and my personality, and the things I find funny. It’s hilarious, actually. I feel like, naturally, just the way I speak, I can blame the digital world for it. My language, the way I interpret things, my ADHD, and how quick I move on from things; there’s so many factors and things that, I feel like, make me who I am that involve the digital world. But yeah, I don’t know if it’s probably just the year I was born, and my age, but it plays a huge factor in everything.
That’s interesting—talking about the digital influence on this album, and how when you were born affected the project as well. How did you approach blending those particular sounds of those eras with this album?
Honestly, just naturally, that’s the music that has inspired me. Outside of the process of making this album, that time has inspired me my whole life. I’m just inclined to hear things with a very R&B ear, that I learned from listening to a lot of Brandy, or learning how to pull from that.
But also, just the context, and what I’m speaking on, and the experiences, are new. The language I’m using, and the vocab is a little more current. But melodically, I’m obviously inspired by people before me, and I feel like that’s where the world’s married. It’s obviously not something you would hear from a song in the early 2000s, but it reminds you of a song from the early 2000s, because that’s what I’m constantly listening to and inspired by. So I feel like, it’s just those two worlds blend, and making this what you hear.
Amazing. Now, I wanted to talk about “Kissing in Public,” the track that you recently released, man. What inspired you to write that song? Why did you want that to lead the album off, and why is it so personal to you?
Well, I made that song in Tulum with my friends, KWN and Mack Keane—we got a house for maybe a week, and it was at the time we were making SUBMISSIVE2. I wasn’t necessarily thinking about my debut album, but I knew, when I made “Kissing in Public,” that I wasn’t going to put it on SUBMISSIVE. But yeah, KWN kind of had the beginning verse, “The things don’t change when I’m with you.”
I just walked in one of the rooms, I’m like, “What are y’all working on?” And she was like, “I have this idea.” And she’s just such a joy to work with, and she’s actually my homie. So it’s very easy to work with her, which I can really appreciate. Same with Mack Keane. They’re actually my friends, so that’s something that I’m really, I love doing, is working with people that I actually enjoy in real life. But yeah, I instantly was just like, “Ooh, whoa, okay, let’s work on this.” And then we started writing it together, and then, we came up with everything else, and the verses, and the hook, and the bridge. That was just something that I’ve never really done.
And KWN was like, “We need a bridge.” And I was like, “Okay.” I honestly blame a lot, because as I said before, I say this in every interview, I have very severe ADHD, to the point where it’s crippling, sometimes, because I will literally, I stop doing what I’m doing, and I will never look back at it again, and never return.
But I knew, when I made it, I instantly was just like, “Oh, this feels different. I haven’t really made anything like this.” It was a different bag, and I could move to it. And that was a big thing behind this album; I wanted music to move to, I didn’t want to be super depressed and sad. Granted, there’s a couple little sad moments on the album, but it was just a different feeling. I know. I was like, “Okay, I need this. I need this bag.” It was just so easy to make. I love when songs are easy.
The Love On Digital flower shops—I think it’s such a unique way to connect with your fans. How did that idea come together, and what can people expect, if they stop by?
The idea came together when me and my team were just throwing ideas out, and we were thinking about romance and romantic things. I think the album was supposed to come out on Valentine’s Day. Obviously, the album didn’t come out on Valentine’s Day, so we just kept the idea. It’s going to be really cool. I’m really excited.
We got hella flowers for my fans, and shit. So I feel like, it’s just a nice vibe, I’m giving them their flowers, as well, for supporting me, a cute gesture, and it’s sweet, because I get to meet them, and they can have an experience as well.
What was the reason for the pushback? I heard you say it was supposed to come out in February.
I don’t know, really. I think I was just adding more things. It just felt like we were rushing a little bit, so we just had to pull back. But I’m glad we didn’t rush it.
How do you hope that Love On Digital builds on the success and buzz of the SUBMISSIVE EPs? What do you hope listeners will take from this album, after hearing it?
Honestly, I am not going to sit here and be like, “This album is just so…” it’s not an emotional whirlwind of an album. I feel like, you can probably go back to my other projects, and I’ll be a little more self-deprecating, but this album is just, the whole time I was making it to the point where it was annoying. I was just like, “I want to have fun. I want to dance, I want to move. I don’t want to think about past relationships.”
Granted, there is, as I said, a couple moments on the album where it’s like, “Oh, this is,” not sad, but just introspective. So yeah, I just wanted to make an album that was fun. And I think I did a pretty good job at trying, at least. Because I would go into every session, and just be like, “We need to make some upbeat, we’re getting too sad. Let’s change it. Let’s move on.”
Yeah, just expect really good, happy, fun music that you can just throw on and vibe to. And it’s about to be summer. So I feel like—just timing-wise—it is what we need right now.
How do you feel about the perception that with R&B artists, they make their best music when they’re going through some emotional turmoil. And When they’re in a good space, their music isn’t the best—how do you feel about that notion?
Yeah, I feel like it’s just a setup for artists to be more depressed. And I get it, I understand why we say that, but for me personally, if I’m actually actively going through some shit that’s making me sad, I am not thinking about writing music.
I’ll write about it on other mediums, but I’m not about to go into the studio and sing, “I’m depressed.” I’m not thinking about it. But yeah, I feel like, during this album, even if I had a moment where I was sad, I would say, “I’m not recording today, or I’m not going to work today.” I just want to sit, and just sit in my sadness.
I love music, don’t get me wrong, and it is something I live and breathe, and love to do, but I am also 24, and figuring my life out. But not everything is for the making of music. I didn’t want to think about that kind of stuff. I just wanted to really make some shit that moved me in a different way. Because I know I’ll be sad eventually again, one day, and this conversation will be very different, and I’ll have a really long, introspective, deep thought out self-expression of an album, but that’s really not what this album is.
TOPICS: Destin Conrad Kehlani new music
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