User:Jadecora/D.P.

Spending night after night in smoke-filled, dimly-lit bars and venues, soaked in live, loud, local music will begin to shape an artist's perception on reality. It's here among the groupies and scenesters, drunks and pill-poppers, bright lights and vast stretches of highway that separate the days from nights as an artist on the road, that D.P. draws inspiration for his debut album 'Bar Tab Blues'.

D.P., born Danny Perez, pounded out his first piano melodies at the age of six, and hasn't stopped since. Trained in blues and classical piano, D.P. uses his knowledge of music to create original works of art completely from scratch. His music is often straightforward and to-the-point, relying heavily on strong chord progressions and melodies. This self-classified genre, 'piano-rap', is a blend of traditional hip-hop with strong doses of pop and rock mixed throughout, all held together with sing-a-long choruses. Guido Stern from RapReviews.com comments on the style, "Perhaps the most impressive quality D.P. displays is his uncanny ability to write and sing affecting, catchy hooks. There are thousands of American rappers who can spit a hot sixteen, but so few who can write a chorus worth hearing."

After releasing several promotional mixtapes and EPs to generate buzz both locally and online, D.P. released 'fortyeighthours.' in 2009, an album titled after the amount of time it took the artist to create the 11-track disc. The song 'The Mirror' received rave review on DJBooth.net, and Kevin Nottingham blogged about the album and the youtube webisodes that documented the entire two-day process on his site, leaving readers with the note, "it’s one I’ll be keeping on my ipod for a while." 'fortyeighthours.' was less a situation of D.P. showing off how quickly he can make a unique and powerful album, as it was a chance for the artist to give his listeners and the world a glimpse into the entire process of creating his music. This coupled with the reality-TV inspired webisodes and incredibly strenuous time-constraints made the album one of the most interesting listens of the year.

Hot off the buzz of 'fortyeighthours.', D.P. has just released 'Bar Tab Blues', a 17-track concept album and his first full-length official release. The album is an introspective trip through the life of a struggling musician, told through stories of 20-something youths navigating the world of failed relationships, drug-addiction, all-night parties and faded dreams. D.P.'s bluesy piano style shines on this expertly crafted work of art. The tracks often rely heavily on powerful and often epic song-structure, creating a soulful backdrop upon which D.P. belts out one addictively catchy hook after another in his smoke-and-whiskey battered voice. This is the most exciting new voice in hip-hop today, and D.P.'s debut album will take you on a trip down the dark and desolate alleys of wasted youth through a unique mixture of storytelling, piano-bar licks and haunting melodies. The lead single 'Hollow' is just starting to hit college radio nationwide, supported by a music video that can be seen on youtube.

D.P. books and plays shows in his hometown of Gainesville, FL on a regular basis to capacity crowds at some of the best venues in the city, often with a full band re-creating the sound on-stage. He recently played Firestone Live in Orlando, FL with Goodie Mob. He'll be playing the Harvest of Hope festival in St. Augustine, FL in March 2010, as well as heading out on an east-coast tour (his second) to promote the album 'Bar Tab Blues'. In the meantime, fans can catch D.P. playing shows in cities accross the southeast, in a smoke-filled, dimly lit bar near you.