JDVBBS

The #17 slot in #RXTop20 goes to @JDVBBS with "Miss Cinderella" - Radio Xenu

MEET OUR TOP 10 FINALISTS - TouchTunes

The Eagle’s Anagha Srikanth interviewed up-and-coming musician and Reston, Va. local JDVBBS about the January release of his album “subURBAN,” his range of musical talents and his dreams for his career. - American University's The Eagle Online

JDVBBS' first album is exciting and engaging. So much so that he’s the Deli DC’s Artist of the month for February. His tracks expose a wide variety of influences, interests, and skill. It’s a superlative introduction, and we can’t wait for more. We had to know how he did it. Here he explains how a boy from the suburbs has so much control over urban sound.

Q: What is your musical background? What are your musical and artistic inspirations, generally?

A: I started playing piano when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I would try to emulate what I heard on the radio and then play it when I got to my cousin's house. I was in band and chorus in high school and majored in music at James Madison University studying classical tenor, accompanying different ensembles and directing an a Cappella group.

I try to draw from all of those influences when creating and then I'll rap when I see fit (which is almost all the time)

Q: Where does the name JDVBBS come from? Where does the album name subURBAN come from?

A: J-Dub (or something very similar) was something that my high school friends used to call me. I didn't go to college with any of my friends from high school so when I got to JMU one of my dormmates started calling me Juicy J (Stay Fly was a hot record at the time) and it spread like wildfire. Obviously that wasn't a route I could take so I went back to my roots. subURBAN stems from the idea that I make urban music influenced by the suburbs in which I grew up. I'm not one to perpetrate how rap, rapping and rappers should appear and I think that title states that fairly clearly. I even used a birdseye view of the suburb I grew up in.

Q: What got you into hip-hop? Why did you decide to become an emcee? What is the inspiration behind the lyrics? What are you trying to say?

A: I think 8 mile had a huge impact on the young listeners of hip-hop at the time. I appreciate dudes like Rakim, Wu-Tang, Biggie, people before my ear really knew what I was listening to but I was raised on records like Life and Times Vol. II, Flesh of My Flesh and the Marshall Mathers LP. I rapped and wrote bars on the low starting in high school but never really did anything with it outside of freestyling at parties and recording goofy songs at my house in college and one day it was just like "I know what I'm doing, I should do more of this."

Q: Do you produce your own beats? If not who does? What is the inspiration behind the music? What are you trying to express?

A: On this album I produced everything ("More Than a Woman" was a beat from a friend that I reworked). I knew what I wanted to do with this one and I really wanted to show me off as well as use the songs I sampled in a brand new way. The samples are fairly recognizable (some more than others) but I wanted to re-invent them in a style that fit me a little better and provide a familiar yet fresh take on music. I hope there's a little bit of something for everyone on this album.

Q: What's next?

A: As far as what's next I've got a lot of the next full-length project already written. I'm also a huge fan of covers so I wanna do a bunch of those as well. Expect a lot of music from me in 2014. - Deli Magazine

Going to warn my readers about this song: there are like 2-3 different genres balled into one for this track, depending on how you categorize your music. One of them is definitely EDM...then Hip-Hop, Pop, R&B. Ok, so that was 4 different genres, but it works out. Inspired by a conversation before a night out on the town, JDVBBS (Jay-Dubs) created "War Paint" as a tribute to the cosmetics most women use everyday to enhance their beauty. From Mac to Cover Girl, the correlation is that when women put on make up, they are preparing for "war" i.e. the night out with the girls and it's winner take all. Ladies are on a mission and know exactly what they're doing when they paint their face and it is a sort of quiet competition, almost like a silent auction (the currency being the drinks purchased by the suitors). You and your girls are the army, competing, or battling, for the attention of the guys in whatever setting, decked out in your best dress, shoes, perfume, and of course, your expressive war paint. I want to specifically dedicate this song to my voguers and break dancers. The entire time I was listening to this song, I pictured you talented shape shifters in the middle of some dance floor doing incredible tricks and I'm in some corner with the Home Alone face, in utter shock. Enjoy! - Underground Diva

Here is something new out of D.C. JDVBBS drops his subURBAN album, giving a mix of uptempo and sampled driving hip-hop records that force you to move. - Str8 Out Da Den

Touting influences that range from Bjork to Kanye West, Virginia emcee JDVBBS uses his versatility and intellectual approach to music to impress with “Just A Rapper,” an upbeat cut sampling the legendary James Brown’s “I Feel Good.” Despite a fairly simple concept that relies heavily on funky instrumentation courtesy of the legendary Mr. Brown’s band, the song is very well executed and enticing. Laid back delivery and clever wordplay distinguish JDVBBS from the run-of-the-mill emcee, and will keep us tuned in as we watch his continued development. - Artistic Manifesto

With the help of some friends JDVBBS (pronounced ‘jay-dubs) strips down ‘Miss Cinderella’ , a track off his album subURBAN, to an acoustic version and boy is it good. I can’t emphasise enough how talented this guy is and I’m going to continue sharing his work to ensure that I can spread it enough so more people can enjoy his music.

Vibe to the video below - Music Is My Life