DonB the Artist

Born in the 90’s, an era when some of the greatest rap artists emerged, DonB the Artist could not help but bop his head to bass heavy beats and memorize the raps of his favorite artists. Constantly being surrounded by family who loved music and exposed him to it, it did not come as a surprise when DonB decided to take his lyrical approach in rap. Some of his greatest influencers are: Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Ludacris, and Busta Rhymes. During his high school years, DonB began to write his own raps and in 2007, he took his rhymes to the studio and developed his unique and powerful sound that would stick with him throughout his rap career.

Shortly after high school, DonB decided that he wanted to share his music with the world so he entered the rap scene under the name “RydaBlak” and took to the Bandcamp site. DonB has always taken the hands-on, independent approach with his music and had spent countless hours in his DIY studio in the basement of his home, in Maryland.

Constantly recording, mixing, and mastering his own music, DonB is a perfectionist when it comes to his craft. It was on Bandcamp where he released his first projects in 2011, “The Mind of a Ryda” and “BlackLightSpecial EP”, among other song singles. As DonB watched his statistics on Bandcamp rise, to over 1,000 plays, he knew he was onto something great and kept pushing his music.

In 2012, a fellow rapper introduced DonB to others that shared his same passion and interest. It was not long before DonB, “Rydablak” at the time, was known as 1/5 of the rap group, “Fly Rebel Society”. Forever known for chanting, “Skies Ain’t Safe!”, Fly Rebel Society (FRS) had a good run of shows and popularity within the DMV. The group had performances at “Tropicalia Lounge” in NW DC and had also donated proceeds to #SantaCause, a fundraising initiative for and on behalf of sexually and physically abused children in DC. FRS also performed at “The Fillmore” in Silver Spring, MD, as well as “South by Southwest” (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. As a group, FRS put out one EP (“Versus”), one mixtape (“Just Cause 2014: The Mixtape”), and two albums (“The Fresh Effect” and “reFRSH”). When FRS decided to split in 2016, DonB didn’t call it quits, but instead strived to hone his sound and reverted back to his solo career hustle.

After taking a brief break to marry his Wife and start a family, DonB came back on the scene with his first solo album under the rap alias, DonB the Artist. He dropped “The Magnum Opus” in 2017 and has been maintaining his momentum. Since dropping his album, DonB has received radio play in 2018 on WPGC 95.5 through the Real Live Mixtape June Edition, a DMV based collaboration, sponsored by DrewStar and Tony Redz. DonB earned his spot on the radio lineup by receiving the most streams (over 4,000 plays), surpassing any other artist on the mixtape. 

In addition to that, shortly after dropping his single, “Loot”, DonB received airplay on WINDCRadio through the Balancing Act Radio Show (BARS). BARS named DonB as the “Artsonist of the Month” for June 2018. The following month DonB continued to push through the year strong by being selected to be on the “Hpnotiq Iconiq Mixtape Vol. 2”, gaining spotlight alongside the legendary group “The Lox” and other well-known artists. After submitting his song “Exotic” to Hpnotiq’s calling for artists within the community to join the mixtape, DonB’s song was one of six selected out of 1500+ submissions. ElevatorMag released the song to the public in July of 2018 and DonB is now sponsored by Hpnotiq.

More recently, DonB has entered into various competitions, including “No Sucka MCs 6 (NSMC6)” and the “Doritos Blaze the Beat” contest. Although he did not win either competition, he was one of the top 100 voted artists in the lineup for NSMC6, and Doritos did make an effort to express that his sound was different and on point, by sending him a prize package of appreciation.

DonB the Artist aims to stay relevant and busy by pushing hard to remain on the scene and continuing to produce good music for his supporters. Since releasing his EP, “Coming to Fruition”, in May of 2018, DonB is currently planning a release date for his upcoming album “Fruition”, with other albums underway as well. He views every new project as a way to express his views on controversial social issues, promote self-help positivity, and produce a fun, catchy tune that many can vibe to. DonB grabs the attention of any listener with his quirky sense of humor, ‘right on time’ ad libs, and thoughtful conceptual lyrics.

DonB has been working to build his social media presence and gain more local attention through open mic performances in the area. He is always looking for opportunities to share his passion with others and aims to soon be able to serve as an opening act for other well-known artists in order to gain more listening supporters.