Meet The Performers: Didda Joe - Najeri Rawlins
As Fusion prepares for our first show of the year we wanted to make sure our audience had the chance to get to know a bit more about our performers before the day of the show! I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Didda Joe to discuss his journey and how he prepares for performances.
Didda Joe was born and raised in Indianapolis, IN. At the early age of five years old Didda remembers having a heavy musical influence in his life. He went on to elaborate on all the different types of artists that had influenced him over the years from John Myer, Babyface, Lenny Kravitz and even listing Prince as his spirit animal. With the encouragement of his close friends Didda decided to move to LA in 2013 to pursue his dreams. The move to LA helped benefit him in networking, collaborating, and writing with multiple artists in the industry. Since returning to Florida he’s been building a name for himself in Orlando by bringing a different sound to music, and working on more live instrument based sounds and performances.
Make sure you grab your tickets for the event! Showtime will be from 7pm - 11:00pm at The Abbey Downtown Orlando. It’ll be the perfect environment to bring a loved one, enjoy some drinks, and vibe along to the performers joining us that night.
Get to know more about Didda Joe below:
Q:Tell me a little bit about yourself (where you live, your age,etc)
- “I’m 29, I’m originally from Indianapolis, Indiana born and raised! But currently living in Orlando.”
Q: When did your musical journey begin? When did you know you wanted to take it seriously/build a career?
- “Well I feel like I’ve been making music all my life but I would say professionally I started off behind the scenes when I moved to LA in 2013. I got to work with a few people - Columbus Short, Roe James, Miguel, etc.”
Q: What have you been up to so far this year?
- “I’m getting ready to release a project I’ve been working on with a mentor of mine “Shafiq Husayn” just gearing up to put out new music. I know a lot of people are waiting on it and I plan on staying consistent in dropping this year.”
Q: Any specific sounds or artists you look up to for your musical inspiration?
- “Well I love all kinds of music but being from Indiana I feel like Michael Jackson was definitely a big inspiration for me, Prince is also up there for me he’s like my spirit animal but you also have people like Babyface, Dangelo, John Mayor, Lenny Kravitz, Jimmy Hendrix and even rock music: Linkin Park, Green Day, etc. “
Q: What do you look forward to the most when it comes to performances?
- “Just that connection. I’ve always felt like the best way to get to know me is on stage. I feel like it’s an exchange of energy so I’m really looking forward to receiving some loving energy from people and also giving it back to them. I feel like that’s a way for artists to meditate with their audience, you never know what people are going through or what they need to hear that music for so it’s the connection for me.”
Q: How do you prepare the day of a show?
- “I like to spend my day in silence, resting my voice, and trying to stay in a positive vibe. I wanna make sure regardless of what’s happening around me that when I get on that stage I’m just executing good vibes. I also play a lot of instruments so there’s a lot of warming up as well. “
Q: If you could describe your sound in one sentence to a new listener, what would you say?
- “I feel like my sound is an evolution of all of the legendary music before us. It’s hard to stick to one specific sound but I like to give people the best of all worlds - people that appreciate R&B but also Rock & Roll, Gospel, Blues, Pop, etc. It’s a lot of layers to it so I would call it an evolution of sound.”
