The D.E.Y. is a talented, bilingual trio that has quickly made their mark in the music industry with their fresh sound. They are soaring up the charts with their Earth, Wind & Fire inspired single "Give You the World" and that is only the beginning for them. Let's get to know more about Elan, Divine and Yeyo, better known as The D.E.Y.
ATF: So How did you guys come to form a group? How’d you get started?
Divine: Well, this is Divine. I’m the D of the D.E.Y. I’d like to say that we can’t spell the word “Destiny” without the D.E.Y., so we always like to say that it was destiny that brought us together. Aside from the other individual talents that we were pursuing, in my early career I was working with an Afro Cuban band, and helped co-write a Grammy nominated song. In touring and doing this song, I meet the great Elan Luis Rivera and she was working with Huey Dunbar. So during our travels, I see Elan at the airport, and we kick it and have a great conversation. Me and Yeyo met in Puerto Rico and have been working on the bilingual thing for many years before that, so when a mutual friend of ours presented a girl [Elan] to join our group that will allow us to showcase our talents in front of the person who was responsible for signing the Fugees, we stopped everything we were doing and started working on the project.
Yeyo: I got a studio in my house in Miami, and when we heard about her, I actually wanted to hear her music. We were like, “What if she can’t sing?” To make it short, she played me a song, that was one of my favorite songs, and it bugged me out that I was gonna work with her. It was a duo that she did with Huey Dunbar, and it was incredible and really displayed the power in her voice. I got excited to work with her, they came to the house, and that weekend we initially bonded. It was like we had known each other for years. We all understood that we had the same drive and we wanted the same goals. That weekend we recorded 4 songs, which are actually the same songs that we performed for the bosses over at Sony. As soon as we finished our 3rd song, they stopped us and said “Welcome to Sony”.
ATF: I know initially you all have been performing for a while. Yeyo, you were a DJ, correct?
Yeyo: Yes, I was a DJ since I was very young. That led to starting to write, producing, engineering, then rapping.
Elan: I’ve been working more than half my life in music, TV, film Broadway, etc. I was a freshman in college and I realized that I wanted to come back in the industry, and this is exactly what happened. I’m just so motivated to be here, and just to be able to perform stuff that we feel like we are a part of as a culture and as a people. I feel like its really the time to express ourselves, and people really want to embrace it. Epic signed us straight away, it wasn’t a question. They were working on the Shakira/Wyclef thing at the time, and they were like “We get it!” It feel s real good. I wanted to express myself in both languages and also express the things that I’ve been learning growing up in New York City.
ATF: So where are you guys originally from?
Elan: I’m from New York. I’m half African American and Puerto Rican. My father is Puerto Rican and my mother is Black and Native American.
Yeyo: I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. My father is Cuban and my mother is Puerto Rican.
Divine: I was born and raised in the South Bronx. Both of my parents are Puerto Rican and both of them were born in Puerto Rico but raised in the South Bronx.
ATF: How do you guys feel when people compare you to group such as the Fugees, City High, and groups of a similar nature?
Elan: Oh, we love the Fugees! We want to sell just as many records as them and be respected around the world similar them. We have something different though, we have the bilingual movement that we’re working on, and we just want to express that culture to the world. We’re extremely happy to be compared to such giants. We performed for Wyclef before as well. He asked us to do a song to open up before his performance at the Grammys. Wyclef is actually behind us.
Yeyo: We definitely admire and identify with the Fugees a lot. They are definitely a group that brought their own culture and their own Carribean flow to the table. That’s what made them so special. This is also something that we do and that makes us so special. We bring our own culture and set of influences. The Fugees weren’t trying to follow the “Flavor of the Month”, they brought their own flavor. That’s what The D.E.Y. is. We want to let people know that you can be free to express yourself.
ATF: Why do you feel it is so important to embrace your culture and not follow the trends?
Yeyo: I’m a person that takes my heritage and my culture very close to my heart, and I like to pay respect to those that have influenced me. That’s why you see the first single right now is a song influenced by “Earth Wind & Fire” called “Give You the World”. Earth Wind & Fire didn’t just influence The D.E.Y., they influenced hip-hop, R&B and soul music, period. We want people not to forget where all this music came from, and we want to bring organic music back.
ATF: So guys tell me about your new project. What are the singles? Who are some of the artists that you’re working with?
Elan: Right now, I have a song out with Sean Kingston called “There’s Nothing”. JR Rotem worked on that song, and he also produced our first single as well, so its like one big happy family of songs that we’re bring to the table and just knockin’ them out with it. Our album is coming out soon. As of right now, we have an EP out with 4 songs. “Get the Feeling” is one of our songs, and its produced by Timbaland. It’s a big song for us. The way we got him into the room is also a thing of destiny, and you can’t spell destiny without the D.E.Y.! We met up with him because his producers were out working on the beat with us. They heard so many things about us that when we started working on the song, they told Tim that he had to come through! We got that song right now, we also have a song produced by Stargate, who has worked with all of the great pop artists of the past 2 years. We even have a billboard on 42nd street right now! There are just so many things that we’re getting ready to do.
Divine: We’re also the “Discover and Download” artists on MTV, that’s why they gave us a billboard on the corner of 45th and Broadway, and also we’re on the MTV building. We’re overwhelmed at how much they’re embracing our bilingual project. People are saying “Yes, I want my child to learn Spanish”, and predominantly Spanish speaking people are saying “I want my child to learn English”. This is a body of work that is mature, and its also made for all types of audiences.
ATF: Being the only female in the group, how do you manage to hold it down?
Elan: I love being the only female because…I’m the only female! (laughs). I was in a girl group when I was about 10 years old, and one when I was a bit older, but they don’t work as smoothly as everyone wants to imagine. At the same time, being the only girl in a predominately male group may not work either. What does work is that we’re really family, and we can express ourselves in ways that its okay. A lot of people cannot express themselves from gender to gender. I feel that this group has the balance between the ying and the yang here. Its not just with gender, but its with the genres as well. From a business standpoint, its incredible to be the only girl in the group. I love it! We’re 3 different individuals too, and these guys love their mommas. We just understand each other, and these guys love me as their sister.
Yeyo: We’re also super protective and we make sure nobody messes with her.
ATF: You guys are like the big brothers?
Elan: People don’t understand that the Spanish big brother is very protective! (laughs)
ATF: So, what does hip hop mean to all of you?
Divine: Hip Hop is a culture that began in urban cities across the world. Hip Hop is very important for us to understand the ways of the community. Its about being the voice of our community through literature and the power of the word. Hip Hop is a way of life, and a culture that can free us all.
Elan: My personal view is that hip hop is an expression of the youth at the time. It didn’t matter if you could sing, it didn’t matter if you were the best at math or anything. It was an expression that needed to be felt and heard. We didn’t even have instruments sometimes, we were on the playground just messing around with each other. We had points that we wanted to express, and couldn’t express anywhere else. It was a way of expression for urban people.
Yeyo: I am hip hop! I embody hip hop. We are all hip hop babies. Hip hop to me is real similar to a lot of the typical Puerto Rican music, as well as poetry. When I actually discovered hip hop, it was incredible to me how similar it was, but more how urban it was. In Puerto Rico, its very much about culture, but its more like the elders passing it on to the youth, whereas hip hop was like the youth rediscovered this style and made it pop and hip. It gave me a way of expressing myself and all my urban insecurities and urban situations that’s going on. At the same time, it gave me a way to carry my culture and I felt represented. So, I am hip hop!
ATF: Are there any last closing words?
Elan: We appreciate you spending time with us!
Yeyo: We want you to make sure to write down our website and our myspace. Its TheDey.com and Myspace.com/TheDey. Also, make sure you send everybody the itunes or their favorite online music store…
Elan: Like Walmart! (laughs)
Divine: So they can cop our EP called “The Dey Has Come”. It has 4 beautiful songs and paints a beautiful picture of what the album is going to be. We also want to send everybody to MTV, BET and MTV Tres to vote for our song. Call your local radio stations and ask for “Give You the World.”
The DEY: Thank you Aura! We’re loving your name! We’re loving your “aura”!
Check out The D.E.Y.'s video for "Give You the World".
The D.E.Y. is a talented, bilingual trio that has quickly made their mark in the music industry with their fresh sound. They are soaring up the charts with their Earth, Wind & Fire inspired single "Give You the World" and that is only the beginning for them. Let's get to know more about Elan, Divine and Yeyo, better known as The D.E.Y.
ATF: So How did you guys come to form a group? How’d you get started?
Divine: Well, this is Divine. I’m the D of the D.E.Y. I’d like to say that we can’t spell the word “Destiny” without the D.E.Y., so we always like to say that it was destiny that brought us together. Aside from the other individual talents that we were pursuing, in my early career I was working with an Afro Cuban band, and helped co-write a Grammy nominated song. In touring and doing this song, I meet the great Elan Luis Rivera and she was working with Huey Dunbar. So during our travels, I see Elan at the airport, and we kick it and have a great conversation. Me and Yeyo met in Puerto Rico and have been working on the bilingual thing for many years before that, so when a mutual friend of ours presented a girl [Elan] to join our group that will allow us to showcase our talents in front of the person who was responsible for signing the Fugees, we stopped everything we were doing and started working on the project.
Yeyo: I got a studio in my house in Miami, and when we heard about her, I actually wanted to hear her music. We were like, “What if she can’t sing?” To make it short, she played me a song, that was one of my favorite songs, and it bugged me out that I was gonna work with her. It was a duo that she did with Huey Dunbar, and it was incredible and really displayed the power in her voice. I got excited to work with her, they came to the house, and that weekend we initially bonded. It was like we had known each other for years. We all understood that we had the same drive and we wanted the same goals. That weekend we recorded 4 songs, which are actually the same songs that we performed for the bosses over at Sony. As soon as we finished our 3rd song, they stopped us and said “Welcome to Sony”.
ATF: I know initially you all have been performing for a while. Yeyo, you were a DJ, correct?
Yeyo: Yes, I was a DJ since I was very young. That led to starting to write, producing, engineering, then rapping.
Elan: I’ve been working more than half my life in music, TV, film Broadway, etc. I was a freshman in college and I realized that I wanted to come back in the industry, and this is exactly what happened. I’m just so motivated to be here, and just to be able to perform stuff that we feel like we are a part of as a culture and as a people. I feel like its really the time to express ourselves, and people really want to embrace it. Epic signed us straight away, it wasn’t a question. They were working on the Shakira/Wyclef thing at the time, and they were like “We get it!” It feel s real good. I wanted to express myself in both languages and also express the things that I’ve been learning growing up in New York City.
ATF: So where are you guys originally from?
Elan: I’m from New York. I’m half African American and Puerto Rican. My father is Puerto Rican and my mother is Black and Native American.
Yeyo: I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. My father is Cuban and my mother is Puerto Rican.
Divine: I was born and raised in the South Bronx. Both of my parents are Puerto Rican and both of them were born in Puerto Rico but raised in the South Bronx.
ATF: How do you guys feel when people compare you to group such as the Fugees, City High, and groups of a similar nature?
Elan: Oh, we love the Fugees! We want to sell just as many records as them and be respected around the world similar them. We have something different though, we have the bilingual movement that we’re working on, and we just want to express that culture to the world. We’re extremely happy to be compared to such giants. We performed for Wyclef before as well. He asked us to do a song to open up before his performance at the Grammys. Wyclef is actually behind us.
Yeyo: We definitely admire and identify with the Fugees a lot. They are definitely a group that brought their own culture and their own Carribean flow to the table. That’s what made them so special. This is also something that we do and that makes us so special. We bring our own culture and set of influences. The Fugees weren’t trying to follow the “Flavor of the Month”, they brought their own flavor. That’s what The D.E.Y. is. We want to let people know that you can be free to express yourself.
ATF: Why do you feel it is so important to embrace your culture and not follow the trends?
Yeyo: I’m a person that takes my heritage and my culture very close to my heart, and I like to pay respect to those that have influenced me. That’s why you see the first single right now is a song influenced by “Earth Wind & Fire” called “Give You the World”. Earth Wind & Fire didn’t just influence The D.E.Y., they influenced hip-hop, R&B and soul music, period. We want people not to forget where all this music came from, and we want to bring organic music back.
ATF: So guys tell me about your new project. What are the singles? Who are some of the artists that you’re working with?
