Rock ‘n’ roll has chosen its next savior — and his name is DE’WAYNE. Fueled by divine energy, Black artistry and raw power, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter combines funk, rock and pop to craft something never-before-seen in today’s indie alternative landscape. Pulling sonic and aesthetic influence from the likes of Prince and Lenny Kravitz — with the latter now considered a close mentor — DE’WAYNE is bringing forward a refreshing sense of authenticity and rock star swagger into the current rock scene.
On July 30, the Texas native will release June, his third full-length studio album and, as he says, his most authentic body of work to date. Compared to his two previous LPs — 2021’s STAINS and 2022’s My Favorite Blue Jeans — DE’WAYNE maintains his signature genre-bending artistry, yet brings the funk essence to new heights. Balancing sexual, spiritual devotion with truthful vulnerability, DE’WAYNE is boldly unafraid to embrace the divine feminine.
Known for his high-energy musicality and cathartic identity, the “highway robbery” singer has carved his own space in the rock world, establishing himself as one of music’s most exciting up-and-comers. Through his anthemic compositions and addictive charisma, DE’WAYNE is sliding his way into inevitable rock ‘n’ roll stardom all while opening up the doors for the countless other Black rock artists who deserve a space in the alternative music industry.
Following his recent supporting run with Red Leather and ahead of his thrilling performance at the Long Beach show of Vans Warped Tour, his new album June and his upcoming fall tour supporting Duckwrth, DE’WAYNE sat down with Melodic Magazine to discuss musical influences, his biggest goals and what makes June his greatest body of work to date.
You just finished some dates with Red Leather, and you recently announced that you’re going to be opening up for Duckwrth on their All American Freak Show Tour, which is another amazing lineup. What are you most excited for with that run of shows?
I’m really excited because, as a Black rock musician, I don’t really get to play in front of tons of Black people, and it’s something that I’m really excited for. [Duckwrth] has a really beautiful mix of fans, but I know there will be more people that look like me there, and naturally that’s just something that I really appreciate, because the last few years I’ve kind of had to pull the teeth of people to get them to get into the music. To be honest with you, the [Red Leather] tour was great, it was amazing and I’ve never sounded better, but I was kind of in a position to where I’m like, “Damn.” Because I’m on stage dancing and singing and having fun, doing whatever I do, and I couldn’t tell if people were confused or maybe they didn’t like it, whatever it was. Then at the end of every show I would have the same people that was looking at it crazy being like, “Oh my God, it’s the best show I’ve ever seen, can we take a picture?” Which kind of drives me a little crazy because I’m like, “Do you like me or do you not?” So I’m excited to get in front of people that I know don’t have an issue dancing and will just give me the truth.
It’s annoying too when people are so judgmental, especially of an opening act. On one hand you want to win them over, but on the other hand it’s like, “Why didn’t I get this energy when I was giving it my all onstage?”
Yo, one hundred percent. It really taught me to kind of appreciate myself more and just appreciate what I’m doing, because I know that it’s fire and I know that people appreciate it. But I would see people looking at me crazy and then after just like, “Oh my God.” So I’m excited to kind of move away from that, to be honest. It’ll be fun.
This is something you said earlier too, but I wanted to ask you about being a Black artist pursuing alternative music. Obviously rock music is so historically influenced by Black artists, but nowadays it’s so white male-dominated, and I was just wondering if you’d be able to elaborate on what your experience has been like pursuing the rock industry?
You know, I feel freaking blessed because I’ve somehow scratched and crawled into the door of the rock industry with hard work and all that stuff. But I love a challenge. I think a challenge is very sexy. I think it’s quite beautiful. So for me to even get in the door and be doing all these shows and going to rock radio stations and having them play my music, I’m so thankful. I was having an interesting conversation with a mentor of mine, who is also a Black rock artist, and he was just like, “Damn, I’m kind of sad for you, because it hasn’t changed. I came out 30 years ago, and we still had to fight and claw. And that’s the part that I’m just hoping the next few generations will change, because it’s just so clear that the threshold for us is smaller, even though the music is just as good.” We’re just as attractive, we can speak just as well in interviews. That’s just how life is. So I think it’s beautiful, and it makes me feel better when I meet up with those people and now we end up on the same road. Even though the fight for me has been a little harder, I wouldn’t change it at all.
I love what you said earlier: A challenge is sexy. That is the motto for 2025 (laughter).
But it is! It really is. Even [with] relationships and friendships.
And in terms of what you said earlier, you have so many big milestones coming up right now, one of them being that you’re going to perform at the Long Beach show of Vans Warped Tour. This year is the huge rebirth of Warped Tour — how excited are you to be performing?
You know, I was really nervous at first, but now I’m really excited. I’ve added two new players to my band, so now we have a full stage presence and we sound really good. We’re about to come out there looking like it’s 1972, which I’m really excited about, and it’s a dream of mine. I’ve seen so many friends play it and it’s something about that momentum that you start to get when you just start dropping good music. Things are really just trending in the right direction for me in my artistry for the first time. So I’m excited to go out there and play and see people just having a good time. It’s going to be amazing. I’m hyped.
Obviously the big thing you have coming up is your new album June. How are you feeling with the album coming out so soon? What are the emotions like right now?
I literally just got the chills [from] you asking that question. [For] artists, we’re really scared and insecure and so nervous about everything. I’ve never been so sure of any of my music. I really consider myself to be a late bloomer, because it took me so long to start making good music. There were a few here and there that connected with people, but everything else it’s like, “Almost got him.” So with this new record, my vision was clear. I feel like it was the first time I was a leader in the studio. I felt like it was the first time I could speak to what I wanted. I could use my influences but also put it through the vessel and the channel of DE’WAYNE to where it made sense and it came out right. So the energy around the album coming out is that I’m really excited, and I just want to interject love and joy into people’s hearts. And I also want to interject great rock music into people’s hearts. I think we need it. I want to be one of the artists that are coming out here with a voice and just having something to say. Not that people don’t have stuff to say, but I think love is so important, and it never leaves. I think the spectrum of love goes forever, and for me to be talking about that right now, I think it’s important and I’m excited. I think the record is hot.
You said this upcoming record is probably your favorite body of work compared to your other releases. And I know you’ve said in the past that this is probably your most authentic album. What makes it more authentic?
I think in the past I just had no voice in the studio. I was using all of my influences, but I wasn’t as good of a singer. I wasn’t as good of a writer. I couldn’t really hear parts that I wanted, and I think what makes it more authentic is that I’m talking about a subject that I care deeply about. And then the musicality of everything. It’s funky and it’s soulful and it’s rocking. I really did a deep dive on the Black artists that were making rock ‘n’ roll. For so long all of my influences were Patti Smith, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed — who are still huge influences on me, but I now have combined them with Black artistry and with Black rock ‘n’ roll, which makes it more authentic in itself because that’s just who I am as a human. But I really think it’s the subject matter for me that makes it, because my friends who hear the record are like, “Oh, this is how you talk. Just love, love, love.” If you talk to me on a day-to-day basis, I’m going to be talking about love, about how I’m trying to get closer to my heart. I found myself being able to use that on the album in a poetic way, and I would say that’s the main reason why for sure.
You talked about the sound of the album, and I love your sound and how it blends all these different influences together. On June, how do you expand upon your sound? What do you do differently that you haven’t done on previous records?
I was adding a little bit more of the funk. There’s not jazzy elements, but there’s just more musicality, you know what I mean? So I think that was kind of how I elevated the sound and took it up in those parts. It was just really me making my producer listen to Bill Withers and Lenny Kravitz and Prince. Everything was just more clear. So when I spoke to him and when I spoke on the songs, there was direction. It’s a small part, but it was a big part for this for this album.
You mentioned Lenny Kravitz, you mentioned Prince, and a lot of people have compared you to these artists. I’ve heard people say “He’s the next Lenny Kravitz, the next Prince, the next Rick James.” When it comes to these comparisons, are you flattered by them? Or do you wish that people would more see you as DE’WAYNE?
I mean, I’m so flattered. I come from Texas, and my family, they’re just lovers and lovers of Jesus, which I think is phenomenal. None of this stuff is supposed to be happening, is what I’m trying to get at. To be compared to any of those artists that have made such a name for themselves, it’s quite beautiful and I’m so thankful. And Lenny is my guy now. He even likes that people compare me to him, because he’s like, “You’re one of my offsprings,” you know? And I think Prince’s songwriting and the way that he uses spirituality and sex and love and combines them, it’s something that I’m deeply influenced by. But being a new artist and to be compared to those people and get to have a friendship with them now is all you can ever ask for, you know?
Being compared to not just really great artists, but also your favorite artists, I feel like that’s a huge compliment. It’s so cool that you and Lenny are good friends now too. You mentioned growing up with a religious background, how do you incorporate your religious or spiritual upbringing into your music? How does that play together, if it does?
It extremely does. I think the more I talk to people, they’ll get it. But June is a completely divine feminine spirit that I’m just at the feet of the whole album. So I think the way that I tie it in is that she’s like my God, truly, not even to be dramatic about it. I see that character, that individual, as someone to be praised, and I’m doing it with love. I mean, clearly love is God, God is everything. But for me, love is so important and that’s the way I tied it in on this album. I’m just at the knees, at the toes, at the feet, at the head of this person. I think that’s she’s the God in my life.
June represents this divine feminine being, and I had read something about how you embrace the divine feminine more on this album than ever before. As a male rock artist, what does divine feminine mean to you? How do you channel that in your artistry or in your personality?
It’s something that I’m discovering every day, but I do think having the divine feminine and divine masculine edge is just something that I naturally gravitate towards. And for me, what it represents is just being open and surrendering, and being honest, loving and truthful. What I’m trying to say in the music is that the old ways, and how I was taught from the men in my life, I want to go in the opposite direction of that. I’m expressing that on this record, and I’m constantly working on it every day, but it’s just the age of the new modern man. Someone who is able to dip his toes in the feminine energy and the masculine energy and not being afraid of that. I think Prince was such a beautiful person for that. I think Lenny does the same thing. It’s about getting to the core of who you are as a person. But I think when it shows up in people, it’s clear. And for me, I’m thankful to be able to walk both sides. I’ve fully embraced it and I love it. I think it’s beautiful and it’s something I want to keep working on.
I love this new movement for men to embrace their more feminine personality. And it doesn’t just mean your feminine physical traits necessarily, but spiritually or emotionally. It’s very reassuring to see.
It’s beautiful and it’s something that I want to do. Once the record drops we have a few things lined up next week, but I just want to start having conversations with people where we just talk about that. And I would love to do it with women too. But I do think it’s important to do. I’m really excited to just talk to more intelligent people about those things. I want it to be something that’s not where only a certain amount of people have this knowledge. I think it could serve all of us.
Going off of that, I read this recent interview with you where you had talked about what’s missing in rock music today. What do you bring forward in your music or in your artistry that the current rock scene might be lacking?
I think what I bring as an individual is just truth, love, vulnerability. We’re on the playlists and we’re on the radio, and people are talking about the same thing. I hate to be that person, but it’s just what it is, you know? I really got inspired by Prince in a way too, because he was like, “I came from nothing. Why would I want to talk about that?” I want to put love into people’s hearts. I want to put joy into people’s hearts. It’s not about being a star, not about being an icon. Even though I would love to be all of those things, I really just want to give people something to believe in and to show them and people that look like me that love is important and we shouldn’t try to run from it. Not to be cheesy, but at the end, do you want to go out alone? For me, I want to be surrounded by family. I want to be surrounded by someone that cares about me. I just find it interesting that love is important to all of us, but we kind of run from it. I don’t want to run from it. I want to run right to it, and I think that’s what I’m providing to the alternative space. And doing it as a Black man looking sexy I think is quite great too (laughs).
I love this sense I get from your music that it’s not just romantic love, it’s love with your friends, love with your family, love with yourself. We’re still trying to work towards this idea that love isn’t just a romantic thing.
It’s so many different things. And once again, it’s something that I’m working on daily. I would say in the past two weeks, I’ve just now turned my loneliness into solitude. You know what I mean? So I’m still working on how to love myself more and make it so that it’s not only when I’m allowed to love on someone else than I feel great. I’m trying to learn how to give that love that I’m presenting to June to DE’WAYNE. It’s such a process, but once again, I just care deeply about it and I just want to talk more about that shit.
June is of course the name of the album and its title track, and she represents a woman or a romantic partner. But does June represent more than that? Is June a literal person, or is the concept of June something greater?
It’s something greater than that. But once again, the love spectrum is so big, so I think it represents so many people. But on that song, I wanted to also have the personal aspect of it and not have it be so hippie-like. You wouldn’t be able to get what I was talking about and put it in a pop song, but I still think that the main person who I am talking to is just something way bigger than I can understand. And also, all of these songs are me too. I’m still a hopeless romantic, so at the end of the day, a lot of these songs are me putting out my calling card and being like, “Do you see me as a husband? Is this a person that you want to be with? I’m surrendering. I’m full of love. I’m full of light on most days. Is this something that you would want?”
In terms of June, how do you want to make an impact make with the album? Whether it’s in the rock music industry, whether it’s with your fans, what kind of impact do you want to make with this record?
There’s a few impacts that I want to make. I would say number one is that I think this album is definitely me solidifying my position in the rock world, in the arterial sense of ‘this is someone to be on the lookout for.’ That’s the selfish artist answer, but it’s also my truth. And I would say that another impact that I want to make is just for me to open up the doors and for me to open up the threshold wider for people of color in my space, in our space, and to show labels and to show people with money that we’re worth spending money on, and when you put a team behind people like myself you get a record like June. You put them in positions to then meet with their heroes and to do shit down the line that’s going to even make that threshold bigger. I want this record to just put more people in position. You know what I mean? And in terms of the impact on myself, I feel like an artist. And that was only done by me making June, and I’m really fucking proud of that. It’s already made a huge impact on my heart and on me as an individual, and I think that’s really important.
I like that you mention opening the doors for more Black artists, because there are a lot of really cool Black artists coming up in the alternative music scene right now.
There’s so many. I even feel a little bit more pressure, in a way, because I feel like Lenny chose me when there are so many of us. It’s like I was talking earlier, I want to get to the point after this record to where there are just more conversations had to where we can acknowledge what’s happening and then we can make a step forward. There’s tons of us, and they’re great, there’s just no one paying attention. But when you let these people come through, you get a Jimi Hendrix, you get a Prince, you get a Chuck Berry, you get a Little Richard, you get a Lenny Kravitz, you get In Living Color. You know what I mean? You get bands that get Grammys and hit songs. Why are there only eight of them? It’s clear that when you let them through the door, it works. That part to me is becoming so important and I hope to change it, and that’s why I’m playing Warped Tour. There’s a few other bands too that are starting to get their rise. But there should be 10 of us. There should be 20 of us. And personally, I’m going to keep fighting for that. I think it only helps rock. I think it only helps what’s happening in pop culture.
Pre-save June here.
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