Producer Amorphous ‘blessed and grateful’ after viral Rihanna and Luther Vandross mashup
MC Hammer anointed producer amorphous the 'Thanksgiving DJ' after his mashup of Rihanna and Luther Vandross' songs went viral
Jimir Reece Davis only needed his computer, $30 headsets, some equipment and unique musical talents to captivate Black Twitter as its Thanksgiving DJ under his pseudonym amorphous.
The 22-year-old creative who produces music and films has enjoyed previous brushes with viral fame, most notably curating an Aaliyah documentary and the genius behind Bey-Z, a mashup album of Beyoncé and Jay Z’s classics. Issa Rae even says he’s next as one of the “upcoming talents” in the industry.
Read More: Rihanna officially dating A$AP Rocky, sources say
On Thanksgiving, Davis broke the internet with an inspired take of Rihanna’s “Kiss It Better” and Luther Vandross’ “Never Too Much.”
“I heard the mashup in my head and I was telling myself, ‘No, there’s no way I’m going to actually be able to make that happen,’” Davis exclusively tells theGrio of the “Never Kissed It Too Much” mix.
“I’ve got a lot of messages and people saying, ‘Oh wow, you noticed they were in the same key?’ I’m like, ‘No they are not.’ I had to manipulate them to change the keys of his track and to do a lot of little engineering stuff to get it to sound as natural as possible, but it ended up working.”
Davis adds that his father is a huge fan of Vandross and Rihanna is his idol. It was only natural to make a fusion between the prolific icons.
“It’s like combining two different generations. And that’s a beautiful thing. There’s always so much division on that front,” he explains.
“I feel, you know, everybody always talks about this new generation sucks in terms of music and not as good as the old music, like, wow, there’s so much incredible stuff out now—as well as all the classics. And, you know, I filmed a little video of me doing it live.”
Davis took a nap for two hours and woke up to his dreams becoming a reality. His already organic following grew by the thousands and his offerings being praised by the likes of John Legend, Kehlani, Victoria Monét, and Chloe x Halle.
His previous renditions of Beyoncé and Missy Elliott’s “She’s in Formation” and his take on the synergy between Ghost Town DJ’s and Earth, Wind & Fire drew him considerable praise. His favorites were now showing Davis love.
MC Hammer, who has always moved when the spirit has told him, anointed Davis the holiday’s DJ.
“I’m so blessed and so grateful,” he enthuses.
Davis assumed the name amorphous as it means undefined and that moniker not only covers his chameleon attributes, but it reflected his personal life, especially in 2020. The recent college graduate of Full Sail University was homeless at one point after he went to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of telling stories.
“I was homeless. I had to move back [home]. Nobody was hiring me. And I’m like, ‘I know I have the content, but things weren’t going well.’ And I was so down, I was very, very depressed. But I just told myself, ‘You know what? Get yourself together and go back home. Regroup yourself and whatever is supposed to be for you…will be’,” he says.
Read More: Halsey slams Grammys after snub and alleges nominations are more about ‘bribes’ than music
Davis hasn’t made contact with Rihanna or Beyoncé (or signed one of her famous NDA’s) at the time of this interview. But he has commanded the attention of heavy hitters in music and film who want to make good on making him the next big thing.
He is thankful to all those who have always supported him. He cited one woman who reached out to him. She’d underwent surgery and his Rihanna and Vandross mashup made her want to just get up and dance.
He also shared messages of encouragement that “Get Ur Freak On” MC Elliott sent to him, in which she believed that his talents would be recognized.
“You just can’t take any of that kind of genuine organic support for granted like that. [It’s] something I have to really give myself credit for. I usually don’t, but in a way that I’ve built that platform for myself. You know, I’ve been doing this for a very long time and I’ve never had a manager,” he says.
“I’ve never had any type of team. It has always been me,” he continues. “ And to just see things just truly come to fruition, all the hard work of sitting in my room when I was a kid when everybody else went go outside to go play and I would just lock myself in my room and just learn the production software or work on films and edit and stuff like— it’s all paid off.”
Jaime Harrison, former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, even joined the chorus of well wishers.
“You are a testament to what I always say to young people. Work hard & follow your passion. When you listen to your heart & do what you’re meant to do, you’ll do it well & the glory and appreciation will follow,” Harrison tweeted Wednesday.
The best is yet to come for Davis.
“I’m just so excited for my future,” he declares.
Davis can be reached on social media and his website.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
More About:Entertainment
You Might Like
