Rising Stars: Meet KeiLon Daniels of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to KeiLon Daniels.

KeiLon, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I start very young with my interested in music because I come from a very musical family. My Charles was a blues guitarist and session player, my uncle Mark, and Milton Daniels were both DJs with the former being a Rapper and B-Boy as well. I would get my tutelage from these three men and many of my older cousins; mainly because they would find me messing with their equipment. I started learning how to DJ and play several instruments at a young age. I started making beats around middle school when my best friend Brandan got a Dr. Rhythm beat machine and a keyboard. We’d be at it for hours having our friends or ourselves rap over our beats. Coming from a small town in the Bootheel of Missour, there wasn’t much of a music industry close by unless you went to Memphis or at the time Atlanta was buzzing too. So after graduating high school in 2004, I would move to Atlanta to attend Morehouse College. I got caught up in the early days of trap music making beats and recording for local artist in Atlanta while also DJing. I eventually graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering as well as a Minor in Music Theory and Composition, and was working in the school system at the time to pay the bills. By day I was educating the kids and at night I would hone my craft in my bedroom studio, and DJing. During that time I landed a few placements within that time and around 2010 started my Mix Engineer journey. I started doing free mixes to get my foot in the door, and get buzz. Since then I been getting work and regular placements on Netflix and Hulu through sync licensing as well as doing music reviews and education since 2015.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been an easy road for me. I come from a small town in the Bootheel of Missouri. There is NO music industry or major record labels where I’m from. Stax Records had closed in Memphis long before I was born and Nelly was hot back then, but he had to go to New York to get noticed. I’m was stuck between St. Louis and Memphis and neither had a major recording industry, because their artist had to move out to get recognition. We did have a local label that was started by my Uncle Cory’s friends called Hard Head Records when I was in the 8th grade. They signed one of my cousin Shawn as a singer and a few other young talent kids like Tino Montana who to me was one of the dopest rappers I had ever heard. They a local hit called “Do It” off of their album “First Family”. There was also the group Koffee Brown that came out at the same time with another young talent singer/songwriter producer by the name of Falonte Moore that is still working now doing gospel. Seeing people from my area making music and being successful at it lit a fire in me. I took it upon myself to move to Atlanta. At that time the Atlanta music scene was really picking up with Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz, Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris and DTP, and T.I. When I got Morehouse I set my computer and equipment up in my dorm room and started making beats and selling them out of the dorm. I would go to every industry event, every studio, radio, beat battles etc. I knew what I wanted to do very young, and Atlanta was the right place to do it. It was times I had to sleep on friends and family’s couch and my car just to save up money for studio time. I would go days without eating just so I could do what I love. There were a lot of “no’s” and doors closed in my face, but I was determined to make it.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a producer and mix engineer. I specialize ins RnB, Hip Hop, and Soul Music. I’m mostly known as a DJ, but have been producing since 1997 and started engineering around 2010. What set’s me apart is I’m a trained musician that reads music for over 25 years and from what I’ve been told from the people I work with is that I have an eye for talent and a pure love for the music and it’s history.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I’m history, buff. Especially Black History and the History and culture of the African Diaspora. I go down a lot of rabbit holes when it comes to people who look like me. My grandparents were educators and lived through the Civil Rights and Black Power movement and were heavy in the community. I try to continue their legacy by educating the next generation why and how we should continue to strive to make our community as a whole better.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @realdirrty