In his own hands

Dem Jointz’s musical story started early. A keen rapper in his youth and a regular drummer at church, rhythm and melody were formative aspects of his life from the offset. It was production, however, that ignited something within him; he struggled to find someone to produce and make beats with, so he took matters into his own hands.

Once I started producing, I actually fell in love more than I did with rapping. So I stuck with producing. That was my new-found love.

This love of production became more than a passion; this was his destined career path. He studied, he honed his craft, he listened to countless records to enrich his sound palette. His early production credits included Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green. 4 Grammy nominations and dozens of other credits later, he’s not only an established name on the US rap and R&B scene - he’s fast becoming K-pop’s most in-demand producer, firing out consistent hard-hitters with the likes of BTS, NCT 127, and Exo.

Finding Arturia

Dem Jointz has spent his fair share of time in studios, surrounded by talented artists and peers, always exposed to new instruments, sounds, and styles. But every now and then, a sound comes along and catches your ear; V Collection was his gateway to the Arturia sound, and it includes some of his favorite production staples.

So if we're in the studio and someone across the room is playing this crazy synthesizer sound - I'm quick to get up and be like ‘yo, what's that sound? What's that plugin?’ And so often it's an Arturia plugin, like the Mellotron V or the organs. The organs sound crazy. So I went online and I bought the whole bundle. I've been using it ever since.

On Pigments 4

Dwayne’s love of working with V Collection eventually led him to Pigments, an instrument that wasn’t just another sound source - it became a creative catalyst that accelerated his flow.

It's crazy, but since I got it, I’ll make like seven beats in a couple of days. So when I can get a hold of that and do something like that, that's definitely going to end up being the go-to.

For his workflow, Pigments appeals on two fronts: instant access to great presets, and the ease of sound alteration. It’s not just about finding sounds that are mix-ready, it’s sounds that are unique - and that can be pushed in any direction that suits his beat-making process, especially with Play Mode.

The sounds are like ‘what am I listening to?’ - It’s already like crazy sounds you can just load and just jump on right away. Not only that, but once you get used to the sound, you can actually go into it and turn that sound into another sound… it’s like a never-ending sound on sound.

When I'm creating and I hear the song in my head, I don't want to get lost in creating the sound and going down the rabbit hole of just figuring out the capabilities of how far it goes. I just manipulate it to how I like it, and you can do it real fast in the Play mode.

Create, continue

In many ways, the most important thing about Pigments for Dem Jointz isn’t related to its features, its sounds, or its design. It’s an ensemble, all of the above, that ultimately keeps him creative, keeps him looking for the next bit of inspiration, and keeps his flow fresh.

It's helping me out with creating, staying creative, chipping at that stone. We gonna create jams, we gonna continue, you know what I'm saying? Provide the community with jams on jams. And I appreciate Pigments… for inspiring me to create way more jams because them sounds is crazy. Stay tuned to what's next.