“DIVINE INTERVENTION” is where the music comes from because it has always been inspired by something deeper.  “If you ask me, I am a businessman.  I don’t see myself as an artist.” But Derrick McDaniel (A.K.A. “D.Y. McDaniel”) is a man called into action by artistry.  “Nothing else explains it.  I am a lawyer with an MBA!”  He completed his Juris Doctorate (law degree) and his MBA (Master of Business Administration) simultaneously and both are from Boston University. He worked on Wall street as an Investment Banker for JP Morgan Chase. But he also has an MBA in music business adjacent.  He’s in the business of music, without a formal background, but with a passion and creativity that was unleashed when he was able to be still and hear his voice within.

He may, by his own description but not by any confirmed diagnosis, have something called SYNESTHESIA; it means he hears music the way other people see colors. When he creates - sounds are like shades of color and he’s able to put them together to make beautiful creations/”pictures”.  

“I almost “see” the sounds in my mind. For me, I hear music much the same way other people (and myself) see colors. Certain notes and sounds go together the way different shades of colors go together. When I create music, I put beats, voices, and lyrics together so that they “match” much the same way a stylist would put together a crazy hot outfit or a painter would paint a picture pleasing to the eye”. 

Music is purposeful for “D.Y.” and songs can make a difference.  He wrote a song to get a girlfriend back (it began as a poem that turned into a song and soon, because of “D.Y.’s” particular way of doing things, soon became an entire project that unfortunately the ex-girlfriend never heard).  

He hadn’t touched a pen to write a song in a lot of years, until he read an article about suicide being one of the most common causes of death for young people 18 and under.  He has 2 daughters (14 and 10) and was concerned about online bullying and its impact on them and other young people (especially females) so he wrote a female empowerment song especially for his daughters. In January of 2022 when Cheslie Kryst (2019 Miss USA) committed suicide he wrote “Choose Life”, but this time he wanted the world to hear it with the goal of normalizing the topic so people in crises would feel comfortable talking about their struggles and maybe even seek help. 

When the world got quiet, in March 2020, in the COVID-19 pandemic, “D.Y.” was able to “be still” for the first time in years. Like most others he was dealing with his own challenges but found peace and a way to enjoy time with his daughters by creating music. The music flowed and the creative portal opened up again.  All the songs he had been holding back flowed free and since then, he has composed more than 500 songs.  The blessing of the internet and his capacity to create with other creatives brought his access to session singers he could work with and tracks that were available from producers around the country and the world who, like him, just wanted to create and be heard. He then got introduced to Charlemagne, the multi-platinum producer who has worked with the likes of Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z.