Dwele

Dwele is the performance name of Andwele Gardner, an American contemporary R&B, neo soul and soul singer-songwriter and producer from Detroit, Michigan. He grows up on the west side of Detroit in a musical family and begins playing piano at the age of six, later adding trumpet, bass and guitar. He also becomes an MC and draws on hip hop as part of his musical approach.

Early life and influences

Gardner is deeply affected by the fatal shooting of his father outside the family home when he is ten. He later says that music becomes a way of working through his emotions. His stated influences include Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Roy Ayers, Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard, and he also takes inspiration from A Tribe Called Quest.

Career

Dwele records a demo in his bedroom called The Rize and sells about 100 copies from the trunk of his car, which sell out within a week. Slum Village and producer J Dilla take notice, and Slum Village invite him to sing the hook on “Tainted” from Trinity (Past, Present and Future). He then works with Slum Village, J Dilla and Kanye West, and also collaborates with Bahamadia, Lucy Pearl and New Sector Movement.

He self-releases the demo tape Rize in 2000, then releases his debut studio album Subject in 2003 on Virgin Records. The album combines neo soul and hip hop. His second album, Some Kinda..., follows in 2005. He later signs with RT Music Group and KOCH Records. His third studio album, Sketches of a Man, appears in 2008, and his fourth, W.W.W. (W.ants. W.orld. W.omen), follows in 2010.

Style and reception

His music is rooted in vintage soul while also drawing on hip hop. He is also associated with unreleased material that is valued by long-time listeners, alongside the work he releases commercially.

Additional work

Dwele features on “Power”, the first single from Kanye West’s fifth studio album Good Ass Job.