Many people spend countless minutes, hours, days, even years trying to establish their identity. But for Duan Alston, it wasn’t long before he identified his musical personality. As a native of Warsaw NC, hip hop artist D-Way didn’t grow up in a musically talented family. But after realizing he had what it took to captivate and move an audience, it was then he said music became natural to him. While laboriously working on his music, the world welcomes the arrival of a gifted, real-talkin’, significant new talent.
Born in Raleigh, lived in Warsaw until he was 8 years old, D-Way and his family moved to Portsmouth Virginia, then the true Carolina boy returned home at age 14 to Warsaw. Having friends who performed for their families got D-Way interested in doing the same. At 19, he decided to take music seriously when a friend purchased a studio in town. He explains, “The more I recorded, the more interested I became because of feedback that I started receiving gave me the confidence to take it seriously. It was then when I started to creatively explore my skills from the high energy hooks to solid lyrical verses. I’m taken aback every single day knowing that what I love to do motivates (every day) people like me. My goal is to create a successful global movement, and when people hear my music I would like them to instantly want to become loyal supporters of that movement.”
A process that grew from hobby to art, just by learning the craft, quickly became a career for D-Way. Gathering skills as a songwriter taking his influences, like Tupac Shakur, and using them to shape his own style came up with catchy titles like “Gotta Have It”, “In the Way” and “Can’t Leave Me Alone” makes you want to know exactly what it is he’s gotta have, who/what’s in the way, and who/what can’t leave him alone? D-Way gives details of how his songs differ in emotion. “To me ‘Gotta Have It’ is more of a motivational track that instead of glorifying the hood, it’s talking about getting out. ‘In the Way’ is like an anthem track that’s talking about haters, and the message is basically if they aren’t down for what you have going on they are in your way. ‘Can’t Leave Me Alone’ kind of shows my storytelling ability. It talks about how I met a beautiful woman that actually turned out to be crazy and I can’t get rid of her! So the moral of the song is that looks ain’t everything!”
When writing and using his favorite tool, the microphone, D-Way is reminded by past situations to stay humbled and filled with the sense of progression. His new project in-the-making is a mixtape entitled, “Way Season 2”. It’s a mesmerizing, soul searching piece of one whose music feels familiar in the most imaginable way, while striking out on its own territory.
