The City of Angels has shaped the world of music through its gamut of recording studios, award ceremonies and the cross-section of some of the world’s most iconic names in the industry. As such, LA was the perfect spot to host the D’USSÉ Re-Mixer to showcase the parallels between music and cognac – highlighting how remixing a classic cocktail and remixing a song are closely related.
Drawing a crowd of LA’s elite at The Federal NoHo, D’USSÉ introduced the Re-Mixer Series with the purpose of highlighting the fascinating parallels between remixing a classic cocktail and remixing a classic song.
Held in two interactive sessions, guests were offered an intimate taste of D’USSÉ, an immersion to the cognac category, and its role in both cocktail and music culture.
Colin Asare-Appiah, Bacardi Director of Lifestyle & Culture, explained what constitutes a cognac and how D’USSÉ is created, before inviting guests to pull fresh ingredients of their choice to create their own re-mixed D’USSÉ cocktails.
9TH WONDER, the Grammy Award-winning producer and college professor responsible for hits by Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J Blige, and DJ Clark Kent, renowned hip hop DJ, producer and music executive whose produced trackers for The Notorious B.I.G. Jay-Z, Mariah Carey and Lil’ Kim, unveiled the connection between remixing classic cocktails and mixing tracks through an interactive DJ masterclass. The crowd engaged in a lively discussion of the interesting connection between DJing soulful samples admixing the perfect cocktail.
D’usse Cognac is coming up with the concept of being able to mix the craft of being a bartender, and the craft of being a producer or DJ. These two worlds kind of overlap when it comes to nightclubs and going out. When there’s a bar, there’s a DJ, and there is music playing. So D’usse has come up with the concept where a mixologist and a DJ can come to a place to remix drinks and remix beats at the same time. The idea of taking something old and turning it to something new, which is exactly what Hip-Hop is.
During the Dusse Remixer, I spoke to 9th Wonder about what he’s learned and who some of his favorite artists are.
Daquota Wilson: Who have you been listening to recently? Any new artists and why?
9th Wonder: The genre of new music that I mostly listen to is more soul and r&b. The newer talents that I listen to are Mac Ayres, Lucky Daye, Alex Isley – she’s very good, and Daniel Ceasar of course. I love the newer soul artists because they remind me of the r&b that I listened to in high school. Back then it was New Edition, Boyz 2 Men, Intro… I grew up around that. So to get that feeling back, feels fantastic.
DW: Since being an educator, what has teaching taught you about yourself? What wisdom have you obtained from these experiences?
9th Wonder: Teaching has taught me to relate to my subjects. There’s no way you can teach the youth if you don’t get on their level and relate to them. When you went to college back in the day, professors were a lot less engaging because they knew that students seek higher education to earn a degree and make more money, nowadays there’s so many other ways to make money and college is not the only way. It’s amazing and surprising to me that universities are even still standing… People are finding so many different ways to become an entrepreneur now. You no longer need a college degree to make a million dollars. You have to find new ways to engage these students as much as you possibly can, that’s what I’ve learned.
DW: Can you name some of your favorite rappers and producers who you’ve worked with?
9th Wonder: Top 3 rappers, not in any particular order, are Rapsody, Kendrick Lamar and Anderson Paak. Top producers, not in any particular order, are Sounwave from TDE, The Alchemist, Swiss Beats and Jimmy Jam.
Author Daquota Wilson and guest
