D-Nice

D-Nice is the stage name of Derrick Jones, a hip-hop producer, solo artist, DJ, and former member of the influential rap group Boogie Down Productions. Born in New York City on June 19, 1970, he was raised in Harlem, where he joined Boogie Down Productions as a teenager in 1986. The group's mix of hip-hop, Jamaican dancehall rhythms, and matter-of-fact lyrics about inner-city life was groundbreaking. After appearing on Boogie Down Production's 1987 debut, Criminal Minded, D-Nice began building a reputation outside of the group by producing a series of demos for a pre-fame Kid Rock in 1988 and co-producing The Stop The Violence Movement's "Self-Destruction" in 1989. "Self-Destruction" was a hit, climbing to Number 1 on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles. D-Nice began working as a solo artist the next year, making his debut with Call Me D-Nice and topping the Hot Rap Singles chart with the album's title track. Another single, "Crumbs on the Table," climbed to Number 17. D-Nice contributed to one final Boogie Down Productions album, Edutainment, and released the solo record To Tha Rescue in 1991. Conflicts with his record label resulted in D-Nice's early retirement from the record business, though, and he focused on web development, photography, and other creative endeavors for more than two decades. He began DJing again in March 2020, when he launched his "Club Quarantine" livestream on Instagram. The performance earned him the "Entertainer Of The Year" award at the 2021 NAACP Image Awards, and he released a new single, "No Plans for Love," that same year.