DeVante Swing

{{short description|American record producer, singer, and rapper (born 1969)}} {{Infobox person | name = DeVanté Swing | image = | caption = | birth_name = Donald Earle DeGrate Jr. | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|9|29}} | birth_place = Hampton, Virginia, U.S. | relatives = Dalvin DeGrate (brother), Derek DeGrate (brother) | occupation = {{hlist|Record producer|singer|songwriter|rapper}} | years_active = 1987–present | children = 3 | module = {{Infobox musical artist | embed = yes | origin = Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. | genre = {{hlist|R&B|hip hop|soul|new jack swing}} | instruments = keyboards, piano, guitar | label = {{hlist|Uptown|MCA}} | past_member_of = {{hlist|Jodeci|Swing Mob}} }} }}

'''Donald Earle DeGrate Jr.''' (born September 29, 1969), better known by his stage name '''DeVanté Swing''', is an American record producer, singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known as the main songwriter and producer of the R&B group Jodeci, which includes his younger brother Dalvin “Mr. Dalvin” DeGrate.<ref name="AMGS">{{cite book |last1=Bogdanov |first1=Vladimir |title=All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o552g5xRRiwC&dq=DeVante+Swing&pg=PA368 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |access-date=November 15, 2022 |page=368 |language=en |date=2003|isbn=9780879307448 }}</ref> DeVante Swing also created Swing Mob, which consisted of various artists he discovered and mentored, such as Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Magoo, Ginuwine, Static Major with Playa, Darryl Pearson, Tweet, Jimmy Douglass, Stevie J, and Chad "Dr. Ceuss" Elliott among others.

==Career== At age 16, DeVanté Swing traveled to Minneapolis, hoping to visit Paisley Park in order to audition for Prince.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bogdanov|first1=Val|title=All Music Guide to Soul|date=2003|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|page=368|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o552g5xRRiwC&q=DeVante+ran+away|access-date=March 2, 2015|isbn=978-0-87930-744-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=About jodeci|url=http://www.mtv.com/artists/jodeci/biography/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150304134454/http://www.mtv.com/artists/jodeci/biography/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 4, 2015|website=mtv.com|access-date=March 2, 2015}}</ref> Swing would later say, "I was up at Paisley Park every day begging for a job, asking people to listen to my tape. The receptionist kept saying she couldn't help me".<ref>{{cite web|last1=S|first1=Danyel|title=Tuff love|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCwEAAAAMBAJ&q=Little+Cedric+and+the+Hailey+Singers&pg=PA67|via=Google Books|work=Vibe magazine|access-date=March 2, 2015|date=August 1, 1995|quote=I was up at Paisly Park...}}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The rejection motivated Swing to relocate back to North Carolina, and work to improve his songwriting and production skills.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=D.|title=Tuff love|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCwEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22prince%22+%22jodeci%22&pg=PA67|website=books.google.com/|publisher=Vibe Media Group|access-date=March 2, 2015|date=Aug 1995|quote="...So I took my ass..."}}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In his early career, Swing served as a mix engineer, while simultaneously producing for other acts. He mixed and engineered Hi-Five's 1990 single "I Just Can't Handle It", along with its accompanying remixes. Swing rose to prominence in the 1990s as the founding member of the R&B group Jodeci, which he formed with his younger brother Dalvin DeGrate, and singers Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey, and Joel "JoJo" Hailey.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hill |first1=Tanaja |title=Will There Be A Jodeci Biopic? |url=https://thesource.com/2016/07/03/will-there-be-a-jodeci-biopic/ |website=The Source |access-date=November 16, 2022 |date=July 3, 2016}}</ref> Swing served as the group's leader, and primary songwriter and producer.

Swing founded the musical collective Swing Mob in 1991, which was joined by then-unknown regional acts including Timbaland & Magoo, Tweet, Missy Elliott,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bezdecheck |first1=Bethany |title=Missy Elliott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cTGDDwAAQBAJ |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc |access-date=November 15, 2022 |page=14 |language=en |date=15 January 2009|isbn=9781435857131 }}</ref> Ginuwine, Stevie J and Static Major. He is also credited as a video director for Jodeci, co-directing the videos for "Feenin'" with Hype Williams and "Freek'n You" with Brett Ratner. Swing has also mentored Florida-based rapper Flo Rida<ref name="Billboard">{{cite magazine|last1=Concepcion|first1=Mariel|title=Flo Rida|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1047198/flo-rida|magazine=Billboard|access-date=25 April 2016}}</ref> in the early stages of his career.

==Discography==

*''Forever My Lady'' (1991) *''Diary of a Mad Band'' (1993) *''The Show, the After Party, the Hotel'' (1995) *''The Past, the Present, the Future'' (2015)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/sterlenroberts/ Devante Swing Interview with Sterlen Roberts] *James T. Jones IV (March 10, 1992). [https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/56192845.html?dids=56192845:56192845&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+10%2C+1992&author=James+T.+Jones+IV&pub=USA+TODAY+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Jodeci+throws+its+voice+into+the+doo-wop+battle&pqatl=google "Jodeci throws its voice into the doo-wop"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106121335/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/56192845.html?dids=56192845:56192845&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+10,+1992&author=James+T.+Jones+IV&pub=USA+TODAY+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Jodeci+throws+its+voice+into+the+doo-wop+battle&pqatl=google |date=2012-11-06 }}. ''USA Today'', p. 4D *{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p129974|label=DeVante Swing biography}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swing, Devante}} Category:Record producers from Virginia Category:American soul singers Category:Jodeci members Category:Living people Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:American hip-hop singers Category:Singer-songwriters from Virginia Category:Musicians from Hampton, Virginia Category:1969 births Category:African-American male songwriters Category:21st-century African-American male singers Category:21st-century American male singers Category:20th-century African-American male singers Category:20th-century American male singers Category:20th-century American singers