By Vincent Harris
Cyrus DeShield’s new single “Feelinz” is captivating on several levels. The Atlanta singer/songwriter, who emigrated from Liberia to the US, has a warm, confident vocal style that easily handles the tune’s tricky tempo. A deft blend of straightforward modern soul and complex polyrhythms, “Feelinz” is a three minute and twenty-one second tour de force that feels like a new chapter in an already dynamic career. And even before DeShield released his first full-length album “In My Right Mind,” he had a career that many aspiring musicians and songwriters would kill for. In fact, DeShield already had a Grammy award nomination for songwriting in his pocket before his first album even came out. He’s worked with soul and hip-hop artists both contemporary and classic, writing for both Musiq Soulchild and Bell Biv Devoe before beginning to release his own music in 2019. But as promising as his debut album was, DeShield feels like his new single is something different from what he’s done before.
“Basically I just started writing more from internal than what I thought people wanted to hear a while back,” DeShield says. “And as time went on, I started incorporating where I come from into some of my music, fusing some of the words in there.”
Reaching back to his homeland, DeShield created a song that serves as both seductively catchy, intriguingly exotic and rhythmically adventurous. But despite all that musical growth, DeShield is especially proud of the lyrics. “I used to do more melody instead of words,” he says. “If I was writing a pop song for someone, I would use a melody that would come off African or something like that, and I would just sing it in a pop way when I'm selling a song. Over time I just started writing for me, and so whenever I was doing something of mine, I would incorporate actual words from Liberia. I know how we speak in melody.” He never doubted that the fusion of sounds would work, yet he’d hesitated to fully embrace it, even as his career was gaining momentum. DeShield’s 2020 EP “In My Right Mind” debuted at #5 on the iTunes charts and the songs from “In My Right Mind” have been streamed thousands of times.
But DeShield pressed onward, with a little encouragement from a big musical name.
“I had a studio session one time with a big artist,” he says, “and I was trying to get some songs placed with her. And when I was playing the music, it was like big pop songs. She didn't believe it was me singing, so I sang in her ear while the music was playing. She couldn't believe it was me, because when you see me, I don't look like I can sing, especially a pop song.” The artist in question, who DeShields lets slip was Chili from TLC, ultimately didn’t use DeShield’s song, but he definitely made an impression. “After the session I was feeling down, because the song didn't get picked,” he says. “And it was my first time living in Atlanta trying to make it happen. And as I'm walking out with my head down, she was in her car. She wound down her window and said, ‘I don't know who's in your corner, but I'm gonna tell you, you still have work to do. I don't even know why you're in here trying to write for me. You still got work to do, man. Get back up there.’” Transitioning from a behind-the-scenes songwriter to an upfront performer was in some ways difficult for DeShield, simply because he put so much time into writing and so little into his performing.
“I was like, I'm gonna just focus on songwriting,” he says. “That's why I made the decision. This was in 2007. I said, ‘I don't care how long it takes, I'm gonna master songwriting and this is what I'm gonna do. And so when I spoke with Chili that day, it inspired me. I'm just gonna just write how I feel from what I think, not what I think other people want to hear.”
With his writing firmly in place, DeShield only needed one more push to put himself into the spotlight.
“In 2018, when I went to the Grammys with (Musiq Soulchild), I just needed a win,” he says. “I never had a win like that. And so when that happened for me, even if it was just a participation nomination because I helped write the song, that's huge.
“So as I'm watching the show go on, I remember watching Bruno Mars perform and I'm watching it like, ‘I could do this exact same thing… And I said, ‘more work to do.’ I left the Grammys early, and I set out on a course. I said, ‘I'm gonna get back on stage.’”
Now a fully rounded musician with skills in production, songwriting and singing, DeShield says he’s going to keep giving his career his all.
“I think I started using all the talent that God gave me,” he says. “I like to rap, so I'm putting it in song. I can sing in French. I’m throwing everything, just putting Cyrus out there. Just empty out the entire talent cup God gave you.”
Cyrus DeShield performs at City Winery in ATL later this month. More info here.