Q&A: Shelley FKA DRAM Gets Groovy in Newest Slow-Jam Single “Chocolate Covered Strawberries”

Q&AMusic

Jul 14

☆ BY Vanessa Valenzuela ☆

IN AN EVOLUTION OF SELF AND SOUND — Shelley FKA DRAM emphasizes the importance of maintaining integrity in environments that may try to keep you from growth. Hailing from Virginia, Shelley Massenburg-Smith initially arrived on the musical scene as D.R.A.M. (standing for “does real-ass music”) back in 2015, with his first single, “Cha Cha,” gaining traction amongst R&B and hip-hop listeners. However, in 2016, his song “Broccoli” with Lil Yachty amassed widespread popularity, peaking at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100.

In the years after, Shelley has collaborated with the likes of SZA on his mixtape Gahdamn! and Calvin Harris on Funk Wav Bounces Vol.1 and has also performed as an opening act for Kendrick Lamar’s The Damn Tour. Since changing his moniker to Shelley FKA DRAM, he released a deeply soulful self-titled album in 2021 that is both romantic and introspective, his expressive voice balancing well with his female collaborators such as Erykah Badu and Summer Walker.

Not wanting to be stifled by anyone’s preconceived notions about him from his past works, Shelley stresses his desire towards creating an authentic, real world of soul, funk, and fun vibrational energy for the future. This thought process encouraged him to create “Chocolate Covered Strawberries,” released on June 8, a track that is imbued with so much sultry, slow-jam appeal that one may imagine themselves holding a lavish little cocktail in a dimly lit lounge.

Read below to learn about Shelley’s multidimensional artistry and why he wishes to be perceived for his voice above all else.

LUNA: How's your year going?

SHELLEY: It's going well. I'm just excited for what's to come. You know, just grateful for the learning opportunity that this year has provided so far.

LUNA: Have you started doing shows again or are you about to start touring?

SHELLEY: That's definitely in the plan. It's one of the things I'm most excited for, being that I was quite solid during the pandemic and working. I've dropped my second album in the latter times of the pandemic — April 2021. So it just seemed as though it was a bunch of missed opportunities just because of the window factors and things. So that's what I'm most excited for. One, because I have a whole album that I have yet to perform and more importantly is the fact that I'm just continuing on with even more new music. So it's just like a bonus once I really get up there. That's definitely on the tablet to do this.

LUNA: In your self-titled album released in 2021, at the end of the track “Remedies,” you state that there's more to come. What influenced you to include your birth name in your stage name, and how does this new type of identity shape your future projects?

SHELLEY: Honestly, the name change was more so just converting it into my actual name, and I feel like the music that I'm releasing nowadays is more reflective of my inner thoughts. My number one approach: I always wanted to be recognized as a singer before anything. Certain records may beg to differ but honestly I would have really wanted the world to appreciate all aspects of what I do — especially in my singing portion.

I feel like, once I made that decision to blossom into making full on R&B records, I just felt like it made more sense to switch them and use my government name. I don't get offended — some say DRAM this and that. I accepted it all. I feel like this new set of music is more catering to that moniker, which is my government [name].

LUNA: You possess such a raw yet distinguished and soulful voice. I would love to know more about your vocal background — what got you interested in singing?

SHELLEY: Ever since I can remember — since my first thought — I knew I could sing. I was always singing any chance that I could. Church choir, school choir assemblies, youth choirs, all the way to open mics, doing local showcases and stages. It was never something acquired or [something I] desired to do. It felt like purpose.

LUNA: You were more attracted to certain types of singing, or were you just kind of into anything that you could possibly sing?

SHELLEY: Without sounding crazy, I feel like I could do any kind of singing, as far as what I could do. And I think about what attracted my ear ever since I was a little child: melodies and textures. It could even be the way a door closes, opening up a window, a creaky window, or a jingle that's from the ’40s. Commercials. Do you remember the Time Life commercials where they had the montage where they split the different songs — they had heart, body, and soul. And then they had the ’80s rock. It's like, those things are embedded into my head. It’s familiar to nursery rhymes, how that's embedded. It's different. It's different things I picked up along the way. I mean, the beautiful thing about music is still the different textures and melodies that inspired me and the new things that I discovered along the way.

LUNA: Are there certain artists or albums that resonate to the core of your being?

SHELLEY: I would first like to say, before anything, I'm a Funkateer. So I feel like I come up underneath the energy that was held by George Clinton and the whole Parliament-Funkadelic movement. They express their freedom through music, through the topics that they talk on, through the different genres of sounds; they just effortlessly, seamlessly execute it. They were the definition of someone saying music is, “I am with no limits.”

Pretty much the majority of my inspirations are directly inspired through them as well — they came up underneath. You know, Queen Erykah Badu, Andre 3000, who I feel is the greatest rapper, dead or alive. Bilal — very, very influential. Literally my most favorite male vocalist of all time is Bilal. I mean, I'm heavily inspired by him, as well as D’Angelo. We can go all the way back into it, the ’70s or ’60s.

LUNA: I have an affinity for your track “Outta Sight/Dark Lavender Interlude” off Big Baby Dram, as I have related it to my own life experiences in the past, which had me wondering: Is your lyrical content based in reality?

SHELLEY: Most certainly. I really put past situations and jam them all up into one record for the most part, or sometimes it gets quite specific, where it's just about one thing or one relationship. Sometimes it’s a cluster. That type of record was definitely like a cluster. And a fun fact: I freestyled that whole record. The verses were one-takes. It was just one of those records, and it was almost like as soon as I heard it, I was like, “Eureka! I got it!” Shout-out to Chris McClenney. We were just locked in the studio and it came all out in one day.

LUNA: That's so cool — it's like capturing lightning in a bottle. Knowing this, what was the creative process in making “Chocolate Covered Strawberries?”

SHELLEY: It was October of 2020 and I was in LA for, like, the whole pandemic — everything was completely shut down. In Atlanta, I heard everybody say that Atlanta was still open. So we just locked in. Now I feel like the vibrations were just up, you know what I mean? And it was a room full of guys, and I was just like, I really appreciate everyone that I work with by understanding that I'm more so the captain of my ship, and I really like to navigate how the sessions go. And so I said, “Come on, guys, I got this warm vibe.” We started flowing with it, but I don't play any instruments, physically. But I use my voice as an instrument, and I can dictate or guide the exact melody of how I want for different elements. That's kind of what we were going through during that process. I had a feel [of] a way that I wanted it to go. I love the fact that … we were all on one accord and it really came together quite nicely.

So, as it was going on, we just had to beat going. (Breaks into melody) I said, “I got it.” And then I sang, “Honey, sweet thang, chocolate covered strawberries.” They was like, “Yo!” I'm like, because it don't mean nothing at all! Like, imagery. It's like, if you can see, it's all about imagery, like you put the meaning together. I think I really liked the way that feels, sometimes more than — as a matter of fact — things that feel like a musical text message, which is sometimes the best route for certain records. But this time, I was just going off a feel.

LUNA: You’ve collaborated with many notable artists, from Erykah Badu to Calvin Harris to Lil Yachty and all in between. Who would you love to work with in the future?

SHELLEY: Toro y Moi, hands down. Top of the list — been that way for years but even more now. I love Mahal. When I do my workouts, that's what I play. I play track two through five. So like back to back to back. And I'm very critical. I critique, like I'm really nice-nasty about my tastes and things. And I can say Toro is one of the only artists that I feel like really can't do wrong. Each of his projects you can just ride through it. And he's always going to have records for me that I can just go back to back to back to back and not get tired of. So it's really special for an artist outside of my own self that I can get into like that. I say it now, say it again, say it before: Toro y Moi.

LUNA: As an artist that beams with authenticity, how would you describe your growth as a musician and doing what feels true to who you are?

SHELLEY: Well, I think that even going forward in this new chapter or new phase of my career, I'm completely independent. And it makes me feel more … accountability that I should have felt the whole the whole time … it makes it more vivid or more so puts the fire behind your ass. I've become more aware of just how things trickle down and how much they mean, looking further past what your sight can see right now — long term. I've been around the loop to see with certain decisions and choices and tactics, how that plays out in the future.

I'm just grateful for the opportunity to keep the wheels turning, and I'm now behind the driver's seat more than ever. So, I feel like my music is going to reflect that as well: the freedom, the conviction, because it means even more. My music has always meant the number one thing for me, but can we say like super one, or like, extra one? 1.1 to one power?

LUNA: (laughs) Yeah, you can say whatever you want! It’s your life.

SHELLEY: Facts. So I'm going to appreciate and celebrate each of my successes and really take note of the things that happen in my favor as we go on and not take anything for granted.

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We couldn’t be more stoked to have Suriel Hess as our new headliner for our upcoming LA show 🤩 🫶 Not gonna lie, us & Notorious Noise kinda went OFF with this line up & you’re not gonna wanna miss it - ticket link in bio 🎫