Interview: Douglas!

Douglas! can be defined as a dynamic artist originally from Richmond, Virginia. The Old Dominion University alum has made music for several years now with a series of mixtapes, singles, and EPs as Doug Finesse that gained notoriety from local Virginia platforms such as theMSQshop, Lovelace Magazine, VirginiaGotNow, and FeelGood RVA.

In 2021, Douglas! moved to Los Angeles, California to fully pursue music. He broke his year-and-a-half hiatus the same year with his single Me Vs Me and followed that single with Signed To Myself featuring Lil B The Based God. In an Instagram post, he said the hiatus was needed to find himself and his sound. On September 29th, he released his debut album Trouble In Paradise. His newest body of work contains personal testimonies such as Away From Home to party anthems like Flexxxin in signature Douglas! fashion.

Jay: The cover art for Trouble In Paradise was an interesting choice. It's a picture of yourself hitting the stage for the first time as a young child. What inspired that to be the final cover art?

Douglas: The cover art for my tape came from photos of me at a talent show in Ft. Dix, New Jersey. It was 1999, I was four years old, and this was my first time ever performing for an audience. I was performing So Anxious by Ginuwine, believe it or not. As I was finishing the project, I often found myself pondering ideas for the cover that would match how much the music meant to me; I wanted it to be personal. As I was looking through the camera roll in my phone one night, I came across these old photos and the idea hit me. The first time I saw these photos were actually in March when I went home to VA and was spending time with my mother. I remember how shocked I was when I saw them, and I wanted my supporters to feel that same energy when I revealed the cover. My bro Dawit made so many covers for me when I was “Doug Finesse”, so it all came full circle when he sauced up the old pics and came up with the art direction.