“Rain” is a melancholic song about a relationship and introspection, stemming from local artist Daju’s experience of being stuck inside the house when it was raining for a week straight earlier this year.
Daju, or Dominique Hill, wrote the song in an Oʻahu studio earlier this year. He turned his raw emotion into a journey of heartache and rebirth.
“Since it was raining, I wanted to make something that felt like being indoors,” he said. “At least for me, when you’re indoors, you’re kind of in your own head a little bit.”
He released his single “Rain” last month. The nearly 3-minute long song garnered 100,000 streams in one week, according to a news release.
Acclaimed music reviewer Yujen featured the track on TikTok, attracting 600,000 likes to the post. It’s also currently charting on Shazam in Honolulu.
The song was cosigned by mainstream artists Kehlani, AJ Rafael and Devin Kennedy.
“Rain” is a blend of R&B and soul, a sound that Hill said people don’t know exists in Hawaiʻi.
“There’s not a lot of people that know Hawaiʻi artists can do stuff like this outside of the Jawaiian space,” he said.
Hill is an Asian, African-American producer who strives to push the limits of his craft.
“Putting in the work, putting in the hours into your craft and just doing better to constantly grow and evolve. That’s what I’m ultimately looking for,” he said.
Hill said his goal is to put out an EP. In the meantime, listeners can find "Rain" on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and more.
