Legendary DJ D-Nice Only Wants to Sip What Makes Him Happy
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When we meet at the Château in the heart of Cognac, Derrick “D-Nice” Jones seems caught up in a quiet moment photographing the weathered, wooden old-world doors. “I’m obsessed with closed doors,” he says. “Because there is always the mystery of what’s going on behind them. It’s both a beginning and an end to a space. Like, wow — what have these walls seen?”
While he has arguably opened and closed the door on many phases of his life as a veteran DJ, rapper, photographer and producer, D-Nice is just getting started. He got his start in the late Eighties as a member of legendary hip-hop group Boogie Down Productions alongside KRS-One, producer Lee Smith, and the late Scott La Rock. The group became one of the most influential hip-hop groups of the late Eighties, and while the mid-Nineties post-group break-up saw him pivoting to a new passion in photography (he’s shot everyone from Diddy to Snoop Dogg), he went on to cement himself as your favorite celebrity’s favorite DJ. His latest passion? Being a cognac connoisseur.
Many rediscovered him through his “Club Quarantine” sets on IG Live during the pandemic lockdowns, which garnered hundreds of thousands of live viewers. While he admits that while the overall journey of his life has been incredible, he never imagined that he’d be here three and a half decades into his career, or that he’d be at such peace with starting a new phase — much like the new Martingale Coganc he’s sipping on.
The legendary DJ became a key investor in Martingale after meeting with Guillaume Thomas (a former Pernod Ricard executive) and his expert blender cousin Amaury Thomas. Both are fourth-generation custodians of one of the most coveted vineyards in the region. Despite a more than 100-year-old history of producing eaux-de-vie in the small village of Ars for other prestigious houses, if you’re a cognac-drinker, you may have unknowingly sipped a blend from their cru without even knowing it. Now, the fourth generation is finally launching their very own Martingale Cognac in the U.S., making modern Cognac “for a new generation”, blended for “today’s palate”.
While this might not be your father’s cognac, the heritage of the drink and keeping it in the family is something that personally resonates with D-Nice. Even though he’s relatively new to the world of Martingale, cognac is something that has had a deeper meaning for him for decades.
“It was the drink that my uncle gave me when one of the first records I produced went gold,” he tells Rolling Stone. “So cognac became more celebratory in my eyes because of my relationship with him, because that’s what he drinks. Anytime I had a cognac, of if I sipped it the way that I did with him, it always reminded me of those family vibes, that moment of my first record being extremely big. To be a part of Martingale is so meaningful, it’s almost like coming full circle.”
We uncorked a bottle and went beyond the liquid to speak with Derrick “D-Nice” Jones about everything from cognac and Club Quarantine, to breaking family traditions to create new ones.
I feel like you’ve shifted your main focus so many times in your life, such as now getting involved with Martingale. Do you ever feel pressure to reinvent yourself? Or do you like to just double down on what feels good at the moment?
You know, I’ve never felt pressure. When my first record came out, I was 15 years old, and by the time I was 21, I was considered old school. I was like, “well, how am I old school according to record companies at the time and according to fans who weren’t really trying to buy the music?”. That’s when I realized that I didn’t want to have a life of feeling like I was tethered to anyone. I didn’t want to feel like someone or some record company had that much control, control over my happiness.
People gain success by different things. For me, people like to gauge my success by record sales, but all my happiness can’t be defined by that. I only want to do things in my life that actually made me happy.
You’ve been involved in several business ventures too, so in terms of success, what determines when you look at a new product and think, “wow, this is gonna blow up”? What do you think is the secret sauce?
Man, you know what? I don’t even think I have that secret sauce. [laughs] I honestly feel like the universe has just been showing me opportunities, and I’ve just followed the path of the journey. I don’t know how spiritual you are, so I don’t pretend to know any of these things, I just go with this feeling that I have inside.
So even with Club Quarantine, right? I saw this happening months before it happened. I was sitting on a plane, and man, was I physically tired. That day I said, “I wish I could just do this from home and be in all of these clubs”. I told friends that I didn’t think it was going to happen like that. It’s crazy how when you put these things out in the universe, if you’re walking in alignment, these things actually happen. I never wanted people to feel like they needed to send me money or anything — it really was just about music, and keeping people inspired during a dark time.
You mentioned in another another interview that you felt like you unlocked the door to that moment, and then Verzuz kicked it in.
Yeah, I just happened to be one of the first to show people that yes, we can stay at home and still find ways to be connected to one another, still find a community. Verzuz came through and knocked it all down like this Goliath. Me? I was the whole production. But they had two big artists on for every match-up. But I’m glad I was able to get in there and do what I did, and it had an impact. I know those moments inspired Swizz and Tim to get up and do their thing.
Even the way we ended up with all these virtual celebrations on Zoom, even on the corporate side. All of that really, definitely happened with CQ. Sometimes I jokingly say man, we probably need to quarantine once a year. [laughs] Mandatory, you know? Reconnect with your family, recharge, get back to community, because when we were all locked down, people really cared about each other. Now the world is open and people are back to the rat race.
Fast forward to where we are now, even with what we’re doing here with Martingale, it was always about tradition. Growing up in the inner city, I didn’t have that. There were no traditions there, and I just knew that if I wanted that kind of life for my family, then I would have to be the one to start those, to sit down and have Sunday dinners, you know? Where it’s like, mandatory. I mean, traditions have to start somewhere, and that’s the part of the journey that I’m loving right now. I know for sure I’m inspiring some young kid out there with all of these things that I’m doing. Just finding some happiness from within me, and sharing it.
Sometimes you have to break tradition to create new traditions.
That’s actually a great way to thinking of it. We’ve got to break the negative ones to move forward. Even as a parent that’s happened. I didn’t grow up with my parents in the household, so I’ve had to break that tradition. I feel like I’m a great dad, you know? I’m a dad of two daughters, and I’ve tried to be the best possible version of myself the way that I always wanted someone to be for me when I was growing up. My journey is to create that tradition.
It’s very serendipitous, the family connection with Martingale.
Absolutely. I feel this is probably going to be one of the things that I’m remembered for — not just Martingale, but this whole journey of not trying to fit in. I’m going to start from here. This is the kind of life that I want. I want to do things that make me happy, I want to consume things that make me happy, whether it’s what I’m reading, or what I’m sipping on.
I’m 53 years old and I’ve had this great life in terms of the freedom to do whatever it was that I wanted. And part of that started when I was a kid. I was raised by my great-grandmother, and at nine years old I went to school by myself and I had a key to the apartment. There was no one to tell me, “hey, get down from that tree!” All I knew was go to school, and be home before the street lights were on. That’s just how I lived, so I’ve always been a naturally curious person. I only wanted to do things that brought me joy, and anytime I fought that feeling, or tried to do something because someone else thought that I should be doing it, I never ended up where I knew I could have been.
For it to come back to cognac, that’s so like my uncle. I didn’t grow up with a dad in the household, so he was the one that put me in my first suit. Put the tie on me when I couldn’t tie it myself. He did all that for me and taught me all of these things about life. You know I wish he was here to actually see this journey that I’m on now.
But it’s amazing that you carry that moment with you like this. I also think that you’ve done so much to curate that kind of space for joy for other people in your career.
If I can be completely vulnerable here, when I was with my group Boogie Down Productions, I wasn’t the lead for that. KRS-One was, so everything that I did was just contributing to the group — when they looked at me it was more like, oh, that’s Derrick, a sidekick. Listen, I never had a problem being on anyone’s team. But after doing it for so long, and people constantly counting you out, it starts to wear on you in the constant struggle of trying to find acceptance. Like, “I’m over here, I do good too!”.
When my thing started happening, where I was able to get on bigger stages, because of my love of music and DJing I said that I was always going to go back and reach for other people. I’m 53, I’m not going to be DJing forever, right? But while I have this spotlight, while I’m able to get on stages that other people aren’t, I feel like it’s my job as an artist to always remember to uplift other people. You know, I didn’t mind being the sidekick. But I don’t think I’m the sidekick anymore.