Meet AJ Dwayne | Creative Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with AJ Dwayne and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi AJ, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
As a kid I was always listening to hip-hop and watching movies. I thought I was going to be a basketball player. I had family telling me since I was born that I would play in the NBA. Don’t get me wrong, I watch so much basketball today, it might convince you that was true (btw lets go Aces! 2022 WNBA Champs!). But I wanted to find myself, so I took it upon myself, in 9th Grade, at Triton Regional High School in New Jersey, to take a theater class.

I thought I was a theater guy, initially. Ended up doing that for 15 years, but I was never satisfied with it. I think the issue, and I went to therapy for this so trust me when I tell you it took a long time to get to this point, is that I placed so much pressure on myself to make “Theater” work, specifically, that I never gave myself a chance to ask myself if I liked it in the first place.

I went through some traumatic experiences in College, making me question things, like my blackness at a predominantly white College, or whether my morals line up with my actions. From 2009 onward, I’ve had a real struggle trying to find myself.

I was 20 in early 2009. I feel like I’m only just being introduced to myself nowadays lol. I did so many different things in-between then and now. I once was in a show choir that opened for Elton John. I toured A Chorus Line in 10 different US cities. I’ve done Shakespeare. I worked at a bank, a Wawa (so you KNOW I’m from South NJ, for anyone that gets it), I was a wrestling referee, did extras work in Hollywood, was trained and (at one time) certified as a fight choreographer. I was in a dance troupe. Hell, I even wrote, directed, produced and sometimes even performed in my own plays, web series, etc and I haven’t even mentioned Loud Stone TV. I’ve also been writing lyrics since 2000 so…

Needless to say, I’m an artistic/creative person, whatever anyone wants to identify it as. When you’re in a family who expects so much from you (and doesn’t realize it) it becomes harder and harder to accept yourself for who you truly are, especially when your family means well. I was fortunate to make it out of Philadelphia, PA with both my parents, my sister, both my brothers (one who was born in NJ), my nephew and my two nieces. Even more fortunate now, all this time later, they understand me better and are encouraging me to be great. Something they always did, but I was too tough on myself to ever listen.

I think now that I’m learning to be comfortable with getting complimented for my work, I think that’s why I want to pursue it as a career. As a 33 year old man, who is healing as much as Rick is in Rick and Morty Season 6 so far, I’m only now starting to own my greatness. And a lot of that takes letting go and forgiving myself for the bad moments in life. We all have bad moments when we’re trying to grow, that’s human. It’s the ability to learn from those issues, and especially moving on with your life, that’s important. Some people, like myself, have trouble forgiving ourselves for our mistakes because we have someone in our lives who will remind us of our lowest moments, either intentionally or unintentionally. It’s not on them to forgive, or to apologize. For me, it’s on me to acknowledge what happened that was wrong, apologize for that, and move on, learning to be better than those moments. I think my content that I’ve been creating these days have been centered around sharing experience that can help a potential listener of my music or a watcher of any of my content to see that being yourself is the healthiest thing you can do, albeit frightening.

(I didn’t even do anything that bad, if we’re being real. I just got turned down for dates a lot and went through a “sad boy” phase with a lot of unhealthy “situationships”…some of it lingering in the middle of my album tbh lol)

…I know that was deep. You should hear my lyrics lol.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think this is a tougher question than expected, for me, because I don’t care what sets myself apart from others. There’s such a need and desire in the entertainment space to box everyone in and place a label on who you are. I’ve spoken a lot about my journey earlier in this interview, so I won’t repeat myself, but I think the thing that finally sets me apart from anyone is 1) I’m willing to communicate and always open for discussions (There was a time where I was too immature to do so, I’ll admit.) 2) I’m going to create something whether I’m working with people or not. After this interview, I’m on my twitch (Twitch.tv/AJDwayneOnTwitch) fiddling with some of the simulation sports games because I have a pretty cool idea I want to try and I’ll just stream while I’m building it lol.

I think I got here, and again this may be re-treading, but I really needed to figure out who I was as a person first, before I could ever get the courage to put myself out there. Like I said, I’ve had some traumatic experiences, some self-inflicted. Trauma has a way of staying in your mind and bleeding through your art. I think my music proves that I am one of those artists who is not afraid to be truthful in any circumstances (and The AJ Dwayne LP on Bandcamp proves this). It will never be easy doing the thing that you love as a career, if that thing demands a lot from yourself mentally, physically and emotionally.

I share my stories on my album so that people can, not only have a good time with the music and the beats, but learn from my mistakes and triumphs within my lyrics. I use to be told in acting classes that you have to live in your truth – your “moment-to-moment” truth. I learned from Deborah Hedwall (back when I spent a year at Mason Gross School of the Arts back in 2011-2012, that living “moment-to-moment” on the stage allows the actor to accommodate any unexpected changes in what has previously happened in the scene. Just as in life, you never know when your best friend might, in a sudden outburst of anger, smack you in the face. But you deal with it anyway, and get on with the scene.

Acting truly is “the reality of doing” and that was a lesson that was learned 10 years late, after many mistakes and failures in life. It burns me now that I didn’t grasp the concept when it was first approached. Now I’m just starving for opportunities to collaborate and learn from other artists and creatives.

It was always about the destination for me. I had a set goal in my mind that dictated most, if not, all of my actions. Only to learn “This is not how you human” and had to accept that I missed out on so many opportunities in life just by being a headache. The person I’ve speaking about in my song “Fall In Love” actually made me see that. I just scorched the Earth too quickly to be able to say “Thanks.”

So if I want the world to know anything about me, it’s that I’m a human being. I’ve made mistakes. I’m gonna make more, but I refuse to be afraid any longer of being myself. Making Hip-Hop was something I got made fun of for in every social circle I’ve ever been in, even the ones that had blood relatives, and I’ve been through my fair share of industry nonsense, like every other artist. But I’m now at a place where I’m excited about pursuing my art, and, quoting Chris Jericho of Fozzy, “see where the story takes me.” So expect the unexpected. It’s been an ubiquitous journey so far lol.

Fun projects shared in photos:

– Me, opposite Andrew Ruggieri, playing as the Subway Ghost in Ghost, the Musical (The Grand Theater, Williamstown, NJ)
– Me, alongside the cast and crew of a play I’m currently looking to self-publish, called Heart/Lung in Hammonton, NJ. I was the director and writer of this all-Women’s play that I originally wrote because my college wasn’t giving women opportunities to perform on stage. So I made a show lol. And this was the crew that made it look like I knew what I was doing (Special shoutout to Courtney Lynn Jarmush!)
– Me, on set when I filled the role Detective Mustafa in a faith-based film called Revelation Blue: Restoration in Philadelphia, PA, directed by Tony Lankford. (What’s up Jean-Pierre Polite!)
– Me, alongside pro wrestling personality Patrick Richard Ream, doing play-by-play commentary for an OTW Wrestling iPPV in NJ.
– Me, with Caitlin Gutchess and Anthony Gusevich, in Eurydice, written by Sarah Ruhl. (Probably the two people I wish I could have learned more from. They really taught me a lot about working within an ensemble and I never thanked them. Smh)
– Me, with the cast and crew of the Murph and Bern web series in Los Angeles. Directed by William-Patrick Coleman

All great times that I just didn’t allow myself to enjoy at the time, but wow, look at all I did so far. And I don’t even think I’ve started yet tbh. I also appreciate the opportunities I get to give some people flowers, because 90% of entertainment being successful is just the step of doing it in the first place.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Yeah I’m in a part of New Jersey that is secluded, quiet and has nothing going on. Perfect for people who enjoy their solitude like I do (Which I will miss. Moving in January to a whole new state lol.)

So honestly, we would commute to Philadelphia. I quit drinking, but if I’m friends with someone, they won’t feel insecure if I don’t drink. So that being said, a lot of different bars and restaurants in Center City that I know of, from working in that field for years. (Use to work at Hard Rock Philadelphia and, for the record, Hollywood Blvd in LA when I lived there for a year). No matter the type of person you are, even a non-drinker, there’s a bar for you in Philadelphia. I also think, if you’re looking for a barhopping good time, there’s two places:

South Street, where they have Fat Tuesdays for heavy drinkers and partiers. There’s also Tattooed Mom, Milkboy, the cheesesteak spot next to the Theater of Living Arts Concert Hall, where mainstream talent tour. There’s too many spots to name

Fishtown has a Barcade (Coin Arcade and a Brewery). You could play 4 player Pac-Man while drinking a wheat beer and eating Tacos. There’s Bowling, Concerts, a Casino, Nightclubs and various bars and venues like Frankford Hall, The Fire, The Garage, Johnny Brendas and Kung-Fu Necktie

I think I enjoy just being around self-starting creatives. A lot of the time, not all the time, I would find myself in situations where I’m the only person presenting ideas on a project and I literally have to ask people to share their ideas on something we were working on together. This is my burnout. I’m the guy that finishes everyone else’s work for the group project so that we all get As. I’m always pitching ideas, so much to the point where people get offended by it and let their emotional baggage color my actions in their eyes. If anything I’m just annoying and won’t shut the hell up and some people don’t have the energy to keep up with that. That’s not on me to “relax” and chill out. I can’t control if others accept me for who I am so I just be. And I’m learning to be less self-conscious when I’m around people that just want to hang out. I think there’s a lot of people that put unnecessary pressure on themselves to be whatever we put in our minds as “perfect” or whatever we think are others expectations about ourselves.

Charles Barkley once said this: You should just be yourself because people aren’t going to like you, regardless. So, the people that accept me for me are the most fun, interesting, exciting people I like to be around. It’s a nightmare to connect with anyone in 2022, because we’ve seen too many negative experiences on social media that others experienced that it scares us so we protect ourselves, thinking the worst of anyone and everyone because social media conditioned us to be that way. (and I think social media has a lot of positives but you cannot deny that you could experience a negative effect from an app you stare at 6 hours a day, total). Look, if I can make a stupid Anime joke around you or I can, unironically, be a pro wrestling fan/basketball nerd/theater geek around you, then you’re good people. I don’t feel like I need to apologize to you for liking what I like and you don’t have to be afraid to tell me what you like. That’s a super healthy relationship and admittedly, it’s rare. I keep a smaller circle these days.

Again, Song 5 on the album lol. That one is present in my head as I do this interview lol.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
James Dale, Jr. aka Strat

In 2021, I started an online 24/7 streaming channel called Loud Stone TV. The original goal was to create a platform for indie artists to be showcased in the style and inspiration of 90s MTV. Top 10 Countdowns. Podcasts with different artists going into detail about their journeys and why they make what they make. I didn’t discriminate either, as we welcomed all kinds of music. I took it down for 2022, as it was just a BETA, but I plan to bring it back for 2023 and stream music videos exclusively, while shifting my gears towards making it more of a platform for my diverse and unique catalog.

One of the most important relationships I was able to gain from that time was from a South Dakota Hip-Hop artist named Strat. I can’t remember who reached out to who (Probably me, if honest lol), but the moment I asked him for a video just to stream on my test stream, he sent me 7 videos and said post them all! It gave me an idea to give artists with a lot of music videos their own 30 minute or 1 hour blocks of music on the channel.

I learned, from having a platform he wanted to be on, that the people that want to communicate with you WILL. Don’t worry about the other people who declined. Don’t worry about the other people who left you on Read. Don’t put the pressure on your friends to work with you, either, because they have their own goals and should be able to pursue them the way you pursue your goals (On their own terms).

So Strat (FKA Strategy and Owner of Stratland Entertainment LLC) taught me a valuable lesson. Truthfully, I wouldn’t even be talking to you if it wasn’t for Strat. On top of that, became a good friend, even though I’ve never been to South Dakota…or Arizona.

…yet!

Website: https://linktr.ee/IAmAJDwayne

Instagram: @IAmAJDwayne

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AJMambaMusic/

Youtube: https://youtu.be/esw440fmLYk

Other: https://ajdwayne.bandcamp.com/album/aj-dwayne-lp https://www.twitch.tv/ajdwayneontwitch

Image Credits
Main Photo and Photos 1 & 2 – Credit to Lauren Patanovich Photo 3 – Screen Capture from OTW Fall Slam, featuring myself and commentator Patrick Richard Ream, available on YouTube Photo 4 – Credit to Lauren Patanovich, featuring myself and actor/dancer Andrew Ruggieri. Grand Theater in Williamstown, NJ Photo 5 – Photo by Me on the set of Revelation Blue: Restoration, available on YouTube. Philadelphia Photo 6- Photo by Me at Jersey Fringe Festival on the set of Heart/Lung with the cast and crew. Hammonton, NJ Photo 7- Credit to William-Patrick Coleman of the Cast and Crew of Murph & Burn web series, available on Dailymotion. Los Angeles Photo 8- Photo Credit Unknown. Myself, Caitlin Gutchess and Anthony Gusevich as Loud Stone, Little Stone & Big Stone, respectively, in the play, Eurydice, written by Sarah Ruhl. Location: L Howard Fox Theater at Montclair State University, NJ