Dondria Nicole celebrated this year’s Independence Day by releasing her anticipated new EP, The Day of the Don.
The long-awaited project consists of 6 original songs, including the previously released single “2 Good,” which she dropped last year along with “Luh Ya.”
Across the EP, the R&B songstress showcases her excellent vocal ability along with a maturity to her lyrical content. On the opening song, “DM,” Dondria strikes back boldly, telling an ex: “Don’t Dondria Me,” she sings. “All of a sudden you checkin’ for me? / Had your chance, now your love I don’t need.”
On the standout ballad “Over,” Dondria belts out the tale of two lovers who can’t help but pull each other back into intimate situations, when they know their relationship should be ‘over.’ She sings, “It’s never over when we say it’s over, and over again / It never ends.”
Opening up to fans about her personal situations over the last two years, and creating this EP, Dondria said: “If I could describe this 2 year journey in one word, it would be: NECESSARY. I started out lost and confused. Misunderstood. Broken. Insecure. Yearning for something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I had lost friends who no longer saw it fit to be around. I walked away from love. My peers were passing me by. My manager @jmo_74 and I packed up our baggage & comfort levels and moved across the country to Los Angeles: the city of angels… and demons. At this point my walls were so thick, Hercules couldn’t break them down. I tried to find inspiration and motivation from all the wrong people, places, and things. The art I was creating was amazing but it was at the cost of me. I was self-destructing. Cut to the scene where the locks to the place I called home were changed on me, the people I called teammates stole money from me… OH and my anxiety is at an all time high. The Lord stripped me of everything to remind me all I ever needed was HIM. Once in complete darkness, I started seeing the light. And that’s when God started replenishing it all piece by piece. He started rebuilding my team, showering me with inspiration and opportunity, and creating a brand new Dondria. The Day of the Don is the first body of work I’ve released since 2010 and embodies every single piece of me and what I’ve been through.”
This past spring, Dondria held fans over for the EP by releasing a buzz-worthy cover of “Weak” by SWV, which she shared with an in-studio video.
Take a listen to The Day of the Don below, and you can pick it up on iTunes now.
Talking about her inspiration for the EP artwork and wearing a gold crown, Dondria said: “Wearing all gold and a crown on my head is my ownership of being a queen. That’s something I didn’t always realize. We’re all kings and queens but I feel like we forget to wear our crowns when facing adversity, when our insecurities take over, or we may even let someone else’s opinions strip our crowns from us. But let me state facts: I am royalty. You are royalty. And as children of God, we are to hold our heads high and wear our crowns with pride.”
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