During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic – when isolation from one another was key – Derrick “D-Nice” Jones, offered a reminder about the magical, unifying power of music (and social media) through Club Quarantine (CQ).
In a three-day residency that includes comedy, musical performances and a day for praise and worship, Derrick “D-Nice” Jones is presenting Club Quarantine Live Residency. (Courtesy photo)
Three years later, and with friends and families able to jam and celebrate life in person again, D-Nice is working to do more than bring people together.
“Club Quarantine Live Residency,” at the Kennedy Center from Oct. 6-8, is a weekend of entertainment slated to fill hearts, minds and souls with inspiration.
“I try to feed people’s souls,” D-Nice told The Informer.
“I can do tons of shows everywhere that have nothing to do with CQ, and I’m OK with that,” D-Nice explained, “but the moment that I call something CQ – a Club Quarantine – I have to be in a position to give … to feed the souls of people.”
With programming that includes a comedy showcase, star-studded musical performances, and a day for praise and worship, a weekend of Club Quarantine Live promises whole-soul food.
“We feed them with laughter. We feed them with music. We try to keep people’s mental health right,” D-Nice explained.
D-Nice, 53, is not new to curating eclectic productions, nor to the Kennedy Center, for that matter, having brought acts to the national performing arts venue over the years. Further, in 2022, D-Nice was the first hip-hop artist to headline and sell out the Kennedy Center Opera House with Club Quarantine Live.
This year’s three-day residency, however, is a realization of D-Nice’s dreams, hard work and prayers.
“This year feels more like exactly what I’ve always envisioned when it came to Club Quarantine,” he said. “When I got the call that said, ‘Hey, we want to offer you the entire weekend,’ I was, like, ‘Wow, this is what I’ve always dreamed of,’ you know, to be able to have a night of comedy, a night of music, R&B music and hip-hop, and a daytime party of praise and worship – like the way I used to do on Sundays.”
Friday’s Comedy Showcase includes Chris Spencer, Michael Che and Sherri Shepherd. Saturday will feature MC Lyte, Kem and Muni Long. Sunday, Bishop Hezekiah Walker, Anthony Brown and group therAPy will wrap the weekend off with praise and worship.
D-Nice’s Life Shows Hip-Hop Journey, Offers Inspiration, Spreads Joy
D-Nice, a spiritually-driven rapper and DJ, has always hoped to spread love and joy. He is humbled to see how far music has taken him — from scrambling for survival to selling out the Kennedy Center.
“I remember when, when I was younger and didn’t have these opportunities and wasn’t able to go to a show, or wasn’t able to travel the world or, you know, didn’t have a house, or sleeping in my cousin’s living room. I remember being that person and just having these dreams of this,” he told The Informer.
As a world-renowned star, D-Nice is not only thankful for a place to call home, but passionate about bringing joy to others.
“I remember praying, ‘If I ever had a chance to do this, I would do that for people,’ and, like, here it is,” he said. “I had a platform that people wanted to come to because they wanted to feel good. Man that’s divine, that is God-given. And I’m not going to use that to do any wrong. I’m always going to do my best to make sure that I provide happiness for people.”
As the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, D-Nice said he is looking forward to presenting the genre on an iconic stage like the Kennedy Center. Moreover, he hopes that the entire weekend will be a time of celebration and a source of inspiration for all attendees.
“I’m a 53-year-old man who has been in this hip-hop business, and the music industry since I was 15 years old,” he said. “[I] pretty much started at the bottom of hip-hop – like we were signed to a record company that really didn’t sell records like that. They were selling pillows. … I wasn’t the greatest rapper in that group. Like I was the sidekick. And here we are decades later, I’m still here. I’m on bigger stages. I am my own person. I stand on my own. I share this love with people.”
D-Nice’s mission is for all people – artists and attendees alike – to feel special and loved after Club Quarantine.
“I hope the artists feel the same way, that they were treated with love, and that they feel the love from the crowd, and from the people, and from each other,” he said. “I just want people walking away from this feeling so inspired and just feeling like we all poured into each other.”
For tickets and more information, go to kennedy-center.org.
