Davonyea Marcel Turns His Chevy Cruze Into A Studio

Microphone locked onto the steering wheel, laptop in the passenger seat, and a sweater to block his vocals from bouncing off the windows, singer and songwriter Davonyea Marcel converts his 2014 Chevy Cruze into his personal studio. 

“Everything I do is recorded off of a 100 dollar mic that MyGuyMars suggested to me,” Davonyea says. 

After his first few attempts at recording, he quickly learned that the process was not going to be easy, especially in Los Angeles. The streets are seldom quiet and almost never empty. But his determination and love for music triumphed every struggle. 

“There was a point in time where I lived in watts, and recording there was interesting. The first time I pulled over to write a song, I saw this black infinity pull up to a house, the house lights flickered, heard 3 gunshots and then the car sped off. You can actually hear the police sirens and helicopters in some of the recordings.” 

Growing up in LA, Davonyea started writing in high school. It was his means to express himself, the things he had seen and how it shaped him into the person he is. What started out as poetry, shortly turned into a fascination of throwing around words and seeing what he could come up with. By the time he was a senior, songwriting felt like second nature. 

“A lot of my personality, and things I’ve learned come from being raised where shootouts were a normal thing. I remember playing tag one day with some friends when I was 9, and we had to duck and hide because two rivals started shooting at each other. But even though I had been through that, it doesn’t necessarily have to be my story.”   

Davonyea’s music has evolved since the start of his rap career. Initially, the majority of his catalogue was used to express the hardships of life or would fall under a genre some would refer to as “struggle rap.” However, that has changed after Davonyea embraced a new more lighthearted approach with his artwork. 

“Growing up with my mom and my sister, they put me in a place where I absolutely adore women. That’s a major influence on my music today as opposed to how I used to rap.” 

Influenced by a diverse range of musicians, Davonyea’s style is not necessarily uniformed. He notes Hip Hop and R&B greats as artists he looks up to including Lil Wayne, Nipsey Hussle (RIP), Kendrick Lamar, Usher, and Eric Bellinger.

Isolation EP wasn’t the only project that was recorded in his Chevy, Davonyea’s upcoming project Issa Insecurity was also initially recorded in his car. However, it was finalized at a studio, Bedrock LA. The project will serve as his debut album and is going to be primarily geared towards women leaning heavily within the realm of R&B.  

Davonyea always brings something different to table, and his upcoming album wont be any different. Due to current COVID-19 pandemic, the project had to be pushed back. However, when the time is right, it will arrive and do what Davonyea does best through his art, provide his fans a great time and positive energy. 

“I believe in being genuine in my interactions with other people and would hope that I’d leave some sort of positive impact whether it’s through my music, kind gestures or making them laugh. I grew up extremely shy, so I’ve had to force myself not to fit in, but to break out of that “shell” and move forward in life.”