“Only you know your vision, and trust me when I say—it’s okay to be unique.”
Dasmyn “Daz” Grigsby
It’s a beautiful day in Atlanta, and Dasmyn Grigsby is tired. As the founder and CEO of Xclusive Percussion, a drumline entertainment company, he’s built up a sizable clientele. Today, Daz is writing music for an upcoming event for a new client, while still adjusting to how to provide live entertainment in a semi-post-pandemic world that’s not all the way back to “normal.”
As an entrepreneur, it’s challenging. It’s also exhausting.
“It’s different,” he tells THE BLOCK. “I’m not the common entrepreneur that sells T-shirts or makeup or hair products. I’m literally selling entertainment—the type that takes place live and in person—and of course, over the past year when events have been somewhat shut down, it’s been hard to sell that service.”
But Daz doesn’t mind putting in the work. His resume includes performances with superstars like Beyonce, Ciara, Missy Elliott, Doug E. Fresh, Anderson.Paak, T.I. and Jermaine Dupri. He’s also been featured on the BET series “The Quad” and the Vh1 original movie “Drumline: A New Beat.”
Xclusive Percussion, which Daz started in 2018, secured partnerships with all the Atlanta professional sports teams, providing live drumlines for the home games of the Hawks, Falcons and Braves. However, with 2020 being the year where there were no crowds at sporting events, those partnerships were placed on hold, and he had to be more strategic when it came to securing jobs, or as he put it, “re-think how we do things.”
That included securing virtual gigs for corporations that wanted entertainment to open their conferences, and while that kept the company afloat, it came with its own challenges. Recording the performers, editing the video and sound and making sure it was perfectly synced—all of it made Daz even better at what he does.
“There was definitely a learning curve when it came to doing things virtually,” he recalls with a laugh. “But it made me step up my video production game and for that, I’m grateful.”
Daz has spent most of his life preparing him for what he’s doing now. The Decatur, Georgia, native first fell in love with drums in the sixth grade at Chapel Hill Middle School, taking a music theory class that helped him learn how to read music.
“That music theory class was really important. It was more than just half notes and whole notes. It helped me realize that percussion isn’t just drums. Xylophones and pianos are percussion instruments, too. Learning that opened my eyes to see percussion as the force it really is.”
In tenth grade, as a sophomore at Southwest Dekalb High School, after years of learning and playing with the concert band, Daz was ready for the next level: marching band. At Southwest Dekalb High, the marching band was elite, bigger than the football team.
“A lot of the focus was on the band back then,” Daz recalls. “The school was in the movie ‘Drumline’ and had different opportunities to perform outside of just school events. So, I said I’d try it. And I’m glad I did. We performed an HBCU-style drumline, and it was second to none.”
That HBCU (Historically Black College and University) style first became popular in the 1940s at Florida A&M University and developed a reputation for greatness in 1952 at Grambling State University.
Experiencing that type of production and precision while still in high school gave Daz focus and exposed him to the world of entertainment. Southwest Dekalb performed on television and at NFL games, and the drumline got the opportunity to perform with recording artist Missy Elliott on her studio album “Cookbook.”
Upon graduation from high school, Daz was ready to step away from marching band in order to focus on schoolwork and on growing his music production business. His mother nudged him toward Bethune-Cookman University, which according to Daz, turned out to be the best decision he ever made. The school offered him a band scholarship, which brought him back to percussion, and that was just fine. While on campus, he embraced the band culture, becoming the section leader of the drumline. He also embraced the history of the school, proud to walk in the footsteps of the institution’s founder, Mary McLeod Bethune.
For Daz, his ability to thrive in such a niche industry is all based on relationships—ones he made in high school, college and since graduation. In 2012 he started doing gigs with Drumline Live Intl., which is headed by Don P. Roberts—a former band director at Southwest Dekalb who served as executive band consultant for “Drumline.”
In 2018, just after he quit his full-time job to officially start Xclusive Percussion, he got an ominous call from Roberts asking that he be part of a special, secretive project. Of course, he said yes, and it led to a two-month trip to southern California to perform with Beyoncé at her award-winning “Homecoming” event at Coachella.
The company is still busy, recently completing a virtual conference appearance for UNCF and a hybrid virtual/in-person performance at last month’s AfroPunk Festival in Atlanta. Being able to pivot and stay focused has given Daz a great perspective when it comes to his future. He would advise anyone starting on their path to just be ready for anything.
“Keep going,” he says. “We are living a life where we have to learn from our failures and learn lessons. But we must press through the failures and the lessons to get to what we want.
“Don’t be afraid to bet on yourself. Only you know your vision, and trust me when I say—it’s okay to be unique.”
And to be tired, like he is today. Maybe he’ll rest when he’s finished writing this music. But probably not. There’s so much more to do.
Follow Dasmyn on Instagram and learn more about Xclusive Percussion and get booking info here.
