Meet Daniel McLean | Singer, Fashion Designer, & Graphic Designer.
We had the good fortune of connecting with Daniel McLean and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Daniel, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
In one very chaotic transition, I was born on October 7th, 2003, and orphaned in Victoria Jubilee Maternity Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica. I was later relocated to an adoption center. It was there I was eventually adopted 6 months later by my Jamaican family, who had recently migrated to the USA, and were preparing to move from New York to Georgia. I was technically the reason they moved. They wanted a calmer life from the hectic lifestyle of New York to the more relaxed nature of Georgia. I had to stay with my grandparents for a bit in the countryside of Jamaica and eventually moved to the USA in August of 2005 just before my 2nd birthday.
I remember my entire family welcomed me on that birthday…It was a special core memory I still hold on to. However, I think I would’ve loved growing up in New York. I often dream of moving to Manhattan. I guess you could call me Jamacian-American. I’m proud of where I came from, and I still visit from time to time.
In the States, my parents thankfully recognized my need to create a lot more due to my alone time as their only child. I got into many things such as singing, dancing, graphic design, fashion, and even learning a couple of languages. I found it as a safe haven in my life as sometimes I faced a lot of unnecessary struggle.
My loneliness however taught me to be very perceptive, and spiritual as a byproduct. I always cried as a child, I guess you would call it me being naive, or my early childhood trauma catching up to my spirit, but I think of it as my soul just having a lot of emotion for a world it barely understood, or a world that barely understood the soul.
I’m grateful for the people and events that led me to get here. I tend to be very emotional, and I *still* cry at struggles and losses. However, I feel as if it only makes me more solid in a sense—more creative, more intuitive, more understanding, and more spiritual. I think everything happens for a reason. Whether under my control or not, it was a blessing in disguise. I just try to hold onto the love.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My ongoing career in the arts started young. Being my parent’s only child, it lead me to try new things for myself. I found so much power in being creative when I was given the autonomy to express myself—for the most part. It was my safety in the chaos of my early years as family events, relentless bullying at school, and my declining mental health often challenged me to fight the obstacles to create and express myself more.
My parents took a minute to realize that I wanted to be creative. I was put in numerous sports in my younger years such as soccer, basketball, baseball, tennis…you name it. They wanted me to be a traditional boy, but nothing about me is traditional. Eventually, my aunt told them that I loved to use my hands a lot as I was always found drawing personalized characters inspired by the Italian show “Winx Club”. I’d like to think this is where I wanted to be a fashion designer. I remember being very excited when the fairies in the show gained new powers and got new outfits to match. 8-year-old me was very critical of those outfits I’ll tell you that. I thought, “I can do it better”.
Somewhere along I was put into violin around the 2nd grade ( after I begged quite relentlessly I might add ) and I stuck it through until the 10th grade after a teacher yelled at a section of our orchestra to play a certain note correctly. I had played it right and got fed up with others holding me back. By then I had won a lot of awards and performances with numerous ensembles, so I gave it a rest to do something else I really wanted: Music Composition and Fine Arts.
2020 eventually hit and before the pandemic hit us all, I had won 2nd place nationally in Gold for the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition for my graphic design piece titled, “Red Swing” and Silver for my other pieces, “Fra(Guy)ile)” and “Facets of the Back Woman.” I have my high school art teacher, Yvette Kim, to thank as she pushed me to be more confident in my work.
This eventually landed me at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, and I’ll be going into my sophomore year around the time of this going live. I’m currently majoring in Fashion Design as I always had a thing for dressing up in high school. I even got best-dressed at prom for my Junior and Senior years. My parents think it’s amazing how I got into SCAD as I mentioned my desire to get in only once in passing during the 6th grade.
However, before my awards and college acceptances were won, I had my grandfather pass away around the time of my grandmother’s 80th birthday back in 2019. That took a toll on both of us as the pandemic passed. I wasn’t able to attend his funeral which caused insult to injury. The deepening isolation at home reminded me how much more alone I had become. The feeling for me was normal as an only child, but it felt different. Since I was in a music production class around the time of this as well, I made my first EP ‘PLUTO’ at my home studio. I just remember being so angry and sad to the point where music was the only way I could express how I felt. It received a lot of love from my peers which caused me to keep creating more. I wanted to sing more. I often sang a lot at home every day growing up, so y’know….it just made sense.
I go under the alias DAN’I (pronounced Danny) and I’ve made more EPs since then along with a couple of singles. I’m planning to release my debut album very soon.
Currently, I’ve embarked on my Fashion brand, “IN’VETE” which is a play on the word inventive, and the word for clothing in French which is “vetements”. I plan to release my first collection in 2024 titled under the same name as my upcoming album, “ICARUS”
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I only go to food spots. It’s a fun thing to find new places to eat, so let me list off a few of my usuals:
– PHO DAI LOI #3, Duluth
– Kingston 30, Lawrenceville
– Sunshine Chinese & Thai, Suwanee
– Caffe Bean, Suwanee
– All That Korean BBQ, Suwanee
– Su’s Chinese Cuisine, Atlanta
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I really want to dedicate this to my family, and my teacher Yvette Kim, who I couldn’t see before I graduated due to her sudden terminal illness. I think those two forces in my life have always been the strongest. I have so much gratitude to give to them. I think about Mrs. Kim from time to time, and I want her to know I love her very much, and that coming from someone who was raised in a very matriarchal family, that she’s one of the strongest women I know. My parents, grandma, my siblings, and my late grandpa really are at the center of everything for me.
Website: danielmclean.crd.co
Instagram: @danioiio
Twitter: @danioiio
Youtube: https://www.youtube.
Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.
Apple Music: https://music.apple.
SoundCloud: https://
Image Credits
Daniel McLean
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