Meet Darius Ford | Singer, Songwriter, & also known as the “Velvet Voice”.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Darius Ford and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Darius, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
To be honest, I think it actually chose me. Music has always been something I couldn’t get away from no matter how many other things I was involved in or how many times I tried to quit when things got difficult. I listen to music literally everyday and everywhere that I go. There have been times where I’ve been at work and completely zoned out thinking about something related to music whether it was singing, songwriting, or simply coming up with a melody in my head. It was only a small matter of time before I finally accepted that music would be my career.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve been singing professionally since 2013, but I’ve been overall singing since the age of six. My genres include but are not limited to, Jazz, R&B, and Gospel. As a child, it wasn’t something I wanted to do at all. My aunt would make me sing with her after school almost everyday. Of course, that led to singing in the choir as well. Later on, I started noticing the reactions that I got from people while singing. That’s when I realized for the first time that I could actually be good at this music. From there, I started developing my voice. Initially, I was trying too hard to sound like some of the people I studied like Luther Vandross, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Fred Hammond, and Lalah Hathaway, to name a few. As I developed my voice and style more, I realized how much I wasn’t like who I studied and how much I didn’t fit into one specific genre of music. I also realized how much my personal life, character, and integrity played into my music career overall. With me being an extremely tall and big guy, having noticeable keloids under my chin, and being openly gay, I thought this would all affect my music negatively. However, I’ve realized that my music transcends all of that in a major way. Knowing this made it very difficult for people to put me in a box. However, my gentle nature made me an easy target for some people in the music industry to want to control and use for their own personal gain. This led to years of them manipulating me, attempting to steal my music, stealing money from me, keeping me from opportunities that could’ve changed my life, condemning me to hell because of my sexuality, and even going so far as to threaten my life because I simply said no. However, all of that made me a lot stronger. I built some tough skin because of it. I’m also wiser in knowing what to look for and stay away from within the music industry. Ultimately, the experiences helped me to stand more firm on what I believe and what message I want to send to the world through my music. Everyone is worthy of love, everyone deserves a chance to be heard, and most of all, you are not alone.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, I’m from Virginia, specifically the seven cities. For the day life experience, I would suggest the Norfolk Premium Outlets or the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, especially during the summer. For the nightlife experience, I would suggest the waterside district in downtown Norfolk, town center in Virginia Beach, or the bars and restaurants along Granby Street in Norfolk. The only decent malls we have left here that are worth visiting are Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News, MacArthur Mall by the waterside district in Norfolk, and Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to my late grandmother, Gloria Hampton. Even though I always showed her the worst of me growing up, she still chose to see the best in me even when she didn’t understand everything. She is the main reason why I’m still pursuing this music career. I made her a promise and I intend to keep it.

Website: https://dariusford.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dariusfordmusic/profilecard/?igsh=MXJrY2ZtbjV1bzk3YQ==

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/bEJSpCLFtYVaTxWZ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC0O_ffwJcbeBtTtpxnEz-8A?si=8a47Ue_IrnS1QGPK

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/59jlFoi1S0gHSkL1UbY6yj?si=X6kRK7uEQkWcs6MgpXNt5g

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/darius-ford/1525320133

Image Credits
Kayson Perry