Toronto soul-pop singer, songwriter, producer and director, Domanique Grant, blessed music listeners and fans alike with the second chapter of her double EP, QUEEN/DOM – Chapter 2: DOM, which was released in November through her label, Grant Creativity Inc.
Known for her viral music videos, stellar vocal range, vibrant lyrics and captivating stage performance, as well as being named one of BuzzFeed’s top 20 artists to watch in Canada, Domanique is an award-winning singer-songwriter whose inspirational and astonishing music focuses much on self-love, generational healing and body positivity. Her craft has led to musical collaborations with Tedx, L’Oreal Paris, Unilever Brands (Dove, Vaseline) and The Top 25 Women of Influence.
She is continuing along her winning streak with her new double EP QUEEN/DOM. Channeling Kelly Rowland vibes, Grant brings powerhouse vocals, anthemic hooks and multilayered harmonies.
Her debut single, “Airbrush“, was recently shortlisted on YouTube, which led to her entering Top 40 radio in Canada and was also featured in an RBCxMusic campaign premiering during the Grammy Awards featuring some of Canada’s top emerging artists. She has also toured in the US and South Africa and has been known for her public speaking and humanitarian work after opening up for Les Brown and speaking for the United Nations after her award-winning story and message of resilience.
While the inspiration for her first EP was claiming her narrative, owning the fact that the process of “learning self-love and to claiming your crown is complicated,” QUEEN/DOM Chapter 2: DOM continues within claiming your crown as a human, by zoning into the stages of worthiness, power and owning your truth.
Starting with QueenDom, the unapologetic and resilient anthem is a playful dedication to the Lion King and pride rock from the perspective of the character, Nala. The simple hip-hop ballad brought elegant synths and hard-hitting 808-beat patterns while Domanique channels her inner energy to the likes of Azealia Banks & Doechii, in terms of the song’s lyricism and energy. The chorus and lyrics hit very well and demonstrate her unique flow pattern and songwriting.
The music video for QueenDom was choreographed by Leon Blackwood (who has worked with the likes of Britney Spears & Janet Jackson) and co-directed by Domanique and Dwayne Graham, exploring the idea of space and feminine energy.
“Airbrush” details more on self-love in internet culture and there is a beautiful melody and smoothness in Domanique’s vocals that are even incorporated into the bubbly-focused pop chorus. She delivers elegant vocals within her song and provides a remarkable range in her octaves, demonstrating the unique messages that captivate what the subject means today.
“Undressing” is about peeling back the layers of success, strength and being a woman. With a remarkable vocal range, astonishing songwriting and composition, the song helps you reflect more on the message positively and how it relates to everyday life.
The last song on the EP, “Be Your Beautiful“, is an anthem celebrating the journey to showing up in the world as your definition of beautiful. Incorporating certain elements of Afrobeats music, the excellent vocal range, delivery, composition, production, and subject matter demonstrate how Domanique’s positive energy and encouragement for others to show their full beauty is all that matters. The background vocals along with the rattling 808s and hi-tempo snares and synths provide an impact that radiates not only powerful energy within Domanique’s vocals and precision, but confidence and positivity within the songwriting, emotion, and melody.
In addition, the Toronto pop singer-songwriter and artist had a release party for the EP at Toronto’s Revival on November 17th and brought along Brampton R&B artist Zenesoul and legendary Toronto DJ, DJ Mel Boogie, to captivate the night.
With Zenesoul performing three of her hit songs, including her 2022 JUNO-nominated song, “Love and Be Loved” (alongside Aaron Ridge), she captivated her opening set with remarkable vocals, soothing melodies, and elegant charisma. QUEEN/DOM was set in full effect, Domanique arrived on stage with her band, her background singers and dancers and started off performing the first three songs off the new EP, such as “QueenDom”, “Airbrush”, and “Undressing” along with other songs from her last EP. With everyone understanding the assignment for the night, it was Domanique that brought a lot of unique energy within her stage presence and her interaction with the crowd and focusing on a non-secular approach through how she performed the songs and brought lots of emotion and poise within her dancing, singing and much more.
With everyone reciprocating the same emotions as Domanique on stage, the Toronto artist encouraged lots of positivity and love through her words of advice, her non-verbal energy, and her love of music and that same love was brought back. By trying unique styles of excellent stage presence such as playing with her beatmaker, bringing people on stage and teaching them new dance moves and letting them stay on stage, and even walking around the entire venue performing, she maintains her love and value of the crowd and speak her story from there and brought a lot of amazing harmonies, melodies and range with her singing, and demonstrate amazing vocals song after song. She ended the show with Be Your Beautiful and her show alone set the bar for me, in terms of remarkable stage presence and crowd participation.
Domanique’s latest EP, QUEEN/DOM – Chapter 2: DOM, is out and available on all streaming platforms.
