On Aug. 15, much loved artist, Dijon Duenas (commonly known as Dijon), dropped his long-awaited album titled “Baby.” The album is named after his child (yes, his child’s name is Baby). Throughout each track, Dijon paints a picture of love, family and the experiences that come with being a first-time father.
Since Dijon’s first official album, “Absolutely,” came out in 2021, the singer has accumulated quite a large fanbase who couldn’t wait for his next full-length project. In the time leading up to this year, Dijon had worked on various projects with his iconic friend Mk.gee, a singer and guitarist who has garnered attention lately as well. Dijon even went as far as to work with Justin Bieber on his album, “SWAG.” All of this did nothing but make fans even more hungry for his newest project, meaning the hype surrounding “Baby” was intense.
The introductory and title track, “Baby!” is an ode to both Dijon’s wife and his child. In the song, he recounts the evolution of his relationship with his wife up to the conception of his child, Baby. He recounts first meeting her singing, “Yes, I did dance with your mother before I knew her name.’” He chronicles their first date, them making love, talking about their marriage, his wife’s pregnancy and Baby’s birth.
Dijon also repeats the word “baby” throughout the song, and while it is the name of the song and of his child, it clearly has multiple meanings, as Dijon’s nickname for his wife is “baby” and he mentions talking to his wife about having a baby in the song. In this song, Dijon paints the themes that he explores throughout the rest of the project, and he does it exquisitely.
Dijon has always been noted for his raw lyrics, and this shines on songs such as “Baby!,” “Yamaha” and “HIGHER!” Dijon has a certain skill when it comes to writing about love. He doesn’t just write it; he encapsulates his songs with the feeling of love that he feels towards his wife. He explodes on each song with lyrics like, “Baby, I’m in love with this particular emotion / And it’s sweet, you in this particular motion / You shouldn’t hide it, honey,” on the song “Yamaha.” In the song “HIGHER!” he says, “It could kill me / And it’s the thirst that’s doing my ass / But when you really love, it’s easy.”
This album was a real change of pace for Dijon in terms of what his last album was. His debut album full under the category of R&B/Neo-Soul and was slow with a lot of live instrumentation rather than using a MIDI device – this is shown in the film for “Absolutely” that features Dijon and his collaborators performing the album’s songs. But in “Baby,” Dijon makes his first foray into using hip hop samples, synthesizers and fast paced instrumentals with pop elements in a decent amount of the songs.
Many fans didn’t like this change, but I love it. There’s something about an artist evolving their sound that I admire. Dijon deciding not to stick with what he knew, rather choosing to do something different is a breath of fresh air. While I do love “Absolutely,” I wouldn’t want him to repeat the exact same style that he did before. The only theme that stays the same is Dijon screaming his love for his wife and considering that, I wouldn’t change a thing about his music.
