Pop-Culturalist.com

Dana Vaughns has stamped his place among Hollywood’s most exciting triple threats. When he’s not bringing characters to life on the screen in projects like Never Have I Ever, Dana can be found in the studio creating hits like “Feelings”, “Rough Rider”, and “Girlfriend”.

This July, the global superstar released his highly-anticipated sophomore EP Love So Different, which brings his fresh take on R&B to the forefront.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Dana about Love So Different, how COVID made him focus on self-love, and Never Have I Ever Season 2.

PC: You just dropped your sophomore EP. What can fans expect?
Dana: Fans can expect more genuine stories from Dana’s perspective. This is a project where I took the time to really tell the stories I wanted to tell. The project is called Love So Different. It took a lot more self-love for me to write these songs than others I’ve written in the past. I wasn’t writing about what I want so much as I was writing about where I’m at and where I want to be in the future. Through the trials of the COVID pandemic, I’ve learned to love myself more. That’s where these songs came from.

PC: How does this sophomore EP differentiate itself from Familiar Strangers? What did you learn putting together your debut EP that you’ve applied to Love So Different?
Dana: They differ in perspective. With my first project, I was almost trying to prove to myself that I could make good music and be unique. I was proving to the universe and to myself that I’m really here. This new EP is a lot heavier in terms of production. It has a lot more in the way of 808s. The last one was much more atmospheric. This one is more 808-heavy. I’m able to get my message across better now than ever.

PC: If you had to pick a song off of Love So Different that best encompasses who you are as an artist, which would it be and why?
Dana: I would say it’s track four, “Wednesday Rendezvous.” It’s an interlude. The whole first minute is me rapping. I wrote the whole poem after I had left this vacation in Joshua Tree. It’s a beautiful place out there, and I had a moment to reflect. That song is really, really telling about where I was in my life and where I’m at now in my life, and I think fans will be very surprised and maybe even impressed to hear those kinds of thoughts from me.

PC: You also just released the music video for “Girlfriend.” Can you walk us through the filming and concept?
Dana: I’m super excited that the “Girlfriend” music video has dropped. The song has been out for a couple of months. This music video is long overdue, especially with the song being featured in the Never Have I Ever Season 2 finale, which I’m in. That was a layup. I’m super blessed for that.

The concept behind the video is that I do have a girlfriend, and the whole song asks you not to look at her, so I leave the audience with eight other girls to look at. I didn’t want to have one specific girl in the video. I’ve been blessed to have a lot of amazing women in my life. I definitely always try to shine a good and wholesome light on them.

We had a very good comradery on set. I like to promote unity and togetherness through diversity. I hope that comes across in the video. It was awesome, man. I’m so hyped. It was the most organized video I’ve ever shot in my life. Every second was planned out before. I literally could visualize the video before it was done. Shout out to Hummingway Productions and Wesley Quinn specifically for pulling it off for me.

PC: You’re one of the stars of Never Have I Ever and Season 2 just dropped. For fans who haven’t seen it yet, what can they expect from Marcus this season?
Dana: You can expect him to be a great friend to Paxton. I’m always supporting my fellow Hot Pocket brothers and all of our crazy jokes.

We’ve got a moment this season where Marcus asks Shira out to prom, which is a big thing for my character. I actually got to dance in the season finale. You’ll get to see Marcus dancing.

There was a scene in Season 1 where Devi, the lead, goes on a date with Paxton, and he compliments Marcus. You’ll see little moments like that where Devi gets cut out of his affection because we have such a bromance. [laughs]

PC: Your song, “Girlfriend”, made it onto the Season 2 soundtrack. How did that come about?
Dana: Lang [Fisher] and Mindy [Kaling] knew that I danced. In the season finale, there’s a dance scene. They asked me if there was a TikTok challenge that we could add into the show. Through that conversation, I let them know that I had a song out called “Girlfriend” and that I had created a little dance for it.

It took about a week or two for them to look over things and figure out what they wanted. But then they came back and said, “Hey, we can’t do your dance with the song, but what we can do is put your song in the prom scene at the end.” It kind of fell into my lap, but I also kind of made the opportunity for myself. I want to say thanks to Netflix, Lang, and Mindy. The song is actually on the Never Have I Ever Spotify playlist as well.

To keep up with Dana, follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, and Apple Music. Listen to Love So Different today.