Music career
Dapo's big break was placing the song "Quickly" (co-written with Frank Ocean and the award-winning production duo Midi Mafia (50 Cent, Fantasia)) on nine-time Grammy winner John Legend's third studio album, Evolver , which was released in Fall of 2008. Featuring multi-platinum-selling artist Brandy, "Quickly" received early industry buzz as not only an inspired, sleek duet featuring R&B/pop music's leading artists, but also as one of the album's stand-out gems. Dapo, Frank Ocean and Midi Mafia co-wrote (and Dapo/Midi Mafia produced) approximately 20+ songs, some of which were released by Frank as part of his "Lonny Breaux Collection" which includes a demo version of Justin Bieber's "Bigger" (My World) as well as "Bedtime Stories", "Done", "Lights", "Quickly" (Frank's demo version), "Read The Stars", "Standing Still", and "When I'm Done".
Later in the Fall of 2008, Dapo also enjoyed credit for other records, including "Running" (co-written with James Fauntleroy and Midi Mafia) on David Archuleta's self-titled debut album (11 November 2008) – his first since becoming runner-up on American Idol in June 2008—and "Torn Down" (also co-written with James Fauntleroy and Midi Mafia) from Brandy's highly anticipated album, Human (9 December 2008), which she describes as her most personal album to date. In the Spring of 2009, Dapo received songwriter and producer credit for the tracks "Know Better", "Apart From Me", and "This Step Alone" on Fight for Love , the second album by American Idol Season 5 finalist Elliott Yamin, which was released on 5 May 2009. He also received credit for "Forever in You", which was included on the album as an iTunes and Japan bonus track.
Dapo is a Yamaha-endorsed artist. [2] Dapo worked with two-time Grammy-winning producer Jeffrey Weber to record a song for Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign called "Change". Dapo worked with American Idol winner and Grammy-nominated artist Jordin Sparks on her second album Battlefield on the track titled "No Parade". Dapo wrote and produced the track "No Parade" along with Oscar-nominated songwriting duo Scott Cutler and Anne Preven. "Listen", is sung by Beyoncé Knowles in the 2006 film Dreamgirls . Early reviews of the album have generally been positive with most critics highlighting individual tracks such as "No Parade", which is described as 'breaking your heart even before she gets to the bruising chorus.'. [3] Dapo was announced as one of the songwriters for the hit Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam along with Kara DioGuardi and others. [4] (Dapo co-wrote, produced and mixed "Fire" performed by Matthew "Mdot" Finley.)
On 30 October 2009, Atlantic Records announced that Dapo will be one of the producers personally chosen by Grammy Award-winning R&B singer Toni Braxton to work on her highly anticipated label debut album ( Pulse ) to be released 2 February 2010. [5] [6]
Dapo co-wrote and produced the track "Bigger" (with co-writers Frank Ocean and Midi Mafia) on Canadian singer Justin Bieber's first part of his two-part debut studio album, My World , which was released on 17 November 2009, via Island Records. Ashante Infantry of Toronto Star called "Bigger" one of the best tracks on the album. [7] On the week ending 5 December 2009, due to digital sales after the release of My World, "Bigger" debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian Hot 100. The song debuted at number forty-nine on the Hot Digital Songs chart in the US, and therefore consecutively appeared at number ninety-four on the Hot 100. [8]
The second part of the album, My World 2.0 , on which Dapo co-wrote and produced the track "Overboard" (a duet featuring Jessica Jarrell), was released on 23 March 2010 and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. [9] In less than one month of release, the first part of the album was certified Gold in the United States by the RIAA, and in less than two months (8 January 2010), it was certified Platinum in the United States, by the RIAA [10] selling over one million copies.
Channeling his jazz roots, Dapo produced and recorded songs with Tony Award-winning singer/actress, Anika Noni Rose for Disney's album, The Princess and The Frog: Tiana and Her Princess Friends. [11] The album is inspired by the 2009 Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog and was released on 24 November 2009. The album is the follow-up release in the successful Disney 'And Friends' musical series and features the song "Down in New Orleans" performed by Anika Noni Rose as written by Academy Award-winning composer Randy Newman and produced by Dapo Torimiro. In another Princess and the Frog-inspired album, Bayou Boogie (Release date 3/16/10), Dapo wrote and produced two songs: "Everyday Princess" and "Sing Away Your Blues", both performed by Anika Noni Rose (as Princess Tiana).
Dapo was a featured performer on stage with Andrea Bocelli and David Foster on the PBS Great Performances special, "Andrea Bocelli & David Foster: My Christmas." The special debuted on Thanksgiving night 2009 with additional broadcasts through the month of December.
2012 to present
In January 2012, Dapo posted a picture on his website from the studio working with Keke Palmer and Scotty Granger. On 7 February 2012, Stacy Barthe released her third EP, IN THE IN-BETWEEN. The nine-song EP features four songs co-written & produced by Dapo. The Sade-esque, "Easier Said Than Done", jumped out as an early fan favourite. Other Dapo-produced tracks includes "Do Me" featuring Dapo on guitar and piano, "Just My Luck" showcasing Dapo's acoustic guitar playing and a new addition to Dapo's productions, the melodica; and finally, the reggae-infused, "When I'm Gone". For the majority of February, Dapo was on tour with Barthe as her musical director, guitar player, and background vocalist, as part of the BET Music Matters / Estelle All of Me Tour, along with Luke James & Elle Varner, which included shows in Los Angeles (Key Club), San Diego, Oakland, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Birmingham, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Boston, Baltimore, and NYC (Irving Plaza) for Estelle's All of Me album release.
Mid-2012 releases included, "Yes I Am", Demi Lovato (Dapo/Priscilla Renea), on the Japanese Deluxe Edition of Unbroken (April 2012) and "Make A Joyful Noise" in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Let It Shine , scheduled for a June 2012 air date on The Disney Channel.
The end of 2012 releases included a song Dapo co-wrote, "Always Be Together", with Ester Dean for X-FACTOR UK Winners, Little Mix and their debut album, DNA . Dapo also co-wrote "I'm A Diamond" with Priscilla Renea for Girls' Generation released on their Girls' Generation II: Girls & Peace album.
