By the time De’ondre Ross graduates from Missouri Western next December, he hopes you will know his name or at least have heard his music. The public relations major has written and produced several songs and music videos and is hoping to make it big in the music industry.
It all started more than a decade ago, when Ross was 7 years old. He was visiting his cousin, who was producing “weird noises” on the computer. Immediately enthralled, the child joined his cousin at the computer and learned all about computer-generated music.
Later that day, Ross, from Jefferson City, Mo., asked his father for a computer and software so he could make music, too, and his father brought a computer home the next day.
“He wasn’t rich, he just believed in me enough to do that,” Ross says.
He estimates he has written thousands of songs since.
Ross, who plays drums and piano, is making inroads into the music business, growing his fan base through social media and online. He has written and produced songs that have become great hits on YouTube, has released songs on iTunes that have sold well, and performed in a variety of venues. “It’s working,” he says, “it’s just a slow process.”
When “Song Goes Off” was released on iTunes, Ross says he walked out of his room in Leaverton Hall and could hear people playing his song. “It’s crazy to do something you love and have so much influence on people.”
He readily gives credit to those who have helped him get his music and videos out. “I never refer to ‘I;’ I have a team and they are just as important as I am.”
Team members include Usala Still, Devin Whittler, Taylor Crouse, Ania Jamerson, Nathan Hershey and Ashlyn Stevens, who is also a Missouri Western student.
He calls his music style a crossover between pop, rhythm and blues, hip hop and dubstep. “I hear the songs in my head, and the craziest part is actually getting them out of my head,” Ross says with a laugh. “Every song I put together, I’ve heard it in my head and was able to get it out exactly like it sounded in my head.”
De’ondre Ross. You heard it here first.