D’Mile is the Grammy Award-winning producer for the socially conscious and politically daring ‘I Can’t Breathe’ track by American singer and songwriter H.E.R. that won ‘Song of the Year’ at the 63rd Grammy Awards ceremony earlier this year.
The multi-instrumentalist also won an Oscar for his hand in another song with H.E.R. titled ‘Fight For You’, written for the 2020 biographical film ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’, and won ‘Best Original Song’ at the 93rd Academy Awards in the same year.
The Haitian-American composer, whose birth name is Dernst Emile II, did not achieve these feats accidentally. Over the years, he has been credited for songs on the albums of mega-stars such as Janet Jackson, Justin Bieber, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Tyrese and Ty Dolla $ign, who said “he is literally the best producer I ever worked with”.
His early musical influence came from both his parents, who are Haitian cultural music stars and Kompa artists Yanick Etienne and Dernst Emile Sr. He says their guidance helped to carve out his love for music throughout his formative years, and the early exposure to it laid the foundation for the numerous award-winning collaborations he is proud of today.
Similar to his father’s production technique, D’Mile doesn’t stick to just one genre when composing music. His creative styles are vast and heavily influenced by R&B, Pop and Hip Hop. He said, “The way my dad used to compose, if it was Haitian music that he was working on, he liked to incorporate a lot of jazz elements. I feel like I got that from him.”
D’Mile was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, and now lives in Los Angeles with his wife Reina. He stays close to his Haitian roots through family, friends and the Haitian music genre Kompa. His strong musical legacy has positioned him to achieve other personal and business aspirations. He plans to open his own record label and have his own team of talented people to work with.
