Donny Walker’s latest releases are Superhero and Stepaside. The song Stepaside is about as clear and direct as a message through the lyrics in music can get. The message is about someone, or group, that is in a position of authority and is about to be ousted. The opposing person, or group characterized as party-crashers, arrives and proceed to do what party crashers do. But upon a more thorough examination, it became clear to me that the song had a much deeper meaning: Stepaside, as I interpret it, is a word that can be used interchangeably to address the moment. In other words “Stepaside “ can be applied to…well, most anything.
The song itself is a mixture of rap and Funk, highlighted with the smooth sound of erotic female vocals, which only serve to further solidify the message. The rhythm guitar dominates the character of the song, pushing each chord to the limit. This is definitely a song that defies the etiquette of politeness. I wouldn’t be surprised if Donny did not record this song inside a conventional recording studio. It is my guess that he wanted to create a sound that is as raw as the title suggests, retaining all its boldness, and laid most of the tracks down on a simple device: quite possibly something as simple as a cell phone. Non-the-less, it is a dance-friendly song that is sure to keep the dance floor busy.
Donny Walker, whose real name is Donald, is an artist I just recently began following. From Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Donald has been involved in music since the early 60’s at age ten when he played the drums for his grade school’s drum & bugle corp. From there, he played the drums for several different local bands until, at Age 17, he decided to form his own band, The New Breed Band, that later became “A DIFFERENT BAG”. This was the beginning of a long and illustrious career for Donald as a musician, bandleader, song-writer and producer who even had his own record label, (Posh Records).He wrote about his music career in his book, “The Unknown Musician”. He went on to author two additional books, and, as if that wasn’t enough, he somehow found time to join the Milwaukee Police Department, where he spent eleven years serving his community before retiring in 2007. It’s any ones guess what direction Donald will pursue next, but one thing is for sure, I will be among the first to witness it. Until then I’ll just, STEPASIDE.
