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Editor's Note: This interview was conducted before the onset of the wildfires in Los Angeles. The artist has since addressed the situation.
Over the course of his career, Durand Bernarr has received high acclaim from the likes of Erykah Badu, Fantasia Barrino, Gabrielle Union, and Lena Waithe. Now, 20 years in, he's earned music's highest honor: a GRAMMY nomination.
His 2024 EP En Route is up for Best Progressive R&B Album at the 2025 GRAMMYs. Created in a mere five days, the eight-track EP marks the first time Bernarr has invited others into his creative process — a major change for the independent singer, who had written and produced his music on his own since he started making it in 2005. What did remain on his latest EP, though, is his sonic exploration, as evidenced by the funkified, Outkast-inspired "Must Be Nice" and the Latin-flavored, rock-infused "GPS," which also incorporates operatic vocals.
"A lot of this work I've been putting out is just trying to show people that there's another way to express ourselves in our art. It's not only music and musicians I'm inspired by. It's cartoons, it's comedians, it's actors," Bernarr tells GRAMMY.com. "[En Route] is all over the place. There's so many different ways we can approach R&B. My voice can do a lot of things, so I want to make sure that I'm giving people what they want and also what they don't know they need."
Bernarr, now 36, has long been working toward this moment — exploring his vocal capabilities and what his sound can be since he started posting covers on YouTube in 2008. After putting out a studio album, three EPs, and four mixtapes within a 10-year period, Bernarr's efforts finally started paying off in the past six years. In late 2019, acclaimed DJ KAYTRANADA tapped him to co-write and collaborate on "Freefall," a track from the producer’s GRAMMY-winning BUBBA album. Then, a mere four months later, Bernarr joined forces with Ari Lennox — one of his biggest inspirations — by jumping on the remix of "Facetime," a fan favorite off the revamped version of her Shea Butter Baby LP.
He continued the momentum in 2020 with his self-titled sophomore album, DUR&, and standout single "STUCK.," which features Lennox. That breakthrough success set the stage for 2022's Wanderlust, which birthed the viral hit "Mango Butter," as well as En Route, which he released in May 2024. Though the singer created the EP as more of a transitional piece between full-length projects, it perfectly showcases his penchant for switching up his musical style and his seamless fusion of vocal agility and comedic chops. That combination is what’s helped him create a unique sound that has continued to captivate fans old and new.
Bernarr says his GRAMMY nomination for En Route is a "gratifying" addition to his recent accomplishments. But two decades in, he's appreciative of any level of success.
"At this point, I don't have any expectations about anything," he shares. "The main thing I want to do with my music is to be able to create work and art that will outlive me, that will inspire and motivate people long after I've been here."
Just days before the 2025 GRAMMYs, Bernarr — a Los Angeles resident since 2014 — gave back to his community with a performance at Tha Juice Joint that raised money for those affected by the L.A. wildfires. "Seeing the destruction from the L.A. wildfires has been so heavy — heartbreaking, honestly. But even in the middle of all this tragedy, there's been this beautiful reminder of how amazing people can be. Folks are showing up, giving what they can, and just spreading love and compassion. That's the kind of stuff that keeps us going," he said ahead of the Jan. 27 event. "For me, as an artist, music is one of the ways we heal. And right now, L.A. needs that healing."
Below, Bernarr discussed how En Route shifted his creative mindset and how it helped the "slow burn" of his career pay off.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
You've been making music for a long time. En Route marks your eleventh project. Why do you think this is the one that received GRAMMY recognition?
I call my projects noodles. Which one is going to stick? Which one is going to really make noise? Because I'm still figuring everything out.
Having other people in the room to be able to bounce ideas off of has been such an amazing thing. I've never collaborated in this way with songwriting before En Route. That was a new thing for me since I have a setup at my house, where it's easy to just lay down an idea that pops into your head.
Moving forward, I understand even more that I don't have all the answers and I don't have to do everything by myself. It's such a beautiful thing when someone has a completely different way and direction of approaching things that I wouldn't have thought of.
I love all the songs on En Route, but I'm more open to laying down tracks that I don't necessarily love because it makes it easier for people to work with you. They can at least get their ideas out and let me know what their vision is. Remaining open like that is not only going to open more doors but create them.
Being recognized on this magnitude must feel like a win for your longtime supporters as well.
I know exactly how they feel. Because I followed Ari [Lennox] from the beginning. To see the trajectory, to stay with someone that long… It sends chills up my spine to know that my journey as a person has kept people here long enough through all my evolutions and trying to discover who I am. That is so beautiful, because anytime that I have your undivided attention, I'm not trying to waste your time. I want to leave you better than I found you. I want to reach somewhere inside you and warm up a place that you didn't even realize was cold.
You mentioned how En Route was created to serve as a transition between your latest album, Wanderlust, and the next full-length project. Where did En Route begin?
I was saving "Fist Bump" for the next album, but it ended up being the conduit of the sound of the EP. We had to build around that because we were like, "Fist Bump" can't be the only song that's hitting like this. It made us step up our creativity. I feel like whenever I get into the studio with other people, I'm being stretched a little bit.
As far as the concept, I love a good road trip. I was talking a lot about my friends and the things we're going on our trips, our journeys. So it was a simple but effective and fun theme to kind of segue into the next body of work.
What do you learn from putting En Route together in just five days?
It showed me yet again how quickly and efficiently things can get done when everyone knows exactly what they're supposed to do. When everyone has a clear vision on their position and what role they play and how they're supporting, it makes everything run so smoothly. It takes a village; I'm not an anxious person, but the company I keep plays a big part of that.
I interviewed Coco Jones before she won her first GRAMMY last year. Like you, her success didn't happen overnight, and she told me her nominations felt like a gold star and motivated her to push even harder. Do you share that sentiment?
I think now there is expectation for what is to come next. It's always been in the back of my mind, but I don't know if I allow it to truly consume me because I don't want to have to be in competition with anything other than just yesterday. I give myself room and space to express myself in whatever capacity that is at the time, and hopefully it'll be received — because I can't keep putting out the self-titled over and over again.
It's just different ways in which I'm able to share this clutter in my brain and filter it out through music. I'm so grateful to be acknowledged. I just don't want to put pressure on myself.
At the same time, you never know who's watching. So if anything, when we're presenting ourselves, at least try to do your best with what you have. That's not to say you have to be aiming for 100 percent every time, because you don't have 100 percent every time. Mind you, I'm never going to give 100 percent. That's too much because I need a little something for me. I give you 92, I give you 88, I even give you a scientific 99.6. I need some room for bulls—, I need some room for error.
So many artists dream about having a Tiny Desk concert since it's an atmosphere where talent gets to shine in pure form. Did that opportunity feel like a precursor for the incredible year you're having now?
At the moment, when I was in it, it was about me. Then, after it was over and it aired, it was about showing that other young Black men in particular who look and act like me can be rehearsed, be creative, be professional, be kind and leave a warm mark on the space that you take up.
Do you have any words of wisdom for those under-the-radar artists who feel like their talent and grind goes unnoticed?
I'm going to quote Dr. [T. Anansi] Wilson, a dear friend from my childhood who is also a well of wisdom. I remember having that conversation with him. I told him, "I feel like my career is such a slow burn. It's almost a little too slow." Because I felt like the way in which I was trying to get out there wasn't making any noise. At that time, I was doing Uber and Lyft. He said, "Well, of course you're a slow burn, baby. You're the sun, not a match."
So, it's just about changing the perspective. That's why I can put out something that's my eleventh attempt and it finally makes some noise. I'm finding new recipes and working with new people and not trying to do everything myself. It's just a different way that I'm moving, and it's doing what it needs to do; it's getting us nominated for a GRAMMY, Amen.
I can only imagine how special it would be for you to win!
Since 2020, I've abandoned this concept of what the year is going to look like, and I just leave myself open for adventures. I don't know if I've sat with the idea long enough to really process what that would mean for my career, but I know for a fact that it would be like, Okay, I'm 'bout to be everywhere. I used to think, How does Beyoncé go to sleep after doing all that for three hours or after winning the most GRAMMYs? Because there's so much that needs to be done.
On the other side of that, people need to see me everywhere. There is a warmth and a positivity and a healing I possess with my presence that I'd love to share with the world. We need more of that, so if [a GRAMMY win] requires me to work a little bit more, that is a really great payoff.