Introduction
D'Mile (born 24 January 1985) is an American record producer and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York. He also goes by his aliases D. Emile, Dernst Emile II, or Dee'Mile, but on most of his works, he is credited as D'Mile. He has worked with several famed musicians such as Ty Dolla $ign, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Lopez, and Pink Sweat$.
Early life
D'Mile was born as Dernst Emile II on January 24, 1985, in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, New York. His father, Dernst Emile, is a Haitian music producer and his mother Yanick Étienne is a well-known Haitian singer who has performed with Bryan Ferry and his band Roxy Music in the 1980s.
Growing up in a musical family, he started playing his own keyboards when he was three years old. In his teens, he began creating beat tapes, trying to get them into the hands of people in the music industry.
Career
D'Mile's musical profile grew when a friend introduced his music to the record executive Rodney Jerkins, who has collaborated with a wide range of popular artists, including Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Destiny's Child, Pussycat Dolls, Monica, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Toni Braxton, Britney Spears, Ludacris, Ciara, Lady Gaga, Baekhyun, Justin Bieber and Agnez Mo. Jerkins helped D'Mile launch his career and also helped him get signed by Janet Jackson's on her tenth studio album, Discipline.
D'Mile's first major production debut was Rihanna's 2005 album Music of the Sun, for which he produced & co-wrote the song "That La, La, La" with Brooklyn-based hip-hop/R&B group and friend "Full Force." In December of that year, he co-produced the song "Gonna Breakthrough" for Mary J. Blige's seventh studio album The Breakthrough. He co-wrote the song along with Blige, Wynter Gordon, Quarun Wages, and Harry Palmer.
Early 2008 saw his first major chart success with Janet Jackson's tenth studio album, Discipline. He co-wrote and co-produced with his mentor/friend Rodney Jerkins the lead single "Feedback" which reached number one on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart. For the same album, he also co-produced with Rodney Jerkins four other tracks: "I.D.", "Luv", "Truth or Dare", and "The Meaning".
The following year, in November 2009, he produced and co-wrote (with Dernst Delisha Thomas, Antea Birchett, and Anesha Birchett) the song "Favorite Girl" for Canadian singer Justin Bieber's debut EP My World. Besides D'Mile, for his debut album, Bieber also enlisted various other collaborators including his mentor Usher and producers Tricky Stewart and MIDI Mafia. At the same time, he and Ron Fair co-produced "In the Morning" for Mary J. Blige's ninth studio album Stronger with Each Tear.
Next, he collaborated with P. Diddy and Dirty Money (Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper) on the song "Shades" for the duo's 2010 album Last Train to Paris. The song, released on December 14, 2010, was co-written by D'Mile, Lil Wayne, James Edward Fauntleroy II, Justin Timberlake, and Bilal Oliver.
In 2011, D'Mile co-produced Black Rob's third studio album Game Tested, Streets Approved. The album, released on 26 July 2011 through Duck Down Music Inc., peaked at number 44 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The same year, he also produced "One Love" and "(What Is) Love?" tracks for Jennifer Lopez's seventh studio album Love?.
In 2014, co-wrote three songs and co-produced two songs for Ty Dolla Sign's debut extended play Beach House. Ty Dolla Sign worked with D'Mile on two more of his future albums: Free TC (2015) and Beach House 3 (2017).
In 2016, D'Mile produced "Rare" and "Gangster" for R&B singer PJ. The following year, he collaborated with Lupe Fiasco on the song "Kill" for his sixth studio album Drogas Light. In 2019, D'Mile produced "My Bad" track for Khalid's second studio album Free Spirit, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200.
In 2018, D'Mile worked on the song "Boss" for duo The Carters – Beyoncé and Jay-Z's – studio album Everything Is Love. The album won Best Urban Contemporary Album award at the 61st Grammy in 2019. Most recently, in 2020, he collaborated with Pink Sweat$ on his album The Prelude.
Quitting the music industry
Not satisfied with the response he was getting, D'Mile was on the verge of quitting the music business. What pulled him back were the nominations for seven different awards at the Grammy 2020. In two categories, Best R&B Song and Best Traditional R&B Performance, he was actually competing with his own productions: Lucky Daye's "Roll Some Mo" and H.E.R.'s "Could've Been." He also oversaw a nominee for Best R&B Album (Daye's Painted) and Best R&B Performance ("Roll Some Mo", yet again), and contributed to one of the Album of the Year nominees (H.E.R.'s I Used to Know Her).
Singer-songwriter Ty Dolla $ign, who has worked with D'Mile on many songs and mixtapes has said of D'Mile, "He is literally the best producer I ever worked with...Anything I imagine in my head and can’t explain with words, he can bring to life through music."