Maleman sat down with DNA Picasso and Dominique Christina to talk about potentially winning Battle for the Block 2025 and what it would mean to open for the legendary Juvenile at Denver’s Juneteenth Music Festival. They also share their creative process, balancing life, love, and music, and what’s next for the pair. From letter-writing during quarantine to writing a full album in a car, their journey blends Black love, artistry, and legacy. They open up about navigating a relationship as artists, creating together, and how their dynamic keeps them both grounded and elevated.
Transcript
MALEMAN: Let’s do it. Let’s get to it, man. Listen, I’m like, super excited about this. You know, I’m always here for the music. I’m always here for the competition. But I’m also here for, you know what I’m saying, the Black love. The Black, you know what I’m saying, empowerment, partnerships. You know what I’m saying? I have two people that I truly actually call friends — like my dawgs. Like, I support them, I rock with them, and I’m always excited to see what they’re doing. Joining me today is my girl, Dominique Christina, and my dawg, DNA Picasso. What’s up with it, though?
DNA PICASSO: What’s good with it, man. Glad to be here.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Thanks for having us.
MALEMAN: How y’all feeling, man? Like, intentionally. You know how I do. Y’all both know. Y’all been through this before. Mentally, physically, spiritually. How are y’all doing? Emotionally.
DNA PICASSO: Emotionally intact, you know what I’m saying? And intact and moving. And making things happen. I feel good. Blessed to be here.
MALEMAN: What about you?
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: For sure, I’m grateful. I’m alive, beloved. You know?
MALEMAN: Yeah, that’s beautiful, man. That’s super beautiful. So, both of you are competing together in Battle for the Block, you know what I’m saying. How does that feel?
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Its so fun.
DNA PICASSO: It feels great. It’s almost not fair.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Yeah, it’s fun. Right.
MALEMAN: Why is it not fair?
DNA PICASSO: Come on.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Cool little workout. Competition is great, you know? It sharpens certain things, pulls certain things into focus. We’re both competitive people. We both were athletes all our lives. So, it’s — this is just muscle memory. Yeah.
MALEMAN: Dope. Dope. So, what would it mean to win something like Battle for the Block and open up — you know what I’m saying? Let me pop my stuff — Juneteenth? The Drop 104.7 presents the Juneteenth Music Festival going down June 15th. Juvenile — Juvie the Goat, Juvie the Great, the original hot boy — will be performing, and whoever wins this competition will be opening up for Juvenile. So, if that is you two, what does that mean to perform in your city, opening up for such a legend in such an iconic setting, you know? Juneteenth, you know, Denver loves Juneteenth. What would that mean for y’all to be able to be able to do that?
DNA PICASSO: You know, you kind of said a little bit. Legendary. It would feel iconic. It feels like the ultimate synergy based on like all the things that are happening for both of us this year and last year. And yeah, it feels like the right timing.
MALEMAN: Okay, you want to chime in?
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: I mean, Juneteenth is a celebration of, you know, how Black folks in this country endured and survived. And that’s a conversation about lineage and resilience. And Juvenile is representative of a lineage of hip hop.
MALEMAN: Yes, facts. Facts.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: So, it’s awesome. It’s awesome. Yeah.
MALEMAN: So, DNA Picasso and Dominique Christina taking over for the 99 and 2000, you know what I’m saying?
DNA PICASSO: You already know.
MALEMAN: Yeah, rock with that. So, let’s talk about y’all’s dynamic a little bit. Like, how did music specifically bring you two together? Or was it just, like, love first? Or was it just, like, partnership, or, you know, networking? Like what brought you to together, and how do y’all balance, like, the music life and also being partners?
DNA PICASSO: Yeah, I think there was like a creative spirit in how we met in a way. We started off letter writing. So like it was penmanship that brought us together. And then when we met, you know, we were instantly connected through music. I was sharing music. She was sharing music. I was already making music, and we were playing around stuff together early on. She was recording songs with me, and then we ended up doing — she was featured on a couple of projects that I had put on. And all of that just felt so simple and seamless and just, like, natural. Yeah, it feels good. I’ll let her chime in on the rest of that.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Yeah, and we did meet through letter writing because COVID was a thing.
MALEMAN: Oh, okay.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: So yeah, we really got to know each other from a distance — in terms of, like, we had a lot of physical distance — but we were getting very close almost immediately because all we had was, you know, the language we were curating, you know, to describe how we felt or how our day went or what this story was from our childhood. So, you know, in terms of, like — you can meet someone at the club and you’re competing with loud music and it’s banter and you’re just trying to, like, figure out if you’re going to leave with them or not. And that’s one version of how you can meet somebody. But because of how we met, there wasn’t any of — none of those distractions existed, you know? It was just —
DNA PICASSO: That’s crazy.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Yeah. Here I am, you know, as myself. Here you are as yourself. And the stories that I tell you have to give you a picture of who I am, you know? Cause we don’t have anything else. I’m not in front of you.
DNA PICASSO: And the world was…we thought it was ending.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Stand still.
DNA PICASSO: We didn’t know what was going on. Everything stopped and we didn’t know what was coming next. So, anything that that happened next had to be meaningful.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Yeah. This was literally when Colorado was under quarantine and curfew. Yeah.
DNA PICASSO: It was a ghost town. You know.
MALEMAN: I remember those days. I am happy we have gotten past those days, you know what saying? But I was always outside. I had to leave.
DNA PICASSO: Yeah. So, we spent a lot of time together when we met in the pandemic. We met in person maybe, what, a couple weeks later? And so around April 2020. And we spent a lot of time together. Like, more time than people usually spend together. Like all day and all night, every single day. And so, we got to know each other, like, really quickly. And yeah, the music just became natural. It’s just natural.
MALEMAN: So, let’s talk about the music. Like, what is the creative process? What does that look like for y’all? Like writing music, recording music. Is there disagreements in the studio? Like, what does that all look like?
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: That’s interesting. So, okay, so the collaboration is easy. Like we catch vibes with each other very easily. He kind of already knows how I’m leaning most of the time. I usually can kind of figure out how he’s leaning most of the time. So, in terms of, like, building something together creatively, that’s easy. However, he is a Taurus.
MALEMAN: Taurus gang.
DNA PICASSO: Taurus gang.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Okay, so I might be outnumbered. Except I’m really not because I’m a Gemini, so there’s at least a couple of me in here. So, the thing is, is like, I have a very, like, weird, unpredictable, stressful, ephemeral process. I’m a very last-minute person. I’m late everywhere. It takes me a long time to button some stuff down.
DNA PICASSO: You were late here?
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Late here, right. And he is not that. So, he is a, like — he’s a tactician about prep. You know what I mean? And like, knowing the landscape well in advance of getting to the landscape, and I’m the chick that learns the landscape when I’m touching it. Like, “Ohh!” It’s a very different thing.
MALEMAN: That is so interesting.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: It’s stressful, right? So, for someone like him who needs sort of that methodology and that linear process like: “Just button it down. Tell me when what we’re doing and when it’s gonna be done.”
MALEMAN: That is so funny.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: And I’m kind of going like, “Ooh, I don’t know. I’m kind of —” That can be stressful. But —
MALEMAN: That’s hilarious.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: It’s crazy. But even in all of that, like, I don’t think we get in each other’s way. I end up showing up on whatever we’re doing as myself. He ends up showing up as himself, so we figure it out, you know? So, I think we’re always dancing pretty well together.
MALEMAN: I love the dance analogy. Well, how would you describe that? Cause I relate, you know?
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: And don’t slander my name. Do not slander my name.
DNA PICASSO: It’s definitely like that. She is somebody who’s very good on her feet. Like, very good on her feet. It’s almost scary for anyone else who’s working with her. Like, “Yo, what we doing? What we doing?” Like, for instance, we was going to FoCoMX, and she was performing on a Friday night, and we’re driving up there. We’re driving up there, and she was writing a song. Like, she wrote a song to perform it at her set two hours later and performed it. It sounded great. You would not have even been able to tell that it was a song that she had just written. But like, stuff like that.
So, for the album, that comes in handy though when you need a quick ideas, when you need to pivot, when you need an inspiration from nowhere, you know what I’m saying? That that’s super helpful. And so, I think for the album, like I already kind of had an idea of the beats that we wanted to — that I wanted to use. And it was just about making sure that she actually liked them, you know? So, it’s like going through all of them and picking the ones that she liked, fine tuning those, and then crafting ideas on those records. So, when we went into the studio, most of it was already written. Like we wrote the album in the car.
MALEMAN: Probably in the car on the spot.
DNA PICASSO: Literally in the car. A week. It took a week to write the whole album for us and then a week to record it.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: A week and two sessions, yeah. But you know what’s interesting is I’m known for poetry, and he’s known for music. And in our process, I find it kind of interesting, because when a when a piece of, like, a track comes on, I hear chords, and he hears words. So, it’s like it’s inverted. I’m the poet and he’s the musician, but when we’re doing music together, I hear chords and he’s writing. He’s already got something.
MALEMAN: That’s so dope.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: So, it’s like, again, we’re just always complimenting each other. You know what I mean? So, yeah.
MALEMAN: So, what’s next?
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: More.
DNA PICASSO: More, yeah. More.
MALEMAN: Like musically, what’s next? Albums and — especially outside of, you know, potentially winning the Battle for the Block, what can we expect?
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: We already won it.
MALEMAN: Okay. Talk your talk.
DOMINIQUE: I mean, you gotta manifest stuff, right?
MALEMAN: No, you do. You definitely do.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: So, it’s already in the bag. It’s in the bag.
MALEMAN: That’s okay, you know what I’m saying? But what’s next outside of that?
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Oh, more. I mean, he’s gonna make music, so he’s in the retirement home, and I’ll Gemini my way through. You know what I’m saying? Like it’ll be a whole lot of — yeah.
DNA PICASSO: We got some stuff coming up, though. She’s working on this new single and a couple other things. I got an EP that I just dropped, but I got another EP that I’m almost done with.
MALEMAN: Talk about it.
DNA PICASSO: I just dropped the EP called “Murals” with Siah Rain’n. It’s on all platforms: Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Audiomack, Amazon. It’s super cool, super vibey. A different sound for me, but it’s all cohesive.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: It’s very jazzy.
DNA PICASSO: Very jazzy. You know, Siah Rain’n produced the project with Nelo.
MALEMAN: Shoutout to Nelo.
DNA PICASSO: And so yeah, we’re launching in this mode. But I also got an EP that I’ve been working on that’s about to be done, and I don’t know what I’m gonna call it yet, but…
MALEMAN: I know it’s gonna be fire. We know it’s gonna be fire. We can’t wait.
DNA PICASSO: Boy, I can’t wait. I cannot wait. Visuals for that and everything. And then the show’s coming up. We’re gonna be performing at Juneteenth, you know? Obviously.
MALEMAN: Facts.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Manifestation.
DNA PICASSO: A manifestation. On the main stage.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Main stage.
MALEMAN: Oh, it’s gonna happen.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Manifestation.
DNA PICASSO: Manifestation. And then UMS. I’m playing UMS this year. It’ll be July 25th to the 27th. I don’t know what day I’m playing yet, but I’m playing UMS.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Oh, and I have a Sofar show on June 6th at the Museum for Black Girls.
MALEMAN: A what?
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: A Sofar show. A Sofar platform. It’s awesome.
DNA PICASSO: Very intimate concert series that they do here. It’s an international series that they have in over 400 cities. Denver happens to be one of them.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Billy Eilish started Sofar.
MALEMAN: Bro, what? That’s a lot.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: It’s a lot.
MALEMAN: It’s a lot going on. Last thing I wanna ask you guys — or not even ask you. I wanna open it up to you. I wanna let y’all get it off your chest. What do you want the listeners to know about you? And, you know, why should they vote for you two?
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Oh, they should vote for us if they think — if they like what we did. Really, truly, like, vote for who you who you love, who made you feel good. I think music is a language man we’re trying to communicate with people. We’re trying to tell you stories and let you know who we are or who we’ve been. We want you to know that we love each other. We want you to know that you matter. We want you to know that you are not the worst thing that happened to you. We’re trying to say a whole lot. So, you know, if you’re listening to us, well then, our hope is that you hear that from us and you vote for us because you think that’s a good message to have.
MALEMAN: You wanna chime in?
DNA PICASSO: Yeah, absolutely. I feel like — like she said, you know, vote for the person that you feel like, you know, really did the best. But also, the catalog runs deep, you know. The catalog runs deep, and we’re super excited for everyone to see what’s gonna actually happen when we get on that stage. And also, like, the competition isn’t light, you know? Like, respect to the competition because Osha Renee, we love Osha. Lane-O, we love Lane-O.
MALEMAN: It’s Black Colorado. Shoutout, Lane-O. Nakira.
DNA PICASSO: And so it’s a solid — it’s a solid group of artists doing their thing, you know? I think what people can know about us is that we really champion the Colorado music industry and the Colorado arts in general.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Artists, period.
DNA PICASSO: Artists period. So, you know, continue to champion us, you know. As we rise, the city rises. As the city rises, we rise, and it’s reciprocal. So, you know, we just — we happy to be here.
MALEMAN: Listen, man, the humility, the partnership, the talent, you know what I’m saying, the dynamic. I truly appreciate it. I’m like — and we appreciate it, you know what I’m saying, as a whole, but — you know, just being in y’all’s presence and just being able to speak to y’all and let y’all get it off y’all’s chest, that really means a lot to me. And I I really like. Honestly, I’ve. I’ve got goosebumps, you know? Like, this is such a dope dynamic. Such a dope duo. Battle for the Block 2025. It’s going down. Get to the drop303.org. Vote for your favorite Colorado independent artist. You know what I’m saying? Whoever wins will be opening up for Juvenile. And I can’t thank you, DNA Picasso, enough. Dominique Christina, I can’t thank you enough for kicking it with us and sharing your story.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Of course.
DNA PICASSO: Can I say one more thing? I just want to say, shout out to The Drop one more time. Like y’all are doing it like nobody is doing it.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: Truly.
DNA PICASSO: And if you’re out there listening, keep supporting The Drop. Let them curate your playlist like turn The Drop. Pull the aux out, turn the radio on, play The Drop. Keep supporting cause they’re supporting Colorado artists, and I feel like it takes this and the people like you, bro, and the people around you to like really do the thankless work that you know, puts on the music scene like this. So, let’s keep it rolling.
DOMINIQUE CHRISTINA: We do appreciate it so much. You all are such an unnecessary, vital resource for art and artists. Those of us who are trying to mean it and be in our craft and in the service of our gifts — the way that you support musicians, push their music, tell people about them, invite them in to tell you who they are is so generous. We really, really appreciate it so much. You give back to the community, and the community is going to wrap around you too.