Dannie Boyd, also known as Dannie B, is a poet, songwriter, and photographer. He uses writing and photography to create stories that educate, inspire, and entertain. Each medium allows him to connect with audiences in different but equally impactful ways. His creative journey first began in high school as a filmmaker and gradually evolved to include poetry, photography, and music.
Dannie is well known by his nickname, "Dannie B," first adopted in high school during the early days of his creative ventures as a filmmaker. His first project, Blackout (2006), was a video documentation of daily rap battles that took place at his high school; Riverview Gardens Sr. High in St. Louis, MO. Dannie filmed and edited his first production at the age of 17 on a point-and-shoot digital camera that belonged to his mother.
Originally majoring in computer science when he began college, Dannie made the decision to change his major to creative writing after learning that he had a gift for the use of written language. This gift was discovered after writing love letters to crushes because he was too shy speak to speak to them verbally. He went on to join the St. Louis Community College – Florissant Valley poetry club where he was awarded as "Most Prolific Poet" in 2009. Also in 2009, Dannie self-published his own book of poetry and short stories, The Black Apple (2009). In addition to focusing on writing poetry, he also took courses in journalism and wrote for the school newspaper, The Florissant Valley Forum.
Also in college, Dannie developed his interest in still photography after transferring to the University of Missouri – St. Louis and getting a journalism internship with KDHX Community Media in spring of 2011. As a music journalist he was challenged to learn photography in order to produce photos to accompany his stories. His most memorable assignment was a photo essay on local street musicians titled, Street Musicians: The sound of the sidewalk, which explored the art and faces of busking. Dannie was a part of the KDHX blogging team that won the Riverfront Time’s Best Music Blog 2011 award.
That summer Dannie’s love for photography grew exponentially while studying graphic design in Amsterdam, NL during the summer semester. He participated in his first group art exhibition, Vise Van Amsterdam, at UMSL’s Gallery VISO where he displayed photography along with silk screen posters. Amsterdam’s beautiful architecture and bike culture fascinated him so much that he eventually created his first photobook, Mooi Amsterdam (2014).
Deciding to revisit film, Dannie wrote and executive produced a short film, Business or Pleasure (2014), with three of his best friends. The dramedy portrayed a group of millennial co-workers and an interwoven string of love triangles that filtered through an office. In addition to directing photography, editing, and acting in the film he also composed the film score, his first time composing original music.
While his written and photographic works dominated his public body of work Dannie was pursuing his ambition of becoming a musician privately. Coming from a family of singers and musicians, on both his mother’s and father’s side, music always had a large influence on him. Despite giving up on playing the drums as a child he was always in the company of music, which could be seen by his involvement with battle raps and music journalism. His return to playing an instrument started with learning the guitar and then evolved to learning to play bass, piano, and singing. Dannie’s developments as a musician lead him to begin songwriting and composing original music. This was his most recent area of exploration in 2018.
Dannie is well known by his nickname, "Dannie B," first adopted in high school during the early days of his creative ventures as a filmmaker. His first project, Blackout (2006), was a video documentation of daily rap battles that took place at his high school; Riverview Gardens Sr. High in St. Louis, MO. Dannie filmed and edited his first production at the age of 17 on a point-and-shoot digital camera that belonged to his mother.
Originally majoring in computer science when he began college, Dannie made the decision to change his major to creative writing after learning that he had a gift for the use of written language. This gift was discovered after writing love letters to crushes because he was too shy speak to speak to them verbally. He went on to join the St. Louis Community College – Florissant Valley poetry club where he was awarded as "Most Prolific Poet" in 2009. Also in 2009, Dannie self-published his own book of poetry and short stories, The Black Apple (2009). In addition to focusing on writing poetry, he also took courses in journalism and wrote for the school newspaper, The Florissant Valley Forum.
Also in college, Dannie developed his interest in still photography after transferring to the University of Missouri – St. Louis and getting a journalism internship with KDHX Community Media in spring of 2011. As a music journalist he was challenged to learn photography in order to produce photos to accompany his stories. His most memorable assignment was a photo essay on local street musicians titled, Street Musicians: The sound of the sidewalk, which explored the art and faces of busking. Dannie was a part of the KDHX blogging team that won the Riverfront Time’s Best Music Blog 2011 award.
That summer Dannie’s love for photography grew exponentially while studying graphic design in Amsterdam, NL during the summer semester. He participated in his first group art exhibition, Vise Van Amsterdam, at UMSL’s Gallery VISO where he displayed photography along with silk screen posters. Amsterdam’s beautiful architecture and bike culture fascinated him so much that he eventually created his first photobook, Mooi Amsterdam (2014).
Deciding to revisit film, Dannie wrote and executive produced a short film, Business or Pleasure (2014), with three of his best friends. The dramedy portrayed a group of millennial co-workers and an interwoven string of love triangles that filtered through an office. In addition to directing photography, editing, and acting in the film he also composed the film score, his first time composing original music.
While his written and photographic works dominated his public body of work Dannie was pursuing his ambition of becoming a musician privately. Coming from a family of singers and musicians, on both his mother’s and father’s side, music always had a large influence on him. Despite giving up on playing the drums as a child he was always in the company of music, which could be seen by his involvement with battle raps and music journalism. His return to playing an instrument started with learning the guitar and then evolved to learning to play bass, piano, and singing. Dannie’s developments as a musician lead him to begin songwriting and composing original music. This was his most recent area of exploration in 2018.