If you think Baby Keem and Barbie Ferriera have nothing in common, you aren’t running in the right circles. Every month or so—projects permitting—most of Los Angeles’ brightest stars can be found in one place: dancing in Donavan’s Yard. DY is not a time (see: events announced tomorrow or two months from now), location (find them in Los Angeles, London, or even Jamaica), or even really a DJ duo (ten creatives make up the collective). Donavan’s Yard is a feeling.
“We never looked at this as a business venture,” says DJ Sean G. “We just wanted to throw a party for fun without all the bullshit. We were looking at each other like, ‘I hope people come.’”
Recently, that feeling flooded Coachella. Crystal-clad music aficionados descended on the desert, primed for the Saturday night dance party the festival had promised. Donavan’s Yard, led by DJs Sean G and Drewbyrd, was scheduled to perform at the Gobi stage—a chandelier-adorned tent with a 10,000-person capacity. Previously housing seasoned electro artists Whyte Fang and Chromeo, Donavan’s Yard would mark a departure in genre for the reggae-dancehall-R&B amalgam, possibly dissuading regular Gobi-goers. And that wasn’t the only problem: Calvin Harris, a festival headliner, was slated to take the Coachella mainstage several hundred feet away, mere minutes before DY.
“You guys were probably my favorite set of the weekend!” begins a comment on a picture of Donavan Yard’s thousands-strong crowd. “Best Saturday night vibes I could hope for.”
For a long time, Donavan’s Yard was just an idea. The touring DJs and founding members of DY who are now forever on the road—Sean G, a native Angeleno and Bay Area-born Drewbyrd—formed a fast friendship over shared interests and similar musical tastes. In LA, they experienced a similar grind: the graveyard shift at famous clubs like Poppy, playing a mash-up of Top 40 hits. It was 2017, and even with stacked producing credits (Drewbyrd, in particular, counts Dom Kennedy, Mac Miller, and Nipsey Hussle as collaborators), they were primarily tasked with spinning for high-flyers and barely bopping models behind velvet ropes. Slowly, the pair began to question where exactly all the dance parties had gone.
"There was an energy shift. We knew a lot of people who were moving here, and the common theme was them saying, ‘We didn’t know where to go.’”
“It was all Hollywood,” says Sean. “Then there was an energy shift. We knew a lot of people who were moving here, and the common theme was them saying, ‘We didn’t know where to go.’”
“During this era, everything revolved around bottles and tables,” echoes Drew. “We wanted to do something that wasn’t that and play the music that we loved too: dancehall, dance, house, old school R&B. Let’s make a night with all that. It started with that, pure love and passion.”
For the next three years, they tested LA nightlife’s waters. Initially, they were called SHABBAAAAA, gaining steam pre-pandemic as the architects of an underground party and even securing their own Apple Music show. In 2021, the boys decided the time was ripe for a rebrand. The first party had 50 people; by the next, the same 50 returned—this time with friends. Mid-pandemic, the group—now also consisting of Rion Barcena, Shacia Päyne Marley, g33zy, Mysta Crooks, Billy Walsh, Donavan “Sire” Johnson, Avane Johnson, and Silent Addy—then rebranded to Donavan’s Yard. The name was Drew’s suggestion, honoring a “behind-the-scenes icon in Jamaican culture” named Donavan. Donavan is a father figure, the DJs say, who offered guidance as they explored the nuances of Jamaica’s cultural output, which anchors each DY set.
“It was like letting a lion out of a cage where we could play what we wanted,” Sean says. “But for me, growing up in Long Beach, it was such a diverse crowd. There was a heavy reggae scene there that raised me.”
"The collective has [now] grown to include all sorts of creatives, musicians, and personalities, all considered family.”
Rion Barcena, an art director who has been recruited by Sean to make party flyers in the past, was one of the first to receive the call to offer creative support. Flyers expanded into merch, and as the parties gathered steam, the collective was contacted for brand collaborations—aligning with the likes of Nike or Dover Street, while tastemaker press took note. Organically, Barcena says, he became the authority on the brand’s visual identity.
“As the party grew and we got more opportunities, the guys trusted in me for all things visual and identity-based," he says. "The collective has [now] grown to include all sorts of creatives, musicians, and personalities, all considered family.”
Drew credits word of mouth for Donavan Yard’s near-overnight success. “For me, when the consistency picked up we realized how far we’d come. We’d never say, ‘we made it,’ but we realized we’d made real strides when people kept showing up. Now it’s so packed. People waiting outside the door. The word of mouth had a heavy hand in our popularity.”
In a week, come June, Donavan’s Yard will celebrate its second anniversary. Since their debut, their momentum has increased like a drum roll. They partnered with ComplexCon in 2022, curating the Pigeons & Planes stage, and established a relationship with Amazon Music, too. For the latter, they collaborated with the likes of PinkPantheress and Tokischa for Coachella afterparties, and hip-hop stars like 21 Savage and Megan Thee Stallion in the months leading up to it.
“With the group of friends we started it with, it’s very eclectic, different people with all these different talents,” Sean G says. “And then people who started showing up at parties were people from fashion, the music world, actors, actresses, models, and that whole crowd just gravitated towards it.”
In June, the group will celebrate its second anniversary by entertaining New York, Los Angeles, and London on back-to-back weekends. Barcena believes the tour will further cement the group as a global mainstay.
“The great thing about DY," he says, "is it can thrive in both larger and smaller venues, so as we wrap up the Coachella performances, the future looks bright on the festival front… As a collective we’re really good at creating a space that has a contagious energy with the possibility of anything happening—whether it be surprise performers or special guests.” Any given Donavan’s Yard event is a veritable who’s who. For Coachella, their performance featured Shenseea, Jamaica’s rising star, as well as Ghanian Afropop export, Amaarae.
"It’s not just about us anymore; it’s about everyone that’s coming up with us.”
“When you’re younger, it’s so much about money, especially in a place like Los Angeles when it’s so in your face,” explains Drew of the group’s decision to spotlight emerging artists. “That’s one side of success that’s changed. It’s not just about us anymore; it’s about everyone that’s coming up with us.”
For both Sean G and Drewbyrd, the mandate is to continue to evolve creatively. They have connections on the ground in Jamaica, feeding them fresh music to invigorate their set. They intend for the Donavan’s Yard experience to be Southern California’s most exciting export in recent memory. And they’re well on the way. In fact, next time Ye, Abel, or anyone in between declares “no more parties in LA,” suggest they swing by Donavan’s Yard. They won’t regret it.
