Grammy award-winning Sacramento R&B duo Blaq Tuxedo releases debut album

Brothers Darius and Dominique Logan, known professionally as Blaq Tuxedo, have long made their mark behind the scenes in the music industry. Now, the South Sacramento natives are stepping into the spotlight after releasing their fifth studio album.

The 10-track album, titled “Should’ve Seen This Coming” and featuring the lead single “Leeway,” represents a return to the brothers’ original passion: artistry.

Although they built their careers as songwriters and producers — working with names like Chris Brown, Doja Cat, E-40 and Tyrese — the Logans said creating music for themselves was always the dream.

“We always wanted to be artists, from the jump,” Darius said. “We really weren’t trying to be songwriters and producers, but when we came into the game, that was the way to get on.

“That was the only way. Social media wasn’t really booming like that at the time. So it was like, you have to write for other people to get on.”

Sacramento origins

Raised in a musical household in south Sacramento, the Logan brothers credit their mother, a singer, and their father, a constant supporter, for fostering their love for performing.

They sang in church. A highlight they reminisce about was the time they sang the national anthem at a Sacramento Kings game with their mother, back when the team suited up at its former site Arco Arena in Natomas.

It was a natural calling for them to want to get into the music business.

Dominique, who graduated from Rosemont High School, was “born with the music,” Darius said.

Darius’ first love was sports, particularly basketball, where he starred at Capital Christian High School before attending and graduating from Sacramento High School.

After suffering sport-related injuries and bouncing from different college basketball programs, Darius decided that he, too, would focus on crafting their way into the music industry.

Making it in music

The brothers started making trips to and from Los Angeles, where they networked and connected with many music industry heavyweights, eventually becoming friends.

“We came back to Sac like ‘nah, we gotta move out there’,” Darius said.

Their path to L.A. wasn’t easy. The brothers moved south in a Ford Focus with their belongings and a few dollars to their name and moved to southern California.

“Location is everything,” Darius said. “We gotta be where it’s at.”

The first couple of months of moving, Darius said, the brothers lived out of their vehicle before eventually finding a place.

“I think when you first leave Sac, people are like ‘you’re leaving Sac? What are you doing?’,” Darius said, “People just hate because they can’t see the vision.”

Blaq Tuxedo began their journey in 2009. Initially performing under the name D&D, they found early success collaborating on the New Boyz debut album, “Skinny Jeans and a Mic.” The project gave them their first paycheck in music and affirmed their path.

It was a breath of fresh air for their confidence.

“Once we got a feature on that album, that was like the first ‘oh, we can really do this,’” Darius said. “It’s just tough. There’s no template on how to make it in LA when you’re trying to make your own career. … I felt like that gave us a lot of momentum. New Boyz were the hottest thing and we were on the album. They gave us a chance, so let’s keep this going.”

They signed a deal with Universal Music Group and — after completing their contract — continued to take off in producing and songwriting, landing features with other artists and releasing songs of their own occasionally.

“We’re putting ourselves in the forefront now,” Darius said. “We’ve done enough work, 15 to 16 years in going crazy and being consistent, especially these last four years has been really a blessing. Thugging it out can go a long way and not giving up.”

Dominique added: “We had a chip on our show too, just to prove people wrong. A lot of people didn’t have much support in the beginning. A lot of people were more so, like, ‘you really want to do that?’ almost like hating, so we were just going to prove everybody wrong.”

“We took that same competitor’s drive from sports and just put it over music,” Dominique said. “We’re going to let people know that we belong here. Time went by and we’re still here. There’s a lot of people that came into the game with us, but they’re not here. We’re still here and doing it at a high level.”

A new, personal take on R&B

Now, with “Should’ve Seen This Coming,” the duo introduces what they call “R&P” — rhythm and player — a NorCal-infused take on R&B marked by directness and personal storytelling.

“It’s like the NorCal lingo over the R&B vibes,” Darius said. “Just like real personal experiences but we’re just saying it the way we live it.”

“The rhythm and player aspect is us just being real direct, saying what it is, and not sugar coating nothing, but still also catering to the ladies and making them feel good but also saying some stuff that people can really feel when they hear it like ‘dang, I went through that too.’”

The album offers listeners a glimpse into the duo’s lived experiences and musical roots, placing the sound of Sacramento at the forefront.

Their album is now available on all streaming platforms.

This story was originally published April 29, 2025 at 7:00 AM.