Waipahu-based producer Dominique Hill, known professionally as Daju, released a remix of his hit single, “Rain,” on May 2.
Just in time for Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, it features the voice of Filipino singer Denise Julia. He also has roots in the Philippines. So far, the remix has had more than 100,000 streams on Spotify.
The original version of “Rain” released in July of 2024. Since then, it captured more than 2.6 million streams on Spotify.
“It was honestly really crazy, and I don't think I properly digested it — just the magnitude of it all,” he told Aloha State Daily. “At that time, it was averaging maybe 3,000 to 4,000 streams a day for three days. And then all of a sudden a TikTok page picked it up, and it kind of went viral from there.”
It hit 100,000 streams that first week.
“And I don't think I’ve ever experienced anything of that magnitude, or been a part of anything like that,” he added.
From there, he started talking with independent and major labels. In January 2025, he signed with Sincerely Yours, an independent label. The original version of “Rain” was created one year prior.
“As you know in Hawaiʻi right around that time, it's heavy storms. You get crazy torrential downpour,” he said. “So, it was an indoor session with my engineer, Evan.”
Daju said James Asilo, a producer friend based in the Bay Area, often sends him guitar loops.
“And it just so happened, we stumbled upon that one,” Daju said. “Something about it felt right with the heavy downpour of rain playing in the background, and it just felt like a sense of nostalgia. … Because it was raining, I just instinctively threw the word ʻrain’ in there, and just kind of built from there.”
A self-proclaimed “producer at heart,” Daju got his start creating compositions and beats for other artists. But when he started to feel burnout from sending so many beats out, he decided to add his own voice into the mix.
“Honestly, I always considered myself a shower singer,” he said with a laugh. In 2023, he released his first song that featured his vocals.
“It was weird because that feeling — I had never experienced anything like that as a producer,” he said. “It’s a creative high that you get from performing on a track. It's a sense of vulnerability, rather than just being a producer sending things out. I guess that was pretty much the start of it: just getting sick of sending so many beats out. I was like: ʻAlright, let me take it on my own. Let me take this outside the shower and give it to the world.’ ”
He said he plans to share a new song this summer. Follow Daju on Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.
Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
