One Riggs Park neighbor can add Grammy-nominated to his profile. Devin Walker, creator of The Uncle Devin Show, recently received news that he was nominated for a Grammy award for his contributions to a children’s album called All One Tribe by the 1 Tribe Collective. Neighbors might be familiar with Mr. Walker from his performances at neighborhood children’s festivals hosted by Explore! Children’s Museum. Or maybe neighbors tune into his WEE Nation Radio show on WPFW FM 89.3.

We caught up with Mr. Walker, chatting by phone and also getting written responses to questions. Born in DC, Mr. Walker spent his formative years in Prince George’s County, taking drum lessons during his youth. He went on to attend college at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and eventually worked for Metro for 20 years investigating discrimination complaints. He moved back to DC in 1997, choosing to settle in the Riggs Park neighborhood in 2000 because it was close to a Metro station and close to things happening in DC.

It was his love for his nieces and nephews that really inspired him to start making children’s music. He produced his first CD in 1997 and from there kept making music for children. He taught himself how to play other percussion instruments such as the congas and bongos. He keeps a recording device handy to record lyrics and ideas as they come to him. Once he comes up with lyrics, sometimes children help him structure the song. His wife and manager of The Uncle Devin Show, Lolita Walker, also assists in his creative process.

The Grammy award ceremony will take place in Los Angeles. The event will be streamed online on January 31, 2022. While the children’s music awards will not be part of the main stage ceremony, Mr. Walker will be able to attend all of the ceremonies. One of his goals in attending the ceremonies is to recruit more musicians into children’s music, even if that means just putting one children’s song on their album. Mr. Walker shared that this year’s children’s music nominees are a diverse group, reflecting the diversity in the genre. After observing that previous award nominees were all white, he and others formed a group called Family Music Forward and worked with Harvey Mason, Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, to better support diversity in children’s music.

In the new year, Mr. Walker looks forward to the launch of the Black Children’s Network with his other co-founders.

Find Mr. Walker online at The Uncle Devin Show and WEE Nation Radio and on social media: FB/IG/Twitter/YouTube — @uncledevinshow and @weenationradio

Read on for the written responses we received to our questions.

1. Tell us about yourself, how long you have lived in Riggs Park, and how you got started in music and specifically making children’s music.

I moved to Riggs Park in 2000 and have lived at the same house on Oneida Street ever since. I got started in music early in life when I took over my older brother’s drum set when I was about 4 years old. My parents told me I was always beating on the table, floors, and so they fed my desire by keeping me involved in music all throughout school.

2. In what category are you nominated for a GRAMMY award? Have you ever been nominated for a GRAMMY award before?

I was nominated as part of the “1 Tribe Collective,” for a GRAMMY Award in the Best Children’s Music Album of the Year for our album, “All One Tribe”.  This is my first time being nominated for a GRAMMY.

3. What is the nomination process like? Walk us through it. How were you notified? What were you feeling/what thoughts went through your head when you received the news that this album on which you participate was nominated for a GRAMMY?

The nominations are made by voting members including artists and producers of the Recording Academy, which owns the GRAMMY’s.  I have been a Recording Academy voting member since 2014.

There are two different rounds of voting. Only members of the Recording Academy can submit an album for consideration. The top five albums with the most votes are nominated. The second round of voting, which started on December 6 and ends on January 4, 2022, will determine the winner.

We were notified via an announcement ceremony on November 23 via the Recording Academy’s website.  Actually, Jon Batiste who is also nominated for 11 GRAMMY’s himself, made the announcement for our category among others which you can see on my Facebook page (click Here).  What an honor it was to have the multi-talented musician, band leader and tv personality announce our project as a GRAMMY nominee.

I had already planned to spend the day with my parents and was running errands with my dad when my phone began blowing up with congratulatory texts and calls.  We couldn’t believe this was happening. When we returned to the house, my mom was so happy she began crying.  I attempted to call my wife several times to share the good news, but she was busy doing laundry at the time and missed my calls.  It was unbelievable, we laugh about it now, but she was ecstatic.  So, when I got home, we shared a celebratory toast.

4. Tell us about the 1 Tribe Collective.

I am a member of the 1 Tribe Collective, a group of 25-black children’s artists who came together after the death of George Floyd to address the issue of the lack of diversity within the children’s music genre. We all come from different backgrounds and music genres, including R&B, Hip-Hop, Folk, Country, African World Music, Funk, Reggae, Go-Go and more.  It was truly a Black Lives inspired project.

5. Tell us about the All One Tribe Album and why this album is important to you. What is the significance of the song “A Go-Go Fun Day” that you contributed to this album?

One of the important aspects of this album is that we did not wait for anyone else to give us permission to do for our community what we knew was our responsibility. We let the world know that not only do we exist, but that Black voices in children and family music matter.

A Go-Go Fun Day uses the official music of DC, “Go-Go Music,” to document the resistance movement by Black residents in the Nation’s Capital against racism when Blacks were not allowed to attend the Easter Egg Roll at the White House.  Instead, they were permitted to go to the National Zoo, and it became an unofficial holiday over the years.  It shows our ability to turn an adverse circumstance into a positive outcome that has lasted for over one hundred years in a city where DC residents are taxed without representation. It is about community control of everything we do.

6. What’s next for The Uncle Devin Show?

I will be releasing one of the first ever children’s Go-Go albums in early 2022 entitled, “Little Kangaroo in the Pocket.”  Additionally, I will continue conducting workshops, residencies and concerts for schools, libraries, museums, and other venues for children and families.

Also, as a DC Certified Business Enterprise (CBE), we look to develop short and long-term contracts with schools, parks and recreation and the DC Public Library where we will conduct professional development courses for their staff. I offer six different training programs including, “Racism in Children’s Music: Liberating Music for the Black Child,” “Think Local, Crank Global: A Go-Go Workshop for Educators!” and “A Family Involvement Workshop.”

We will also continue providing the only children’s music radio program catering to the Black community entitled, WEE Nation Radio. WEE stands for Watoto Entertainment & Education, and Watoto is a Swahili word that means, “Children.”  We provide the best in family-friendly global beats for little feet and is a 24/7 online music radio station that streams R&B, Hip-Hop, Funk, Jazz, Go-Go and World music specially created for kids.