For R&B and pop singer Dijon, 2025 seemingly couldn’t get much better. Then “Saturday Night Live” called.

Dijon Duenas, also a songwriter and producer from Ellicott City, will be the musical guest on the Dec. 6 episode of NBC’s variety series. Actress Melissa McCarthy will host.

The “SNL” appearance, announced over the weekend, is the culmination of Dijon’s breakthrough year. The University of Maryland, College Park alum’s second album, “Baby,” was released in August to critical acclaim. And Dijon earned two Grammy nominations earlier this month for producer of the year (non-classical) and album of the year for his work on Justin Bieber’s “SWAG.”

New to Dijon? Here’s what you need to know.

He’s shaping pop music.

Aside from his solo career, Dijon has become a go-to songwriter and producer for A-list artists. Today, his fingerprints are all over pop music, thanks to wide-ranging collaborations with Bon Iver, Charli XCX, Mk.gee, Matt Champion and others.

Most notably, Dijon’s contributions to Bieber’s “SWAG” and its “SWAG II” sequel were championed for their smart, sparse production and emotive songwriting. In 2025, Bieber is back — and Dijon is a major reason why.

Howard County is home.

Dijon was born in Germany and now lives in Los Angeles, but he considers Ellicott City his hometown.

The 33-year-old bounced around the country as a kid before spending some formative teenage years in Howard County, though he never felt closely connected to the local scene.

“I moved around so much that Maryland is the place that I lived in longest, but I still had a mentality of a distance from the music scene there,” Dijon told The Washington Post in 2022.

After attending Centennial High School in Ellicott City, he graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature in 2014.

Dijon will be back in the area on Dec. 5, the night before “SNL,” when he headlines a sold-out show at the Fillmore Silver Spring.

Check these tracks out.

While Dijon’s behind-the-scenes work has earned Grammy nods, he’s emerged as a leading artist in his own right.

“Baby,” the follow-up to his 2021 debut LP, “Absolutely,” pushes Dijon’s experimental take on R&B and pop further with hooky tracks that recall Prince, D’Angelo and Frank Ocean. The album is a “spectacular new vision of soul, pop, and R&B,” according to Pitchfork, which named it among its Best New Music.

A crash course in Dijon, who also made his acting debut this year in “One Battle After Another,” isn’t complete without some songs. Start here:

Dijon, “Many Times” (from 2021’s “Absolutely”)

Justin Bieber, “Daisies” (2025’s “SWAG”)

Dijon, “Yamaha” (2025’s “Baby”)

Bon Iver, “Day One (feat. Dijon & Flock of Dimes)” (2025’s “Sable, Fable”)