Ahead of the release of her debut album, “The Plan,” Baller Alert caught up with DaniLeigh to talk her start, her new music and her viral “In My Feelings” challenge video, which ultimately kicked her career into high gear.
Before Dani’s career catapulted in the music industry, the songstress was a dancer and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a dance career. From there, she received a slew of opportunities, including a legendary collaboration with Prince.
“It was my first huge thing in L.A. for me,” Dani said of being the creative director for Prince’s video, “Breakfast Can Wait.” “It was crazy. He gave me a whole budget, gave me full control and was like, ‘Just go do you.”
After that, the transition began. Dani was then introduced to producers, who helped her break out of her shell as a singer, which ultimately helped birth the singer: DaniLeigh.
“I was super shy about singing,” Dani told Baller Alert. “I didn’t have like a crazy belting type of voice, so I always thought, ‘Oh, I really can’t sing like that.’ But then I started finding my pocket and everything I could with my voice and just started writing and became me.”
Although Dani initially tried to do both, when things started to kick up for her – career wise – she realized singing was her career of choice, which is why she signed with Def Jam.
“For me, I just wanted a home that was cool on who I wanted to be,” she said. “I met with Epic, with L.A. Reid, with Interscope, all the labels, and they were like, ‘You gotta make pop music,’ ‘You gotta wear heels,’ and I was like ‘No.’”
Although the business is stressful and draining, Dani opened up about how she’s able to get through the tough times with her “hustle mentality,” which ultimately allowed her to perfect her craft and catapult her career – with the help of her viral “In My Feelings” challenge video.
After that came Dani’s single, “Lil Bebe” then a remix with Lil Baby, and the rest is history…
Check out the full episode below:
