Two Doors Close: Christiana Danielle on Getting Her Master’s & Releasing Single During COVID-19

There’s a picture on the interwebs with the Oprah Winfrey holding up for the camera Alicia Keys’s autobiography, “More Myself.” Understandable since the auto is the first tome published on Winfrey’s book imprint. But, Oprah reading the book means she read Keys extolling the virtues of Christiana Danielle, referencing her mentorship of the Fort Wayne native on The Voice (2018).

“Christiana Danielle, one of my singers on season 14, is a perfect example,” Keys wrote.
“She is a stunning, dark-chocolate brown woman who oozes individuality. She wore her fashion and sang her songs with flare, all on her own terms. She was bright and glittery and unique gifted… She was the type of unique artist, in my view, that America doesn’t see enough of.”

A couple of days before the book dropped, Danielle and Keys jammed together during an impromptu Instagram Live freestyle on March 26. Danielle played Keys a small clip. “She said it was dope,” Danielle recalled.

These music interludes for Danielle are something like a vacation during the COVID-19 quarantine. She’s blessed admittedly in that she hasn’t stopped her music; with Instagram Live and similar platforms, she can perform instantaneously in front of millions… it’s even better in some cases performing online... instant feedback and adulation.

The singer gets to sing, then it’s back to reality. “I’ve been very consumed with my grad program, it has been tumultuous for the last month,” Danielle said, who’s set to graduate in May from Rutgers University with her social work master’s, without a ceremony, thanks to the epidemic. They are going to mail her the certification. But first, she had to fight through that last bit of senioritis to complete her course work with online classes. Lots of writing. Blocks of words.

May is the big exhale (cause she’s done) month. She would’ve graduated on May 17. Her single, “Grow Up,” will drop on the first. Danielle will reach and walk through both milestones into a new world, one that’s been altered, for good, for bad, from the coronavirus. “The entertainment industry is changing,” Danielle said, who’s already seeing and circumventing the paradigm shift. She’s focusing on marketing “Grow Up” and completing her full-length EP, set for a fall release.

Instead of planning concerts in front of large crowds (those gotta wait ’til maybe the fall), she’s looking into placement for her single on streaming TV shows, like background music during a scene or for a title sequence, “other avenues for income that don’t include live shows.” She said. “I definitely want to get back to doing live shows but safety first.”

“Grow Up” isn’t a product of creative angst during the self-isolation because it was written back in August 2019. “It’s actually a fun song,” Danielle said. “It’s upbeat [for me] because I usually write more emotional or ballad type songs.

She almost gave the single, different from her voice, to someone else but let the words and the message marinate for nine months. A friend provided his studio in August for some initial rough-draft recording. She came back to Fort Wayne over her Spring Break for the real production; the mix was synced the first week of April.

It’s a little anthem for our ladies, when it comes to dating or any kind of relationships.” How it’s okay to draw a line at specific things, to value yourself, to have standards.” It’s a call to action for both sexes, she’s elaborated, for maturity. “You have to love yourself to love somebody.”

“Grow Up,” available May 1, will be available where digital songs are sold. Danielle can be found on Instagram @ChristianaDOfficial.