Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kandace Duke. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Kandace thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I knew I wanted to be a creative after I’d went to college, doubled majored in Forensics & Biomedical Sciences, and realized I didn’t enjoy it as much as I do art. All my life up until Freshmen year of college, I’d been involved in something musically whether it be musical theater, choirs, or other fun music groups. It wasn’t until I spent the whole first year of school that I started to feel incomplete, like something was missing. Occasionally, I’d video record myself singing a cover of a song I had stuck in my head and then post it on social media. Unfortunately, that wasn’t cutting it–It wasn’t enough. I felt like I had been drained from something that was keeping me nourished all this time; deprived really. I started to even notice that vocally, I wasn’t doing as well as I once had, and even my confidence level started to decrease.
It was a very scary realization because I come from a household that expects the absolute best. My parents always wanted me to do better than they could at my age and to go to school, get a great job, make money and be able to sustain myself and my future family one day. The idea of being a creative and being uncertain how and when I’d make enough money was super scary, to me. The thought of being uncomfortable financially, for who knows how long, was terrifying; but I had to switch careers. I couldn’t get music off my mind and out of my heart. I live, eat, breathe, sleep music. After I talked to my mom about feeling I had made a mistake choosing the forensics path, I cried because I knew I was meant for something different.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Kandace Duke, I’m a singer/songwriter/engineer full-time. I went to the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma and graduated with a degree in Applied Science, specializing in Vocal Performance. Throughout college, I’d gigged all around Oklahoma City and even joined a small music and creative hub. It continued to grow and grow for me as I made connections and I started getting to know all kinds of filmmakers, engineers, songwriters, dancers, and idealists, all around the world. Thank God for the internet. I started out just singing, mainly. I didn’t wanna dive into too much, as I felt that I wouldn’t be good at anything else (at the time). I thought that I’m supposed to stick with what I know best and not venture out because in my mind, if I did venture out, I’d be putting my efforts into other things and not enough into my craft. Boy, was I wrong. Once I taught myself how to write songs and engineer my own vocals, my craft not only got better, but the opportunities that came increased. I was no longer just a singer, but a self-sufficient artist. This launched my career big time. Since becoming self-sufficient, I’ve gotten opportunities to write for some of the biggest artists in the industry, I’ve written songs for your favorite TV shows on streaming platforms, my circle has gotten wider and wider, and my personal music has only gotten better. I’ve found that the more I can do by myself, the more comfortable and likely I am to try new sounds and new techniques to see what I can really do. I’m proud of myself because I went from being afraid to dip my toe in the water to jumping right in and I’m proof that growth really does happen when you’re out of your comfort zone. So as crazy as I thought it was to decide to be in a space of fear and uncertainty, I’d do it over and over again because it works. There’s no reason I should question myself. Things will always work out for our good. We have to try it and see what sticks and if it doesn’t, that’s okay, too.

How did you build your audience on social media?

It’s funny because you can watch youtube video after youtube video, read ‘how-to’ books, get advice from big influencers and anything else you can think of, and it will always be difficult to grow and keep a following. I’m not sure that there’s any certain way or path that can get your content seen. For me, I was just myself. I made videos that I thought would be fun to make and it turned out that people were really interested in them. The first thing that went viral was a video of me recording strangers’ reactions of my singing voice. People are never prepared for you to sing, let alone you being kind of good at it. It was their authentic reactions, good or bad, that made me want to keep making them. I made so many that it became a whole series on TikTok. Every one of them was going viral, it was wild. I was uploading 2 reaction videos every day. People were binge-watching them because they felt that they were super entertaining. After that, I became known for those types of videos on TikTok. From this, I’d gained about 60,000 followers. Now, what I had trouble with after that, was veering off to making other types of content. They wanted the reaction videos, but I gave them covers, trends, interactive videos, everyday artist type of content, and more. Eventually, people made the adjustment but it took months before I had a viral video ever again. I sort of felt sad because I thought my following would keep growing, but it stunted. Then on a random Saturday morning, I uploaded a video of my phone facing the ceiling and it was me singing a 6-second cover of a song that was viral at the time. That video got 20 million views. I was shocked because why would a random video of my ceiling that was only 6 seconds go viral? It didn’t make any sense, but I wasn’t complaining. This is what I mean when I say that there’s no straight way of gaining a following. The video that had the least quality and time put into it was the one that got me to 190,000+ followers. You never know which video is *the* video so my advice is to keep uploading. Upload any and everything. Do it consistently, try different background settings and quality settings, and try to be creative. Everyone does the same stuff these days; share how you stand out from the rest and don’t give up. There will be moments where your numbers are growing slower or maybe even lower than what you want, but keep going.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is allowing people to see what’s in my mind and heart for what it is. I don’t know how many of you struggle with this, but I do….I am a very direct person and sometimes when I communicate, it comes off harsh. There are better ways for me to communicate and I’ve been working on it my whole life; but with music, I feel like I can say what comes from the heart exactly how I mean for it to and deliver it with the exact feeling that I want it to be received. It’s such a free and beautiful feeling. On top of that, I don’t have to share anything that I’m not comfortable with sharing. It’s therapy, really. People don’t talk about this enough, but music is a very intimate thing. The stories and feelings and thoughts that help make a song can be so deep. I’m also a music nerd so I love when every little harmony, adlib, and detail comes together. Once it’s finally finished, it’s just like wow…I did that? My brain did all of that? Love it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kandaceduke/
• Twitter: https://x.com/kandacedukee
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KandaceDuke
• Other: TikTok

  https://www.tiktok.com/@kandaceduke

Image Credits

Blonde Haired Picture w/Mic- (Photographed by Otis Clayborne II)
Stage picture with silver dress- (Photographed by Transformation Church)