We recently connected with Orlando Parker Jr and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Orlando, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

I was just 19 years old the first time I was paid in exchange for my talent.
Just after finishing my first professional theatre performance in a Detroit Michigan production of “a Chorus Line”; where I was given a small part as “Roy”, a dancer, I set out to find the next “gig”. This would turn out to be a locally written, produced and directed gospel stage play called “When God Comes Down From Heaven”, which premiered at the Old Redford Theatre. There was nothing glamorous about co-starring in a low budget independant stage play, or having to jet to rehearsals in the evening after having worked a full day as customer service at the Detroit Science Center.
I just remember being very young, very new and very very nervous! I also recall being thrilled just to be doing something with my talent that would earn me a bit of cash– especially as I had been living on my own and fully supporting myself finalcially since the age of 17… I was also very excited that I would finally be able to call myself a professional singer– where I come from, you were not considered a professional until you’d been paid. So, I have been a professional singer since the age of 19.

Orlando, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I decided very young that I would sing professionally. This after singing in church as well as in the school chorus. Artists like Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross and Stevie Wonder had a profound impact on me. They was they used their voices, how it made me feel, I became addixcted to that. I wanted to feel whatever that magic was, again and again. To be able to provide some of that to others became my passion, my dream.
Fast forward to relocating to North Carolina: I got my start in the arts here as a working model. I did a lot of bridal magazines and fashion shows, either for money or exposure. I used that money to go into the recording studio and produce my music. I then went out and performed my music, on every kind of stage imaginable. The Museum of Art, The Museum of History, The Cat’s Cradle, weddings, funerals, anniversaries, charity events, you name it! The rest is sort of history as they say.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

How society can best support artists and creatives is by placing the same value on what you get from us as they do what they for any other service. People need entertainment. Everyone either enjoys sports, music, fashion or television. These thing help many people get through the day or even better get through life! Art is essential. Without art, the world would be a very gray depressing place. We provide sunshine, and we sometimes pay a high cost to be that light. For respect is valuing how I sacrafice so much of my own self in order to be other people’s ‘past-time’, or night out on the town.

One of many challenges I face, is that people, especially in my industry, still to this day try to take advantage of me. I just asked recently to perform at the Cat’s Cradle for free, at an event where tickets where being sold. I refused. I’m at a point where I no longer need to perform for “exposure”, and I am content to not perform if it means not settling for being disrespcted by people who have historically taken advantge of artists, particular Black artists…

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, it’s when strangers approach me at shows and tell me they came just to hear me sing. All I ever wanted to be was a great singer, so for me, nothing beats this! It still happens to me to this day. Most recently at the Hopscotch Music Festival in September 2024. When you hear this enough it makes you develop of sense of responsibility to your artistry. I sing with integrity. I sing like I give a damn, because I do! I give so many damns about what I am doing on that stage behind that mic! Nothing matters more to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: Orlando Parker Jr on Spotify
• Instagram: orlandoparkerjr
• Facebook: orlandoparkerjr
• Linkedin: orlandoparkerjr
• Youtube: orlandoparkerjr
• Soundcloud: orlandoparkerjr