We caught up with the brilliant and insightful DiamondGrl a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

DiamondGrl, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I knew this since the age of 3. Me being an all-around artist who pursues her career path as a singer-songwriter, visual artist, model and actress has been nothing but a blessing for me to be able to share those passions of mine to the world. I continue to pursue them by getting booked for shows, recording music in the studio, doing photoshoots, participating in different vendor events/pop-up shops, art shows, exhibitions, and participating in as many films and music videos as possible!

DiamondGrl, 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 am a multi-talented artist from Columbus, Ohio. I express my creativity through vocal performance, songwriting, rapping, modeling, acting and visual art, which includes painting, drawing and mixed media art. I began singing at the age of 3 and began participating in school choirs in 3rd grade. My voice type is soprano. The music genres that I am influenced by and enjoy are Pop, Jazz, Contemporary, Soul, R&B and Rap music. I began songwriting in middle school, which allowed me to express my feelings through lyrics and melody. Several of the musical influences, who inspired me to become a singer-songwriter are artists such as Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, India Arie, Sonyae Elise, Aaliyah, Anderson .Paak, The Internet and many more.

What got me into the music industry is I began recording music since the age of 18 ,my senior year of high school, and I continue to record and write music to this day. Back in 2021, I got booked for a show at Skully’s Music Diner at this event called the Grind 2 Shine Music Festival and ever since that night, I’ve been getting booked for plenty of shows, interviews, studio sessions, tours, etc.

Aside from my music, other services that I provide are visual arts,(canvas paintings), acting and modeling. What got me into visual arts is I’ve taken art classes my whole life throughout school from the time I was in pre-school up to my junior year of high school. I’ve been doing that as a side hustle, aside from me working a 9-5, to help support myself financially along with supporting other businesses. As far as acting goes, I’ve been doing plays since middle school, took a break from theater in high school since it was interfering with my studies at the time, and then I got back into it in 2022 where I auditioned to be apart of this small film called “House Party” directed by Duane Martin, Jr.(one of the best film directors and videographers in the city of Columbus) and was chosen to play one of the lead roles! Lastly, I’ve been modeling since 2021 and have participated in fashion shows and other photoshoots since then and have been getting published in different magazines as well!

Something that I am most proud of is overcoming people-pleasing and finally learning to speak up for myself when certain things do not sit right with me. I am also proud of the fact that I inspire others musically and artistically and that my inspiration helps other upcoming artists to take that leap of faith.

What I would like for everyone to know about me is that Diamond is my real name and that DiamondGrl is my stage name. The name DiamondGrl represents someone who has high standards, is brilliant, unique, intelligent, beautiful and self-aware and refuses to settle for less, alongside my business name for my artwork, DiamondGrl Art.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think what society can do to support us creatives is follow our social media, share the content we create on social media, shout us out, like, comment and subscribe to our YouTube channels(if applicable), and most importantly, invest in our small businesses. And for musical
artists like myself, ways that people can support us is by streaming our music on all platforms and by coming to any shows/performances that we have as well!

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

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is that people relate to the music I put out there. And the reason why is because my music shares very strong, inspirational messages and helps people get through the day, especially since my music is rare and isn’t something you hear very often. Another thing that’s so rewarding about me being an artist is that creatives, like myself, have multiple, creative ways of making income besides living paycheck to paycheck.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegiftedsoprano/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/giftedsoprano?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/giftedsoprano
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@giftedsoprano

Image Credits
Samuel Taylor Josh Turcios Ayana Jackson Deangelo Clark Lani Evans