Still reminiscing in the heat of the release of her new single, “Danny”, Crystal sits down with Wonderland to talk key inspirations, advice for new artists, and dream collaborations.

With over two decades of industry experience to her name, Crystal Starr has dipped her toes in many avenues within the music sphere. From performing in church as a gospel singer, to standing centrestage in Broadway as part of the ’60s band The Shirelles, the singer-songwriter, above all, oozes performance. In 2018, Starr released her debut album, #She, and now she’s adding another single to her locker, enter Danny, a pop anthem that’s worth blaring in the car with your girls. 

With influences drawing from the leading ladies of the ‘80s and ‘90s, the Los-Angeles native’s soundscape speaks to the Golden age of music, that is, the days of Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, or Beyoncé. Driven by a fluttering synth rhythm, funky guitar licks, and a chorus sure to give you an earworm, Danny, is a love letter to female independence, breaking free from that age old on-and-off relationship we all know too well. Hot off the release of Danny, we caught up with Crystal, as she tells all on her single’s launch…

Hey Crystal! Congratulations on your newest single! What inspired “Danny”, both lyrically and musically?

Thank you! When I’m in the studio with my producers Bizkit and Butta We typically talk about things that are going on in life before we begin our creative process. Typically whatever our subject is gets written about. Danny was inspired by a friend of ours who wouldn’t commit. The song and melody just came to me in 5 minutes. It was written in 5 mins. Sometimes it comes like that. 

How did you approach the visual aesthetic for “Danny”? Were there any influences you wanted to capture? 

The music typically tells me what the video is gonna be before I film it. This particular time my mom and I discussed me playing different characters in the video. One of them being Cleopatra/Nefertiti. I ended up just choosing to go with the Egyptian theme entirely. When I filmed it everything just fell into place as I was really nervous because I had never filmed something so detail oriented. This was my 5th video I’ve ever filmed so I had to prepare even more for this one. I took time buying the costumes for each character and once I found the filming locations everything fell into place. 

You’ve built your career out as a truly independent artist. What advice would you give to emerging artists who want to follow a similar path? 

I would tell them There’s so many ways to get where you want to in life. There’s so many people out there that are going to give you THEIR advice of what you need to do or which pathway you need to take in order to get to where you want to in life. Social Media will drown you with the “how too’s” and “try this” But if you just do what YOU do and do it at your best these things will find you. You don’t have to chase them.  Follow the vision God gave you everything will turn out just fine. There’s not one way to success (whatever that looks like to you) your story will inspire someone to keep on going. Take the good with the bad and not all advice is good advice. Explore the vision God has given you and enjoy the ride.

Do you have a dream collaboration – someone you’d love to work with, past or present? 

Past is Tina Turner (that would had been a dream) and Quincy Jones, present is Harry Styles and Bruno Mars. 

Words – Freya Goodchild-Bridge