Danielle Leigh Curiel (born December 20, 1994), known professionally as DaniLeigh, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, and choreographer. Initially appearing as a backup dancer, Curiel began her career by posting covers of popular songs on YouTube before moving to Los Angeles, where she began choreographing for other artists and dancing. She made a career breakthrough after working with

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

on the music video for his single "

Breakfast Can Wait "Breakfast Can Wait" is a song by American recording artist Prince. The single was released on February 5, 2013 on his website 3rdEyeGirl.com and was re-released on 3rdEyeTunes.com on August 17, 2013. The accompanying artwork for the single featu ...

". DaniLeigh was signed to

Def Jam Records Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

in 2017, releasing mixtapes and singles starting that year.

Early and personal life

Curiel was born on December 20, 1994, in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, to Dominican parents. She was deeply interested in music during her youth, and cites

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

, and

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

as influences. She started dancing at the age of 12 and singing at the age of 14, though she was initially too shy to sing in front of others until she received positive feedback. Though she started posting vocal covers of songs such as

Musiq Soulchild Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by the stage name Musiq Soulchild or simply Musiq (pronounced "music") is an American singer and songwriter whose style blends R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and Gospel music, gospel influ ...

's "So Beautiful" on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, her career did not officially start until she moved to Los Angeles, where she made connections and started off as a backup dancer to artists such as

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

and

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired deb ...

. She also formed part of the pop duo Curly Fryz with her sister. DaniLeigh has a daughter named Velour with rapper

DaBaby Jonathan Lyndale Kirk (born December 22, 1991), known professionally as DaBaby (formerly known as Baby Jesus), is an American rapper. After releasing several mixtapes between 2014 and 2018, he rose to mainstream prominence with his debut albu ...

Career

Curiel was asked by

to direct the video for his single "

" when she was 18 years old. Following the video's success, Prince continued mentoring DaniLeigh until his death in 2016. She released her first single "D.O.S.E" in 2015, but her first successful single was "Play", released in 2017. The single is an empowerment song for women and

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

s, and features Mexican-American rapper Kap G. After signing with

, she released her first EP, ''Summer with Friends'', in 2017, followed up by ''The Plan'' in 2018. The latter features appearances by rappers YG,

Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Boat, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer. He first gained recognition on the internet in 2015 for his singles "One Night" and "Minnesota" (featuring ...

Lil Baby Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to mainstream fame in 2017 following the release of his mixtape ''Perfect Timing''. *Alt URL* * His deb ...

, and

YBN Nahmir Nicholas Alexander Simmons (Born December 18, 1999), known professionally as YBN Nahmir, is an American rapper. He is best known for his singles "Rubbin Off the Paint" which charted at number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 ch ...

. She later released a few more singles such as "Lil Bebe", which was remixed featuring vocals from Lil Baby, and "Easy", which was remixed featuring vocals from singer

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

. She has also made a cameo appearance in

Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion (pronounced "Megan the Stallion"), is an American rapper and songwriter. Originally from Houston, Texas, she first garnered attention when videos of her ...

's "

Hot Girl Summer "Hot Girl Summer" is a song by American rapper Megan Thee Stallion featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign, released on August 9, 2019 by 300 Entertainment. It was written by all three artists alongside Michael "Crazy Mike" Foster, Syed Hossain ...

" music video. In late 2019, she choreographed for

’s music video “BOP on Broadway”. In January 2021, the singer issued an apology after posting part of a song called "Yellow Bone" on social media, which was criticized for promoting

colorism Discrimination based on skin color, also known as colorism, or shadeism, is a form of prejudice and/or discrimination in which people who share similar ethnicity traits or perceived race are treated differently based on the social implications th ...

Musical style

DaniLeigh incorporates elements of hip hop and

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...

into her primarily R&B-style music.

Discography

Albums

* ''Summer with Friends'' (2017) * ''The Plan'' (2018) * ''My Present'' (2019) * ''Movie'' (2020) * ''In My Feelings'' (2020)

EPs

* ''Summer with Friends'' (2017) * ''My Side'' (2022) * "My present" (2019)

Singles

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
1994 births Living people 21st-century American women singers Dancers from Florida Singers from Florida American choreographers American contemporary R&B singers American women hip hop musicians American women pop singers American singers of Dominican Republic descent Def Jam Recordings artists 21st-century American singers Hispanic and Latino American women singers