FEATURE: Spotlight: Ryan Destiny — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Micaiah Carter for Elite Daily

Ryan Destiny

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I have been reading about…

the wonderful Ryan Destiny. Someone who I feel is more than worthy of inclusion in this feature, I wanted to look back at some older interviews before bringing it more up to date. Here is someone who is a hugely positive role model for Black girls and women. You may know her best as an actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the Fox TV musical drama, Star, and the Freeform sitcom, Grown-ish. I am going to come to some interview from the past few years. She has released a few singles so far. There is that question when a debut E.P. will come out. I think we will see this next year. I am going to start out with a 2020 interview form Coveteur:

“Protecting our mental health, especially for Black women in the public spotlight who are constantly facing criticism, is essential during these racially and culturally trying times. Prior to the pandemic erupting within the nation, Ryan Destiny closed out 2019 on a strong note—joining the cast of Freeform’s Grown-ish, announcing her starring role in Flint Strong, and releasing new music. “Honestly, I have no idea. I’m taking it one day at a time,” Destiny says, laughing but serious, about how she’s been holding up mentally. Lucky for her, she has the luxury of being quarantined with family and has been using this time to recharge and give herself grace when it comes to productivity and work ethic. “Trying to find a balance with a lot of different things helps, for sure.”

A wise person once said, “With great power comes great responsibility”—it’s either Voltaire or Spider-Man’s uncle. In any event, Ryan Destiny has used her role to speak out against the various injustices of Hollywood and the music industry against Black culture and communities. “The beautiful thing about this whole time, and everything that we’ve been going through, I really feel like there’s an actual shift this go-round. It’s inspired a lot of people within our community to speak out about a lot of the things we’ve gone through and we experience in our work spaces,” Destiny says. She sought to use her voice to speak out against negative behaviors and encourage the Black community to no longer tolerate disrespect within entertainment. “I just hope that with me speaking up, along with so many other actors, singers, entertainers, it just helps the next wave of people and inspires to not take anymore crap from people and not hide what we feel anymore,” Destiny says passionately about being over the fear of being blackballed in the industry and transforming her fright into fight for the greater picture.

Born in the home of Motown Records, Ryan Destiny Irons can already be considered a millennial staple for Black Girl Magic in the industry as a talented singer, actress, and budding influencer. The Detroit native discovered her own unique talents at the age of 10, but decided to pursue her passions in the entertainment industry full-time at the age of 12. “I wasn’t one of those kids who flipped back and forth with what I wanted to do. I always knew it was this, I just didn’t know in what capacity,” she admitted. At a young age, she was involved in performing arts-centric extracurricular programs that ignited her fire to become who she is today. “Being from Detroit and my experiences in Detroit only helped shape me more, and I think luckily the people out of there who were part of my journey, they were super supportive,” she says about her Motown hometown in addition to praising its musical history. “To know who has come out of it is always something that helps you believe that it’s possible if you keep going and keep at it.”

Her father, Deron Irons, who was one half of the ’90s R&B duo Guesss, was a major musical influence in her earlier years of childhood, which gave her a taste of what would be to come in the following years for her own career. “His dreams kind of connected to mine,” she said of her father’s empathy for her vision for herself. Destiny was fortunate enough to have the everlasting support of both parents, which she further recognized as a staple once she saw that some of her friends did not have the same positive experience. “Without them, I literally would not be here. I would not be in this position where I’m at right now. They’ve been such an important part in my whole journey,” she praises her parents.

She also stresses the importance of reshaping and deconstructing the definition of “Black is beautiful” while empathetically pulling from her own experiences. “I know what it feels like to feel like you’re not being seen, heard, or validated. It’s a journey, and I don’t want people to feel alone in that,” says Destiny. She continues to tell me the importance of including as many young girls into the conversation as she can and how her purpose lies within creating positive narratives for young Black girls. Destiny recognizes her influence beyond her own age bracket and feels good to be part of a narrative that’s bigger than herself. “Young girls are always sending messages to me and telling me how much I’ve inspired them, and that’s what it’s all about. My mission is to hopefully open more and more doors like people have opened the door for me.”

Though we see Ryan Destiny the role model presented to us on screen and on social media, her self-love journey has taken a bit of time to create the confident brown-skinned beauty we see on our explore pages. She shared that her journey started at the age of 18 or 19, when she had an epiphany of sorts about acknowledging her feelings, how she had been perceiving herself, recognizing that she was not alone, and how to combat insecurities. Now 25, Destiny finds serenity in her journey to understanding, acceptance, and patience with herself as a human being who will not always have it together at every given moment. “Understanding that and being OK with the time where I’m not OK was something that helped me in those times. It’s OK to be that as long as you address it and then snap out of it as soon as you can,” she revealed. The industry, Destiny discloses from her personal experience, has taught her to have a strong mind due to the possibilities of being taken advantage of, manipulated, or controlled. “You need to keep a tight circle and understand that people are not always for you,” she says.

PHOTO CREDIT: Amber Asaly

Luckily, in her forthcoming debut EP, On One’s Own, fans can expect a potpourri of genres. According to the songstress, On One’s Own will be a clear reflection of her growth organically through her vocals and lyrics. “I never really want people to tie me down to one thing, and I think a lot of people do that with Black people, but Black women and darker women in general. I didn’t want that to happen with this.” Destiny’s latest throwback-inspired breakup bop and accompanying music video, “Do You,” has clearly been demonstrating to fans that she is here to stay. “I’m really excited for people to hear all of it and hopefully see the world that I’m trying to create within it. I just really wanted it to be a great introduction to who I am. It’s not all of me, but it’s part of me,” she said about her upcoming music.

“I see myself in more control of it all,” Destiny said about her plans within the next few years. Coming full circle in our conversation to discuss the mishaps of 2020, she is making the most out of what’s left of the year by being more introspective and challenging her independence. “Within everything that I’ve been learning, doing on my own and trying to figure out here while at home, I’m hoping there’s some type of liberation and feeling that a lot of other people are feeling like we’re unstoppable ourselves,” Destiny said calmly, proud of the strength of the community during these unprecedented times.

PHOTO CREDIT: Charlotte Rutherford

I want to take things back to 2021. Speaking for Wonderland. with one of her heroes, Brandy (Brandy Norwood), this was an actress-musician speaking with another actress-musician. The two share similarities for sure. It was an interesting exchange between two influential and hugely important cultural figures. Ryan Destiny discussing her career and how music is her first love:

“The 25-year-old started outperforming in girl groups throughout her teens, and after breaking away from her band Love Dollhouse in 2015, she auditioned for STAR — a musical drama that followed a trio of artists navigating their rise in the music industry. In many ways her character’s storyline mirrored her own experience, which at first put her off accepting the role at a time when she was looking to lean into her newfound independence. But rather than keeping her in patterns of the past, STAR propelled Destiny into a new spotlight where she could act, sing and dance on the same job every day, surrounded by co-stars and mentors including Naomi Campbell and Queen Latifah.

Since then she’s appeared in Freeform’s Grown-ish alongside Yara Shahidi, Luka Sabbat and Chloe x Halle, released her first singles as a solo artist and landed her first starring film role in Flint Strong, a Barry Jenkins-written biopic about boxing champion Claressa Shields. While filming has been postponed, Destiny has focused on finishing her upcoming EP “On One’s Own” — a fitting debut for an artist who’s carving out a multi-faceted career entirely on her own terms.

With clear 90s and early 00s influences, Destiny cites Brandy, who she got to know on the set of STAR, amongst her long-time inspirations — not just for her iconic music and films, but because she has created her own inimitable legacy in both worlds. Here, from their homes in the last heatwave of the summer in LA, they catch up over the phone to reflect on their experiences balancing acting and singing, refusing to compromise artistically and empowering their fans to do the same.

BN: I’m so happy to talk to you, and just first tell you how beautiful I think you are and how amazing I think you’re doing in your work, with your craft. I’ve always remembered being around you and you just being such a focus. Your work ethic is amazing, so I just wanted to acknowledge that.

RD: Thank you so much.

BN: I’m happy for everything that’s happening for you. Like, you’re doing it all!

RD: I’m trying!

BN: How do you feel?

RD: I feel cool. I mean, obviously this year is weird. But I’m just happy I’m here and still get to do the little things I can do. So I feel good.

BN: You should. I mean, I think that people [that] can see what you’re doing get inspired. It’s just like the people that you watched when you were coming up. Who were some of the artists and actors that inspired you?

RD: I was super intrigued by the artists that obviously combine the two. It wasn’t even on purpose, that’s just what happened, I just gravitated towards those people. And literally every single time someone asks me this question, I truthfully say your name every single time…

BN: Awww!

RD: Because it’s true! Aaliyah, Diana Ross. You guys all lived careers that have allowed you to blossom in different ways and not just one. Of course there’s a lot of other people I’ve looked up to in both fields, but your names pop up immediately and I just think that’s inspired me to want to pursue the things I do now. It’s just really, really real.

PHOTO CREDIT: Charlotte Rutherford

BN: I love that. Thank you for telling me that, that feels amazing. It makes me want to keep going, so I appreciate that. And that’s why you do what you do, right? To help somebody else realise that they can do it too?

RD: Exactly

BN: That’s why we’re here. I know it takes balance to be able to do both, and to do both very well and sometimes simultaneously. So how do you balance acting and singing?

RD: I think by just letting both flow the way they do naturally. Sometimes when I’m working on a project for acting it can get super time-consuming, so it gets a little tough trying to record and plan stuff out […] I try to plan out as far as possible when I know something’s about to come up and it’s gonna take months out of my year. So it’s a challenge! I mean, you know.

BN: It is!

RD: It’s different every time, too. Each project is a different type of challenge, it’s interesting.

BN: It’s almost like a part of your journey, and probably being the work of your life because you can do both. You can act, sing and dance all at the same time, so you might have to just juggle it all because you’re that talented, you’re that gifted. You know, it comes with great responsibility! Did you ever feel like people wanted to put you in a box or make you just choose?

RD: For sure, and I think people still try to do it now. But it was a blessing doing STAR because I think the way it introduced me was in a multi-type of way, where I was singing and dancing and acting. So it was easier for people to see that and not just see one thing. But I think people are always trying to box you in and make you pick something, whether it be somebody from your team or somebody from the outside. It’s hard for some people to see somebody do more than one thing. I just think as humans we have so much to give, so it’s just weird to me to just do one thing. It just doesn’t make any sense.

BN: No, and you should always do everything you can do. Give it everything you have. I feel like no one should put you in a box at all, because you don’t deserve to be in a box.

RD: Definitely

BN: So music, do you think it’s your first love?

RD: Well it started because my dad was a singer, is a singer. He was signed when he was younger and when he had me, so it was just naturally a part of me. I think looking up to him and seeing his journey with it… You know he didn’t, unfortunately, make it-make it how he wanted to, so a lot of it feels like I need to like finish it out for him. I feel like I’m inspired by him to continue to push and do what I do and just make sure I almost finish the dream off for him, in a way. It just was like a bug that bit me, and since I was super, super young it’s all I remember […] And being from Detroit, I think Motown was a huge part of me too, and just feeling inspired by the city itself.

BN: When did you know, like hear in your own ears, with your own feeling, ‘Oh my god, I can sing! I can do things that everybody can’t do?’
RD: Probably like around 15 years old when I was just entering high school. I think it was honestly because my parents started taking me serious.

BN: Because they’re your first audience, they’re your first believers. I get that. That’s amazing to have the support of your family, because it’s almost like if you can do everything upon your family, or tell your family an idea and they get it, you feel like you can go forward.

RD: Yeah, it’s so important. I’ve seen other people not have that support system, and how sort of rare it is, which is so crazy to me. I’m super thankful for it because I see now how much of a blessing it is.

BN: That’s awesome. Do you see what your future and your career and your life path is? Do you have this vision forward? Or do you trust that there’s a purpose that’s already happening, without you having to know exactly what you’re going to do next?

RD: Because of how the last 10 years of my life has panned out, I now definitely see that God has a divine plan for me. Things that I thought I was gonna do didn’t happen and it turned to a whole different route, which I’m super thankful for now, looking back. So I definitely think that there’s a higher purpose for me and it’s kind of already in the cards.

BN: Absolutely

RD: I don’t want to deny it and I don’t ever want to question it. I’m just trying to live and do what I can on my end [to] be the best version of myself”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Gladimir Gelin

I want to come to a 2023 interview from Elite Daily. If many know her best as an actress, like peers such as Brandy and Coco Jones, music is very much a love that sort of takes priority. Someone who is going to put out a lot of new music. She is someone who be a huge name very soon. I think that people need to get involved with her music. Ryan Destiny is a name that will be spotlighted and highlighted as one to watch next year by many:

“If you’ve slept on Destiny, no biggie. The 28-year-old treads the same sonic waters as other silky-saucy R&B girlies like Normani and Coco Jones, and she’s also known for her work in Star and Grown-ish. Impressively, she booked a lead role in the forthcoming Claressa “T-Rex” Shields biopic, Flint Strong, what she calls “her greatest challenge so far.” Destiny truly is that girl, and she’s on a roll. On the heels of her two spicy singles, “How Many” and “Lie Like That,” Destiny now has plans to release her long-awaited debut EP. But there’s just one elephant in the room: When?

Whether she’s writing from her own POV (“Do You”) or that of her hella-unbothered alter ego (“Lie Like That”), ya girl has so far delivered honest love songs that contain sharply playful lyricism with the kind of honesty that’ll make you unironically go “Dang, she’s so real for this.” It’s for this reason — her attention to detail — that she’s not in a rush to drop just anything.

“I feel like every time I do try to rush things, it feels a bit forced and it doesn’t come out exactly how I feel like it should have — and because things do live on the Internet forever, pretty much, you do want to make sure that it’s something that you’re really proud of,” Destiny says. “So naturally, I am going to take my time with [my music]. And it is hard, because of the times that we live in now, there’s so much content constantly [being put out]. So that can get in your head easily as a creator feeling like you’re not doing enough.”

Destiny refuses to treat her art as a cog in a content-creation wheel, and the story behind her latest single illustrates the R&B princess’s mentality perfectly. “I recorded both of those songs, I want to say … in 2020 and at the end of 2019,” Destiny says. “I knew ‘Lie Like That’ was special to me, so I sort of wanted to take time with putting it out and make sure everything was right.”

Destiny explains one reason she drops less music than others is she’s largely doing this ish — wrangling resources and funding projects with her personal coins, which “makes things go at a different pace” — on her own, as in *without* major-label budgets. (She’s currently signed to November Yellow, which represents a small-yet-curated roster of rising R&B and rap acts.)

An example of how she makes lemonade out of lemons: the music video for “How Many,” which has amassed more than 650,000 views on YouTube alone. Despite setbacks like budget restrictions and her own internal war with perfectionism — issues she’s been super real about on TikTok — Destiny blessed the culture with a visual packed with dynamic choreo and a fly, Y2K pop star-esque blue leather ensemble.

For Destiny, the stakes for the “How Many” shoot were especially high since she did the dang thing solo: no backup dancers, no opposite. “I knew that I wanted to dance from start to finish, which can just be intimidating in general,” Destiny says of the video, which was choreographed by Sean Bankhead, the mastermind behind iconic Cardi B, Normani, and Doja Cat projects. “Just being in this box by yourself and having it all weigh on your shoulders — it’s just a little scary. But Sean believed in it. He believed in me, thank God. And I think we came up with something really special. It is a very simple video, and I kind of went into it knowing that — and loving that aspect of it, how minimal it was, and just sort of letting it all speak for itself.”

Destiny’s genuine admiration of her creative peers (FLO, Tems) and iconic forerunners (Beyoncé, SZA) is an essential part of her refreshingly careful approach to her craft. Bey waited six years after Lemonade to drop Renaissance, while a five-year gap sits between SZA’s Ctrl and SOS, yet both 2022 LPs have broken chart records and received acclaim from critics and fans alike. “A lot of artists I look up to are kind of notorious for also taking their time,” she says. “And I think that sort of makes me be a little more at ease — and [I try] to recognize and understand that everyone’s path is different.” Indeed, patience pays off.

So when, exactly, is Destiny finally going to release her own debut project? “That's been the goal of mine for the past four years, honestly,” Destiny says. “When I was on Star, I was in a specific deal that didn’t allow me to put out music. So as soon as that was up, things just sort of started up for me creatively. Again, of course, the pandemic hit — that did something. So it’s just been a lot of different things that have happened in the meantime. But that’s always been the goal; an EP is supposed to finally come out this year”.

I shall round off there. A brilliant young artist whose first few singles shows that she is someone worthy of a lot of affection and respect, do not let her pass you by! As we look to next year and get a sense of the artists who are going to release great music and are names that stand out, I feel that Ryan Destiny is going to be among them. An inspiring role model and exceptional talent, the Detroit-born actress and artists will have her…