Hitmaker Kelli-Leigh has shared an insight into how she accidentally ended up being part of a huge Christmas movie.
The Unconditional songstress has been making waves in the music industry for over a decade but rarely without being credited. Earlier this month, she found herself being flooded with support by fellow artists and music managers after DJ Duke Dumont refrained from creditng Kelli-Leigh on social media for his track, Melt, later informing the star that she had writing credits as well as vocals, after she offered a major contribution to the song.
But the 39-year-old is a firm believer in allowing the universe to work its magic. "The thing I do love about this job and doing music, every day is different. You don't know what could happen," she exclusively told the Mirror. She added that it "keeps her on her toes."
The Favourite Things singer went on to say: "Even when you have those exhausting moments, something will happen and it’s phenomenal. Last year, I was having a really quiet moment, I was like 'Universe provide something', then I got I asked to sing Miracle by Raphael Saadiq, for the Eddie Murphy Christmas movie (Candy Cane Lane), which became the number one Christmas movie on Amazon for that whole period which was wild. That wasn’t a thing and it didn't exist and suddenly, it did. That's the thing I love about this, you could have an email or a phone call and everything changes – it's wild, it's not for the faint hearted this business."
Candy Cane Lane saw Eddie Murphy take the lead role of Chris Carver, a laid off corporate marketer, as he makes his own handmade Christmas decorations as part of a competition in his area. However, Carver has never won and often goes up against his neighbour, Bruce, who frequently submits inflatables and other widely available decorations. However, having been laid off from his job in the lead up to Christmas, Carver fights harder than ever to win the $100,000 prize.
But Kelli-Leigh isn't stopping there when it comes to Christmas hits. Her Unwrap My Heart EP is now available on vinyl and she plans to rival Christmas mega-star, Mariah Carey in years to come. "Obviously, in 30 years time I will be Mariah – that is my long term plan," she laughed before adding: "Every year, there will be some kind of Christmas magic from me."
Over the years, Kelli-Leigh has performed backing vocals for the likes of Adele and Leona Lewis, as well as putting her name to some of the biggest hits in the dance pop industry, including teaming up with Diplo and bagging a Grammy nomination. But despite her talent and abilities, she felt herself being used in a game of monopoly by big wigs in the industry who would often have her work with less known musicians, while her white counterparts were often collaborating with major artists at the top of their game.
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YouTube/ Kelli-Leigh)She admits that she feels as though she has constantly been "overlooked" in the industry. "A lot of us can feel unified on, we'll all have a very slightly different experience," she said before adding: "But there'll be this general feeling of assumptions made of us – the amount of people when I first started putting out music would call me R&B – my music is dance, pop or dance pop, it's not R&B.
"Just because I'm a woman of colour, people will instantly go to R&B and I'd have to correct them. There brilliant R&B singers but that's not my space. I have to work three times as hard, I have to prove myself three times as hard as my white counterpart would have to. You get uncomfortable saying these kind of things. That's why it was good in lockdown, the Black experience – people would say 'Oh you're playing the race card' but you get that fear of saying things and it's just another form of microaggression to stop you from saying what you need to say."
Kelli-Leigh went on to explain that she has informed people to "do their own research" into what she has sung compared to other female artists in dance, explaining that she hadn't had "investment or full label support." In the past ten years, Kelli-Leigh has had two songs signed to a label, with an additional track being upscaled. "One was in 2021 on Warner and one was just now on a small indie label for my new single, Favourite Things," she commented before explaining: "Then Unconditional, I put out myself and it got upscaled by Armada Music – this year is my most successful year in terms of having records on other labels. My entire career has been independent."
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Claudette Barius/Prime)The London-born musician explained that after seeing other artists achieving less but being signed by major records and having investment or feature opportunities with credits, she often thinks: "Ok, there's something going on here and whether you want to acknowledge it or not, the evidence is so clear."
"You kind of see a pattern and go 'Oh, hold on, this is misogyny and wrapped in a little but of racism' because the signed vocal artists in dance weren't necessarily women of colour," she says. Over the course of her career, the More Than Friends singer has used her platform in the industry to become a voice to help other artists receive equal treatment and opportunities. Although she has suffered hardships, Kelli-Leigh found herself rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in music after bagging herself a Grammy nomination.
"When I first had it with I Got U, I got to walk the red carpet, it really was mind blowing," she said. Kelli-Leigh admits she "cried" due to the overwhelming feeling of being proud at the annual Grammy Awards for the first time and informed herself that she would "be there" again if she kept honing her craft.
Kelli-Leigh's manifestation paid off as last year she found herself nominated again for a Grammy Award for her songwriting. "At the beginning of last year, I was Grammy nominated for a writing cut on Diplo's album, it was like 'Ok, ok let's keep going', now I've become a Grammy member, I'm part of the Academy so I can vote now – it's wild!" she exclaimed.
The star admits her success makes her feel as though she is "inching that little bit closer" to her dream, having bagged herself a string of nominations, as well as performing for Radio One and Capital Dance Ibiza. "It feels like I'm cutting through," she explained. Kelli-Leigh added: "It's taken me a while, it's taken time but it's my time coming. I'm doing what I believe in, I'm doing and being me, it might be slower than some people that manage to catch on trend and absolutely kill it. They might may or may not disappear, I feel really proud that people are seeing me."
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