The rise of social media has undoubtedly helped catapult unsuspecting artists to fame in some of the most unconventional ways. Donzell Taggart, someone who didn’t even consider himself a singer until the age of 17, is no stranger to this kind of phenomenon. Before the pandemic, Taggart was a pastor and choir leader in Little Rock, Arkansas. Now, the 22-year-old lives in L.A., where he records music with the hopes of getting a record deal soon.
Donzell Taggart first ‘blew up’ with a slew of viral videos featuring him singing in Walmarts. After the first one garnered millions of views, he figured, “well, there are Walmarts everywhere, so I may as well keep doing this.” With both the odd situation displayed and Taggart’s powerful singing voice, he quickly gathered a following on TikTok. According to him, for a while, the videos of him singing in Walmart were all that would get views, but slowly, the videos of his songs and his covers got more and more attention. Taggart’s first manager reached out to him soon after and moved him out to Los Angeles to begin a singing career.
TikTok, as a platform, heavily relies on music. It’s almost become a new pillar of the music industry, and nearly every Tik Tok has a ‘sound’ attached to it, this often being a song. Sounds on TikTok become viral or trendy, and thus, frequently used by many users and therefore heard by everyone on the app. If an artist’s song were to become a popular sound, their song would almost automatically be topping charts. In this scenario, Taggart’s identifiable deep and soothing voice had been circling peoples’ ‘For You Pages,’ and the industry had an eye out for him.
It wasn’t a success story from the beginning, though. Taggart’s first manager “didn’t really know what he was doing. When I told him I wanted out of the deal, he wanted 10% of what I make off my future music, and he didn’t even make me any music!” After they split, Donzell quickly reached out to Tiffany Starr Kumar, the founder of Beat House LA, to tell her he loved her work and wanted her to manage him, and the rest is history. With Tiffany, Donzell has released his single Flames and is about to release Love Crime and Dangerous, both of which have snippets of them as TikTok ‘sounds’ already to spread the word(what did I say).
“I actually used to be a worship leader at my church. I actually told myself in quarantine, I was like, Donzell, you are going to blow up over quarantine,” he says. Church wasn’t always a part of Taggart’s life, but after a rocky childhood, he went to a local church’s youth group with a friend and truly enjoyed it. The community provided him with the supportive family that he needed, and it’s fair to say he wouldn’t be here today without them.
Why is that? Taggart had absolutely no clue he could sing until he was 17 years old. He’s far from a quiet guy, and his charisma and positive attitude alone led the choir leader to express interest in him. Taggart joined the choir because “why not?” It turned out he couldn’t just sing; he could sing really well. While everyone was pleasantly surprised by Taggart’s natural singing abilities, no one was surprised by how he dominated a church stage as if it were an arena. It didn’t matter that it was 10:00 am on a Sunday; Donzell was there to perform. While he improved throughout his years in the choir, Taggart also auditioned for American Idol, but nothing came out of it.
His days in a church choir have come to a close, especially since his pastor humorously will say, “maybe Donzell should cut down on the cussing.” That said, not only did the sense of community pull him from a dark place, but it taught him to sing in the first place.
Since moving to Los Angeles, Taggart has certainly made himself known among circles of friends. He and this group tend to stick together, even in their work spheres. He and Anthony Ortiz, another young singer, write songs together and record together in the studio. His close friend Aidan Rowley makes his music videos, and McCall Mirabella occasionally helps record random background audio. In Taggart’s upcoming song, Love Crime, she’s featured as a second long “shhhhhh” sound.
“Those days in the studio are my favorite. I love bringing my friends and just spending the day writing,” says Taggart. He often doesn’t write his own music alone but is surrounded by writers and friends who can help him translate his thoughts and experiences into a song. Writing can be a somewhat touchy subject with some musicians, with extra help such as ghostwriters being looked down upon. Taggart doesn’t see it that way, saying, “even if it is someone else writing the bulk of it, I get to share their story and give them a voice by singing their song.”
“I got tired of people complaining about me just singing covers and I was like, ‘y’know what? I’m gonna write my own shit.’ I went to my car and wrote a song, recorded it the next day, and then the video got 14 million views,” Taggart says. That song still hasn’t been released as a single. Even Donzell was hesitant about it, saying, “afterwards, I showed it to my friends to see what they thought. It seemed way too deep and honest, but they all loved it.”
“It always comes easily to him; the performing, the singing, the writing. It’s like… how could you not enjoy something you’re meant for?” says McCall Mirabella, one of Taggart’s closest friends. That’s precisely it, though; Donzell truly just loves to sing.
“Sometimes, I still go down to Santa Monica and just sing for people walking by on the street. It’s weird, but I really love it–and it doesn’t hurt to make a quick $80 either.” Taggart’s pure love and enjoyment for singing is what draws others to work with him. His manager, Tiffany Kumar, says, “Today, all artists have to be ‘TikTok artists,’ but at the same time, the industry gets weary of ‘TikTok stars’ because it has been burnt by viral artists that don’t [end up producing] many streams.” Donzell’s almost childlike love for singing is what makes everyone confident he’ll be more than just one viral moment.
Donzell Taggart dropped his first single, Flames, a few weeks ago after months and months of writing at the studio. According to Taggart, “we’ve probably recorded like fifty songs at this point. Now it’s just a matter of fixing some up and releasing them.” His upcoming releases are Dangerous, an upbeat R&B/pop song almost reminiscent of artists like Rex Orange County. Following that is his song, Love Crime, which follows the gospel/R&B sound that Donzel has previously embraced, going back to his days in Arkansas.
“It all goes back to that night I was invited to church. It introduced me to music, and music saved my life. I’m happy doing what I’m doing and as long as I’m singing, that’s not gonna change,” he says.