The Apollo Theatre’s Amateur Night is holy ground for up-and-coming musicians. Denasia Lawrence, a 2013 Syracuse University alumna, made her mark on its stage at the young age of 7.

Lawrence, 22, has been singing since the age of 5. She grew up in a household of singers and regularly performed in church. Several of Lawrence’s heroes, including her mother Coretta Lawrence, have performed at the Apollo. For Lawrence’s mother, watching her young daughter perform on the same stage was an exciting experience.

“Denasia worked the stage, she worked the crowd, she gave them fever,” Coretta said. “She really just took it over.”

Her mother took her to auditions to sing at Amateur Night, where she competed against adults. Lawrence performed in all four rounds of the Apollo’s amateur competition. She placed first through the first three rounds, and then in the final round she finished as the runner-up.

Lawrence took the stage of Goldstein Auditorium on Friday as part of the “SU’s Got Talent” show hosted by Coming Back Together, SU’s African American and Latino Reunion, which occurs every three years. She performed Nina Simone’s “Four Women” with three SU alumni and reflected on her time at SU while back on campus.

During high school, Lawrence stopped singing outside of church. After starting school at SU, she finally returned to “singing fully” by joining the Black Celestial Choral Ensemble. She said it was there that she was allowed her to fully use her talent. Lawrence also filmed short videos of herself singing with her friends at SU and performed in talent shows.

Lawrence said she was happy to return back to singing because she sees it as a stress reliever and a vessel for self-expression.

Her favorite genres to sing are gospel and R&B, and among Lawrence’s favorite artists are “soulful” singers like Whitney Houston, Fantasia Barrino and Etta James. Although these artists have heavily influenced her, Lawrence likes to make her renditions of songs unique.

“I kind of put my own style into it, but I also blend,” Lawrence said. “A lot of the times I don’t stick to the standard one note. I like to let my voice just play, so I think that’s what makes me different.”

As a petite woman who describes herself as a “5-foot girl who looks 12,” Lawrence said that her voice often surprises people. Her best friend, 2013 SU alumna Simisola Williams said Lawrence breaks out of her shell when she begins singing.

“The fact that she’s so small but has such a big voice,” Williams said. “How her voice can carry throughout a room, I guess, is really what struck me.”

She has never recorded in an official recording studio, although she has completed a few amateur recordings on her own through GarageBand. Lawrence hopes to get into a studio soon and to have an original song released by December or January. This is a task that ties in with her goal of writing her own music.

Although Lawrence, a graduate student at New York University, plans to pursue a career in social work, she will always have a passion for singing.

“I love it. It’s a way for me to express myself, and I feel I was given this gift, so I should use it because, you know, everybody has a different talent,” Lawrence said. “You shouldn’t let it go to waste.”

Published on September 23, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Isha: idamle@syr.edu