Adanna Duru’s digital footprint wasn’t always like this. In her first viral TikTok, posted in 2021, the 28-year-old Nigerian American singer delivered an impressive rendition of Beyoncé’s “Halo” while embracing her mom in a sweet video that Tina Knowles herself reposted. Today, the Los Angeles–based artist is best known online for musical memes where she channels different emoji and flips hit songs to make them more salacious or include more lyrical references to poop, among several other recurring bits that have pushed her to more than 3.3 million followers on Instagram and TikTok combined. The former American Idol and The Voice contestant initially built a modest internet following as a vocal coach, but after her manager encouraged her to show off her silly side, her content took a turn. “I was like, Oh, this is actually really fun. Just wearing my bonnet and going viral and not having this old-school mentality of, When I’m singing, I have to look so presentable and hot and beautiful,” she says.

Once making videos (and getting brand deals) became her full-time job in 2022, Duru dedicated more time to expanding her discography influenced by R&B, pop, and Afrobeats. She released her biggest hit to date, “POP!,” and a collaboration with Grammy-nominated Renaissance man Leven Kali, all while continuing to build an impressive following online. Celebrities from Queen Latifah to Cynthia Erivo follow Duru on Instagram, and SZA, another follower, defended her online against “misogynoir” in the music industry last year.

Still, the stats for Duru’s latest music don’t yet match the numbers she typically pulls for funny videos. Ahead of the release of her next song, “Tick,” she’s clear that she doesn’t want being one of the internet’s favorite singing meme machines to be her main gig forever. “I’ve figured out a way to make it my income, which has been incredible and a dream, but music is always the dream,” she says. “I’m always like, ‘Okay, but also stream the music, because this shit’s fire.’”

I was just on TikTok singing anything, and I would go viral almost every time I did the dolphin. It’s a three-pointer, right in the hoop, every time, so it’s become kind of a staple and an inside joke with me and my viewers. The emo one is the same thing. I always imitated Camp Rock and early Demi Lovato and Jonas Brothers; I break out into that voice all the time with my friends.

I love the ghost; she’s tea. I love cursive. And then, obviously, I love dolphin. The kitten’s really cute. I think my favorite new emoji I’ve done is the phone vibrating. I just go [buzzes]. I used to randomly do that in high school. The teacher would be like, “Whose phone is that?” And the kids around me would all be in on it.

Honestly, low-key, probably the grandma, because she’s low and husky. I feel like I’m a power alto. I guess I could call myself a mezzo, but I am very comfortable in the lower ranges.

That’s truly the meat of it all. Obviously, I got on the internet for vocal coaching at first, but the overarching theme was that I want to make music. That’s why I’m singing in all my videos. Right now, like a hundred thousand songs a day are uploaded onto Spotify. There’s so much good music, and there’s so much more crap — like, fake music being uploaded by bots — so it’s hard to get your music heard.

The content game is a grind. There’s a huge difference between just hopping on the internet to be funny sometimes and making it your literal income. I know one day music is gonna be my main source of income, and then I’ll be able to post funny videos just because I think the videos are funny. Versus now, where I have no idea how many videos I’ve made, I’ve pumped out so many. It’s work, you know? I’m on the clock.

“Music @ white clubs” took over the internet in the most hilarious way in late 2022, early 2023. I saw a video of this girl talking about white clubs. She said something like, “I hate when I go to a club and they start playing my song and then all of a sudden it goes ‘doo-doo-doo-dooo,’ and then they lose me.” And I was like, Bruh, I say this all the time with my friends, because I grew up in a super white area. You’d hear the hit songs, and then it’d turn into some fist-pumping requiem, and you’re just pissed. So those videos just went crazy.

“Types of singers” is another one. I sing one song and switch vocal styles throughout. Emoji are a shorter, quicker version of that, where I’ll just say a word or phrase, and it’s different emoji onscreen. These were already existing trends, but they just worked really well on my account, so I just kept doing them. And I’ll occasionally flip some songs and do the poop, pee, or whatever remixes. Those go up in the club, let me tell you.

There is a tension there. But if I have a funny idea, I’m going to want to post it and share it with people. So for whoever’s like, “I will die if she doesn’t post another meme,” don’t worry — I will always post memes. Especially because the content business is just so much more lucrative than music.

I’ve made peace with the fact that most of my followers just want to see memes. But that’s okay, because I’m technically still a super-new artist, and this is my journey. The whole time, the point was for me to make music and perform. And the memes have given me the freedom to do that, so it’s just a stepping stone. It’s just the beginning.

It’s definitely evolved. At first, I thought, I’m gonna get followers so labels will take me seriously. But I was getting so many nos no matter how many followers I had. “She was on American Idol, that’s not cool.” “She’s vocal coaching, that’s not cool.” There was always a reason why I wasn’t good enough. Then I started going super-viral, and I was like, Well, fuck thinking about labels. I’m making a bunch of money being myself. This is sick. I’ve gotten so much access and so many opportunities just from putting myself online.

I definitely think so. There’s so much room to be silly in music and in visuals for music. The next couple of songs that I have coming out are very much not serious. I have a song, “Tick,” that is slated to drop on June 27, and we’re just having so much fun making a bunch of little dance videos.

Exactly. Like, okay, it’s just a joke … a terrible joke! [Laughs.] Bad joke, nasty joke. Simple. I mean, I’m no expert, but I know when something’s funny, and that was just one of many disrespectful conversations at the label. They didn’t talk to me and my manager for a year after “POP!” dropped. It was crazy, ’cause the song was doing good, and no one in the building cared.

She came to my rescue, and she just ate him up. She went into his comments and was like, “If you don’t know how to market her aesthetic, then let her go. Hand her to me.” I’m like, You’re so cute. Save me, SZA! She’s a queen, and so supportive of so many other artists. And it was really validating to see so many people come through and support. So many Black girls were just like, “Bruh.” You know, we all deal with it.

We hung out one time before that happened. We were on a boat, which is actually so on brand. [Laughs.] We have a mutual friend. I haven’t seen her since then, but we’ve chatted in the DMs, and she’s always liking and commenting. I don’t know if she knows how good even just a “like” feels. And usually she’s liking my music stuff, not the memes. It means so much every time.

No, literally. I’m like, “Uhhh, if you don’t like this, random white man, SZA likes it, so it doesn’t really matter what you say.” She’s my ultimate target audience for sure.

Being on those shows so young definitely turned off the part of my brain that was like, I’m so afraid of being perceived. I’m afraid for people to talk bad about me. I’m not afraid to be seen trying and the vulnerability that comes with that, especially because I know so many people secretly just want to do the thing they’re hating on.

I was like, I don’t know anyone in the music industry, my parents are from Nigeria, I live in a random town — anything is cool! I was able to build my vocal-coaching business up and be stable for a couple years because of those shows, so I was always super grateful for that reason. But I never thought I’d follow up Carrie Underwood; I knew those days were gone. And again, these viral videos have now given me the roof over my head, clothes on my back, a whole network and lifestyle that American Idol just could never ever.

Just fucking do it. Put it up. No one gives a shit. Attention spans are at an all-time low. Think about the last five videos you watched today. You could probably only think of two. Nobody cares. Post it. Don’t try to be cool. Mystique is out the window.

I don’t really talk to my dad. My mom raised us as a single parent, but my mom’s very proud and happy for me. But I don’t think she understands any of the jokes.

You’re singing about poop, and she’s in the comments — 
Yeah, she’s just like, “Love you! You look so pretty.”

What are your goals for the next year or two?
I’m gonna release a shit ton of music. Now that I’m independent, I don’t have to answer to anybody, so I’m just gonna flood the market with some songs.

Are there any dream collabs you’d like to manifest?
SZA, Beyoncé, Tems … I’m trying to think of male artists that I really am on right now. Obviously I’d love to work with Wizkid, with Fireboy DML. Ayra Starr follows me, and I’m a huge fan of hers. I’m so proud of that girl; so many Nigerian girls are so proud of her. I’m literally getting emotional thinking about it. So that’s another dream collab as well.

With SZA, it sounds like you could just DM her and ask.
Hey, whenever she’s ready, she knows that I am salivating.