Today we’d like to introduce you to Khari Davis.
Khari, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As far as my clothing brand, it was actually started by my mother. About two years go, she started building the brand in Fort Worth, Texas and trying different things with tops to try and create a foundation for the apparel. After coming to a definite design, she ran with it. As she started to get things flowing, she introduced me to the business. I started off by helping her make shirts, make designs, pick up orders. She really was just showing me how the business works and how she keeps everything moving. I had previously had a clothing brand of my own and used to sell clothing and apparel, so I was slightly familiar with having a business. Also, growing up, my family owned a lot of businesses so entrepreneurship was always apart of my plans growing up. I started taking my mother’s clothes, ordering my own set of different colors and tops, and taking them to school with me in Houston.
I attend Texas Southern University so during events like homecoming and spring fest, I would always book a spot with the yard fest. Doing that every semester definitely built a name for my brand on campus, People would start asking me more about the brand, I was getting more orders in, and started making a good amount of money every week. My mom has given me the freedom now to not only keep pushing the brand, but we’ve become partners, and I have made my own “trust the process” designs. We just released a Black History Month collection in February and have more things coming in the Spring. As far as GoldenChild, it has been nothing but blessings for me since I’ve taken my musical path seriously.
Growing up my entire family was musically influenced, both sides. I’ve always had a strong passion for music. I grew up singing at my grandfather’s church and also playing the piano like my grandfather. As a preteen my parents tried to push me more into the music industry but we had a lot of disagreements on the type of music I was producing. Although I was only 11 or 12 years old at the time, I had a great sense of the sound and style I wanted to create. However, I was too young to voice my opinion at the time and the conflict overshadowed my confidence to continue to do music. As I continued to grow, I tried stepping away from music throughout high school and the beginning of college, but I always stayed slightly connected. I wanted to focus more on school and other goals mainly because some of my immediate family members would tell me that I shouldn’t focus on music. That music will always be there for me and I don’t need to try and pursue it as a career. But I’ve always had an itch telling me otherwise, telling me that this is what I was born to do.
During the Winter of 2018, my mother asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told her the only thing I wanted was a studio set for the house. She got me a microphone, two speakers, an audio cable, and a software called “PreSonus” to record my music on. Not even a month later, I released my first single “817 FLEX” under the name “GoldenChild” Within the first three days of the song’s release, it had already hit 1,000 plays on Soundcloud. Within the first week, it hit 3,000 plays. I had got so much good feedback that I released another song on Valentine’s day, and also had a couple features released that same month. One of those features turned out to be a local favorite titled “So What’ by Tobacco Ryan. Tobacco Ryan was actually my roommate at the time, and we made that song in my dorm. He was somebody I looked up to and still do to this day. He encouraged me to take music seriously and gave me confidence that my music was good and I could go somewhere with this.
After “So What,” I definitely started getting noticed more and people would always DM or see me on campus and ask when more music was coming. I released my next single in November of 2019 titled “Chose”. This track also gave me a lot of great feedback and recognition. This is honestly probably one of my favorite songs I’ve wrote to this day. Just recently, February 22, 2020, I released my first project ever titled “Birth of A Sun”. This project was a mixtape gathered of 8 songs I had worked on since I first got my studio equipment, including “817 FLEX” & “Chose”. I held a release the night before the release of my mixtape at Options HTX and received so much love. It was a great turnout and people really loved the music. After this year of taking music seriously, I have no doubt in my mind that this is my calling, my act of service that I am supposed to be doing right now. You can listen to my first mixtape on all streaming platforms, and follow me on social media to keep updated not only on my music but the clothing as well.
Has it been a smooth road?
As I continued to grow, I tried stepping away from music throughout high school and the beginning of college, but I always stayed slightly connected. I wanted to focus more on school and other goals mainly because some of my immediate family members would tell me that I shouldn’t focus on music. That music will always be there for me and I don’t need to try and pursue it as a career. This played a toll on me growing up because I could never understand why I would do anything else other than what I love to do. But as a child, you just do what you’re told. I had to overcome that fear of disappointing or failing and take the risk to do what I want to do. Take the risk to do what I love to do. As far as the clothing brand, the only challenges I ever had was staying on top of my orders and publicity, while also dealing with school and music as well. It definitely can be a lot to handle at times, but I know I can.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am most proud of the independence I have with my music and my business. I released a project on my own, paid for all of the studio hours on my own, wrote the music on my own. My family didn’t really know about my music until my project was out. What I’m most proud of myself with my business is the success I have got from pushing the brand in Houston. Getting in the events as a vendor, wearing my brand everyday, I was out there all alone and did it. My mom handled DFW, but I handled Houston. It caused me to mature and be more disciplined in order to manage everything I had going on. I believe the independence sets me apart from others.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I do think Houston is a good location for my business. I definitely would recommend it to other people just starting out because of the networking. That’s what I love about Houston, Texas. You never know how the next person could help you, but everything and almost everyone you need is already around you, you just have to find it.
Pricing:
- T-shirt – $20
- Crewneck – $30
- Hoodie – $35
Contact Info:
- Website: themelodienicole.com
- Phone: 8179915952
- Email: davis.khari98@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/g0ld3nchild_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/khari.davis.71
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kidnamedkhari
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