Singer-songwriter Victory Boyd, who was discovered while crooning on a New York City street corner, opened up about her blossoming music career in an interview with "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts.
"I always say my career started at 4 years old," Boyd told Roberts. "I say 'career' because I took it so seriously."
Boyd comes from a musical family. As one of nine children, she’s been around music all of her life. Her father was a member of The Detroit Community Choir and as a child, she just wanted to be like the rest of her family and sing, but she was too young to participate in the choir.
"I kept begging to be in the choir," Boyd explained to Roberts. "They broke the rules for me. They allowed me to sing and I’m like, I’m not going to let them down."
Ever since then she's "never stopped taking this opportunity to sing for granted," she added.
Boyd and her family often partook in fundraising for their choir. Among recording CD’s and other various fundraisers, they found particular success with "busking."
"Busking has been around for centuries," she said. "What it is is when an artist or a musician sits down on a street corner, or stands at a street corner and performs, they exercise their craft."
"And any passerby-ers that enjoys the music, they give a tip, or a smile, preferably tips," she quipped.
They found that playing on the streets and at music festivals could, in some cases, be more profitable than selling CD’s.
Eventually her family decided to take their talents to New York City.
Boyd began her musical career by "busking" on the streets of New York. For ten years she and her family shared their music with listeners in Central Park.
It was through "busking" that Boyd was eventually able to sign with Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s record label. A viral recording of her singing eventually caught the eye (or ear) of the legendary rap artist.
"One thing led to another, and eventually we were introduced to Jay-Z, who signed our whole family," she said.
"To get affirmation from Jay-Z was a confidence booster," Boyd told Roberts. "It didn’t matter anymore from the naysayers."
The singer released an EP in November of 2017. The release features five songs, two of them being classics like "Feeling Good" and Stevie Wonder’s "Overjoyed."
Her recently released debut album, "The Broken Instrument," features 13 original R&B songs. The songstress treated "GMA" to a sample performance live from Roberts' dressing room.