How has your hometown affected your lives and careers?

Kourtney: I think it affected our careers in a positive way considering Detroit is Motown. Here you are in a city where all these legendary people have been, have recorded, have performed and just to come from that legacy. We grew up in that, my Grandfather was the lead singer of the Four Tops and they were literally with me. Just to be able to be in that atmosphere is like an honor.

Melanee: It’s weird, living in Detroit, I don’t know if it affected our lives outside of our careers cause it’s just home. You don’t feel like “oh man I grew up in Detroit!” it’s normal.

What made you all pick the name DMK?

Damoli: I don’t even know if we want to say [laughs]

Kourtney: It stood for something completely different when we were kids, 11, 12 maybe. I don’t even want to say it.

Damoli: Basically now it stands for our names, oldest to youngest, Damoli, Melanie, Kourtney. That’s what it stands for now.

Kourtney: Before, if you look it up on Google, it was a name given to us in an organization that we met in. it was like ‘DMK, let’s think of something. Detroit Musical Kuties with a K!’ At 9,10 we were like that’s cute!

Melanee: By the time we get to high school we had to change it, it just happened to work out.

You started taking music seriously at age 11?

Kourtney: It’s really weird cause we been singing for so long. There was a moment in a play where we all sang together and just like the reaction of everybody else made us think, “maybe we really need to do this.” When we did the play and all sang with each other, that was the moment we knew we wanted to make this into something. It got really serious when we all graduated from high school and that’s when you ask: are we going to college? We told our parents no college and that’s what it has been since then.

Who are your biggest influences?

Kourtney: En Vogue, SWV, TLC. We all love Brandy, we crazy about Brandy. We all love Beyonce, who don’t love Beyonce? I love Anita Baker.

Damoli: I love Minnie Riperton, I love her vocal range and all of her notes, she’s great.

Melanee: I love Toni Braxton that’s my auntie. She just don’t know it yet.

Kourtney: Of course the Motown groups for sure.