Poisonous Stardom

TW: Mention of suicide through overdose

HHM @Harmony Haven Music

It has been 4 years since Dawn Drake’s death, and we at Harmony Haven are still deeply saddened by her passing.

Dawn was one of the brightest stars we have raised since she was a teenager. She had the brightest smile on her face when interacting with her fans or recording a new album, excited when she heard a fan cover one of her songs, and talking about it for days, doing silly little pranks on movie sets.

To honor her legacy, on her birthday at Calming Oasis at 5 PM, we are hosting a showcase highlighting all her songs and movies over the years.

Tickets here!

Itz @THATGIRL- 9/15/23

It’s been 2 years since you passed Auntie DD 😭 Fly high angel 🕊

IG Story- @realmd

14 hr

My mom hated Dawn Drake.

It wasn’t her, Jelani Woods. Dawn Drake was loud, boastful, always in drama, and the center of attention. Jelani Woods was soft, quiet, hated drama, and in the background.

Mom hated Dawn Drake but she didn’t know who else to be but her. There would be times growing up when I would see someone different from Dawn Drake, someone more peaceful, calm, real. I cherished those moments even though I didn’t understand what was going on. I didn’t know she had lost herself, and that was the real her.

In private and public, she didn’t seem like herself, like she was playing a role she was contorted into and she had no option but to play that role. She was like a puppet, all her movements were out of her control.

She hated everything that came from being famous; no privacy, every aspect of her life being controlled, and being the center of attention. As much as she hated being the center of attention, she also craved it; it was addictive, and Harmony Haven knew this. She was able to be seen by people and praised for her accomplishments. As part of their contract, . When that attention would fade from her, however, she would get it back on her.

Mom hated Dawn Drake but also loved her.

SHELLY @kixxz12- 10/25/24

when did malaya drake changed her last name to Woods 🤔

@the_archives

Not that long ago, she had mentioned it in a story that she changed it to honor her mom and she didn’t want to be associated with that last name

HHM @Harmony Haven Music- 9/15/21

It is with heavy hearts that we report that Dawn Drake, or DD, has unfortunately passed away

CATTTSSSS @aristoCAT

y’all lyinnnnn 😭 ain’t no way

_juzt @ADRI

WHAT!? I was jusy listening to one of her songs a few minutes ago

its ya boy @jay.z

I feel like something weird happened surrounding her death

who am i? @theone

cmon man don’t turn this into aaliyah or MJ set up situation

its ya boy @jay.z

I’m talking about Harmony Haven

WEEKLY CELEB Breaking News!: Famous controversial child star found dead due to an overdose at age 46

Jelani Woods, commonly known as Dawn Drake or DD, has been found dead in her apartment due to an overdose, no foul play suspected, police say.

Jelani Woods rose to fame when she was 16, publishing her first single with record company, Harmony Haven. Jelani quickly rises to fame shortly afterwards. Publishing her first album only a year later which also quickly blew up. After a few years of publishing music, Jelani joins the movie industry.

Over the years, Jelani has been a part of multiple controversies. From cheating to creating, spreading, and being a part of rumors, she has been in the face of the media for years.

At 11:07 AM, Malaya Drake, Jelani’s daughter, walked into her mom’s apartment and found her unresponsive. After multiple attempts of CPR from Malaya herself and paramedics, Jelani Woods was pronounced dead at the scene.

WEEKLY CELEB: Dawn Drake’s long-lost friend speaks out

Jalisa Jones, Dawn Drake’s childhood and high school friend, speaks out on her Instagram about their friendship:

“Growing up, me and Jelani used to be childhood friends until the end of high school. We were like sisters. We told each other everything, shared clothes, tears, you name it. I, um, still have her favorite bear with me. I remember there was this one time when she was at my house, and Jelani loved sweets and in the kitchen, my parents had a cabinet filled with her favorite sweets and soon everyone started to call her that due to her love of sweets.

Jelani wasn’t the biggest talker as we were growing up; I was the one who would start the conversations and introduce ourselves to new people. Sweets wasn’t talkative because she wasn’t that shy; she never had a lot to say, she had a lot of thoughts, but never said them aloud. She always thought no one would really care for what she said so she only shared her thoughts with me.”

“In high school, Sweets used to follow me everywhere like a little duckling. A lot of the kids at our highschool thought I was annoyed by her following me, but I didn’t mind at all. She was like my child or little sister, as I am about 2 or 3 years older than her. You would never see one without the other following close behind. Sweets had a few friends outside of me that she would hang out with, but she would usually be with me.”

“One day, she had called me and told me how she had joined this music company, and they were going to help her publish her first single. No one really knew that Sweets could sing besides our families, so I was pleasantly taken aback when she told me this. We had talked about it for the whole night and then some until the release date.

When the release date came and the song got published, it was an instant hit. For the next few weeks, people would recognize her and stop her on the street to talk to her and I would see how she would light up before diving into the conversation. She would joke that she could get used to the attention, and I had laughed, telling her not to let it get to her head, and she promised it wouldn’t. It was also around this time she took up Dawn Drake.

Soon afterwards, she released her first album and that also blew up, and from there she was on a roll. However, with each single and album that she published, it would take longer for it to become blow up. When she first took notice, she wondered if it was something that she was doing, and I explained my thoughts to her. She didn’t like it and we had gotten into an argument about it.”

“Something that many people may not know is that Jelani never got a whole lot of attention growing up and was often compared since she had a few more successful siblings who were older. Her parents would often compare her to them and ask why she isn’t like that. Each time, she had accomplished something, her parents compared it to one of her siblings who did better. So this attention from her fans, she cherished and adored.

A few days after our argument, I was told by another friend of ours that Jelani had gotten into a fight with another up-and-coming celebrity, and everyone was talking about it, and after that, it went downhill. She did everything under the sun to stay in the spotlight; siccing her fans on other celebrities, cheating, causing drama, and scandals. We had gotten into multiple arguments because of this, and we soon drifted apart.”

“Even though we had drifted apart, I still followed her to see if she was okay and how her life was going, which is how I learned about her daughter Malaya. I could always tell from pictures and snippets of interviews she was tired of being in the center but also loved it. It’s hard to describe but when you’ve known someone for years you can just tell.

I just wanted to come out and share this to tell you guys that the Sweets you guys saw was a different person before everything.”