Whitney Andrews, professionally known as Melanin, was born in Washington, D.C. in 1991 to parents native to the Caribbean islands of St. Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago. Her family migrated to the United States when she was young, and she was raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

During high school, Whitney sang in church and school choirs, often singing as lead soloist. In the fall of 2010, she enrolled at Oakwood University, where she double majored in Spanish and International Studies. While at Oakwood, she became a member of the Dynamic Praiz gospel choir and auditioned for the campus music competition Making the Group. Upon winning the competition, she became a member of the vocal group Serenity, performing throughout the southeastern United States. She also spent a year abroad in Valencia, Spain, where she joined a local choral group during her time there.

Following the completion of her undergraduate studies, the solo artist Melanin began to emerge in the summer of 2015 after winning a karaoke competition in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2016, she taught in Honduras and began learning guitar. In 2017, she collaborated with DMV-based artist PDOT on his album Amongst God, and in January 2018, the two opened for R&B artist Jacquees at Karma DC. That same year, Melanin performed at the Daze Summit annual fundraiser, released her debut single Never Alone, and appeared as a featured artist on “Sages” by AZA and “Riden4me” by Jamine Shakur and Judge Purnell, alongside Chicago-based independent rapper Mick Jenkins.

In 2019, Melanin traveled to Trinidad to record her single Lock It Up, which was released in 2020 during the pandemic. She followed with One Night, recorded in Miami and released in 2021, and later appeared on Dat Boy B’s 2022 album on the track Jewelry Store. In March 2023, she released the single Latency. In the spring of 2024, she released Let Me Heal II (The Mantra), a healing mantra created following the passing of her father. In spring 2025, she released Let Me Heal. In the fall of 2025, the Amazon Prime documentary Motherland Connect premiered, featuring Melanin as part of the film’s cast. That same year, she released her guided journal Moonlit Reflections sold on Amazon, under Nullus Est Guru LLC, followed by the release of her album L.O.V.E. in December 2025.

Melanin is also the host of the podcast Nobody’s Guru under Nullus Est Guru LLC, where she explores themes of self-awareness, spirituality, creativity, and lived experience. A full-time creative, singer-songwriter, and content creator, she performs and records across a wide range of genres including R&B, Jazz, Classical, Soul, Hip-Hop, Rock, Country, EDM, Dancehall, Soca, Reggae, and Afrobeats. Her multicultural upbringing, classical vocal training, use of Spanish in her music, and global musical exposure, compound attribution to her versatility as an artist, leaving a lasting impression through both sound and storytelling.