At the age of 16, she left home and focused on her music, joining the reggae and soul bands Culture Roots and Family Affair.

Around the same time, Denalane came in first contact with hip hop group Freundeskreis, who searched for a female counterpart to lead singer Max Herre's voice on their track "Mit Dir" then.

She also performed in New York City and Philadelphia for the first time and eventually received a Comet for Best Hip-Hop/R&B National and three ECHO nominations, including Best Female Artist.

Soon after she released a live edition of Mamani on CD and DVD, which was recorded during a special performance at Berlin's Tränenpalast and involved a set of previously unreleased remakes.

Pre-programmed in Germany, the album was entirely recorded in Philadelphia and features appearances by American rappers Lupe Fiasco, Raekwon, and Governor.

In August 2014, Denalane became a judge on the debut season of the RTL reality program, Rising Star along with Sasha, Gentleman, and Anastacia.