The Journey
Inward.
"I spent years building a career that everyone could see. At some point, I realized I hadn't built a life I could actually live in."
Executive Snapshot
DeWayne Woods has spent more than two decades making music that has reached churches, stages, and playlists around the world. His breakout project remained on Billboard's Gospel Albums chart for 73 weeks, and his song "Let Go" eventually went Platinum years after it was released — something that still surprises him.
He has worked with Atlantic Starr, John P. Kee, Donald Lawrence, Kurt Carr and Byron Cage. He has won awards. He has traveled. He has seen rooms filled.
But that's only part of the story.
Today, he also leads Soul Engineer — work centered on helping people build lives that don't collapse under the weight of their own success.
The Early Calling
Music wasn't a strategy. It was just where I felt honest.
I noticed early that when I sang, people relaxed. Something in the room shifted. I didn't analyze it. I just paid attention.
I wasn't thinking about charts or certifications. I was thinking about whether the song meant something.
That instinct never really left.
Public Success & Private Questions
As things grew, so did the expectations.
More travel. More output. More responsibility.
I learned how to handle the moment. I learned how to deliver. I learned how to keep moving.
What I didn't always stop to ask was whether I was building anything underneath all of it.
There wasn't a crash. There wasn't a dramatic turning point.
There was just a quiet realization that talent can take you far, but it won't hold you together.
The Inward Work
I started making small adjustments.
Protecting time.
Listening more.
Letting myself be something other than "the voice."
I had to build the same discipline into my personal life that I gave to my music.
The process didn't feel grand. It felt necessary.
Over time, it became clearer what I was actually doing.
I wasn't just making songs.
I was building structure.
Soul Engineer grew out of that awareness — not as a brand, but as language for something I had been learning the hard way.
Where It Stands Now
I still love the music.
I still love stepping into rooms where something shifts.
But I care just as much about what supports the person standing in that room.
That's the work now.
The songs continue.
The growth continues.
The building continues.
Just from a steadier place.
Selected Career Highlights
Platinum-Certified Recording Artist
73 Weeks on Billboard Gospel Albums Chart
53 Weeks on Billboard Hot Gospel Songs Chart
Stellar Award Winner, Dove Award and Grammy Award Nominee
RIAA Gold (2022) and RIAA Platinum (2023)
Lead Vocalist, Atlantic Starr
Collaborations with John P. Kee, Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers, Kurt Carr & The Kurt Carr Singers, and Byron Cage as BGV producer and arranger