If I could be the sea witch, Ursula, from Disney’s The Little Mermaid and steal someone’s voice it would be Kat Dahlia’s. Her raspy vocals and undeniable swagger makes her the perfect vocalist to interpret heartfelt lyrics while never losing her cool. Kat Dahlia is a Cuban-American singer-songwriter who is making a name for herself with her insightful lyrics, infectious beats and debut album “My Garden.”
Back in January on the heels of the release of her record we spoke to the songstress about the making of the album.
She described her debut album as, “a medley of different songs and sounds that [she] had written in the past 3 years.” Explaining that, “it really wasn’t this planned set thing where I was like, ‘this is what I want my album to sound like, [and] I want it to be this genre. [Or] I want it to be about one subject.’ It was really about life experiences and time passing.” She drew inspiration from everyday life stating, “I would get inspired again and write another song. It was really just about choosing the best of the best and kind of putting them into one project.”
The bilingual songstress also spoke candidly about wanting to shatter stereotypes that follow Latino artists. “A lot of people were pushing me in that direction,” she said in regards to wanting her music to appeal more to the Latin market. She continued, “A lot of pushing like trying to put me in this box of [being] a Latin pop star and I really, really was against it. I don’t know… I almost even felt…I don’t want to say insulted but just because I’m Latina all of sudden you want to what? Put maracas in my hands and get me to shake my ass? It kind of made me feel uncomfortable because the truth is the modern day [Latina] girl [that was born in the US] has both sides. We listened to Hip Hop growing up, we listened to R&B growing up, we also listen to Salsa, Merengue, Bachata and Reggaeton but we were also listening to Pop and Hip Hop so I think that my sound is a bit of a mixture of those two and I didn’t want to have to do the Latin, typical genre.”
Dahlia is far from typical and her rebellious nature is another reason why critics and fans alike have fallen under her spell. “This is the direction we’re going into,” she said. “[Latinos] are doing all types of genres and that’s the great and exciting thing about it. It’s not like it’s a secret; I’m always happy and proud to mention that I’m Cuban but I also don’t milk it like it’s some kind of get rich quick card.”
For all these reasons and about a thousand more Kat Dahlia’s “My Garden” is Sinister Girlz’s pick for Best Album of 2015. Congratulations Kat!