She left her hometown of Miami on a whim, moved to New York. Then spit the verses to her breakout hit “Gangsta” in one take, moved into the limelight. But Kat Dahlia doesn’t live moment to moment – she co-exists with the world as if she and the globe are BFF roommates splitting rent. The two share everything.
A week after her exclusive Pure DOPE cover shoot in New York, the soul-stirring singer was bicycling through Berlin. In town to open for Reggae-Dancehall collective Seeed, Kat elected to take in the sights and sounds of the historic city. That said, who would have anticipated the curvaceous Cuban with the effortless sex appeal - and one of the most impassioned voices of her generation - would get tipsy and attempt to scale the Berlin Wall?
Kat Dahlia is fun, and fearless, and quite conscious of how sexy it is to be excitingly rebellious. She can also be socio-culturally decorous, displaying an impressively fierce emotional independence that one can’t help but be encouraged to mirror. Kat’s music fights, confidently and creatively and musically, for the people who listen to it. She speaks for them while singing to them. The two songs she has delivered since “Gangsta”, “Mirror” and “Clocks”, hit radios calm waters equally as hard and instantly made waves, further fueling anticipation for Dahlia’s debut album My Garden. She chilled out with us to dish on Spanish albums, espresso martini’s, and the mysticism of music.
Written by Tone Swep
Creative Director: Billy Anthony
Photography by: Miranda Barnes
Stylist: Lisbeth Cervantes Hair: Melange NYC MUA: Eve Chen
Location: Melange NYC in New York, NY.
Date: August 15, 2013
Read an Excerpt from the Full Length Interview
(Tone Swep: TS) Let’s begin with a conversation about Miami, your hometown. There was this Latin Pop surge with Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine in the late 70’s. Do you feel as though you are bringing that cultural vibe and feel back to the mainstream now in the 2010’s? It’s needed and sorely missed.
(Kat Dahlia: Kat) Well, I think that’s my goal ultimately. To definitely bring Latin music back to the forefront, especially to my hometown. In the past, ever since Gloria and a few other artists, when it comes to Latin popular music there hasn’t really been anyone. Especially on the female side. I’m going to Miami and working with some amazing producers for my Spanish album to make certain I have the right feel and sound in the music.
(TS) Coincidentally, Gloria was on The View today telling Barbara Walters, Sherri Shepherd and Whoopi Goldberg how her family would basically smuggle Frank Sinatra’s music into Cuba for her to enjoy and ultimately study. What is so powerful about music that compels one to struggle so hard, fight so fearlessly, to create it?
(Kat) It’s because of the message. There’s a message in music. People who really fight for their music, they want to tell their world something. They have something to share with the world. I fight for it because I want to be heard. I have things to say that people want to hear. People can learn, empathize, and relate to my life experiences. Music is this enchantment that we all enjoy. There is something mystical about it. We can’t touch it, smell it. We just feel and listen. I love the mysticism. And with that mysticism comes great pleasure and great reward, so for me it’s so rewarding to make music and sway people, compel people, move people.
(TS) We get a sense of fearlessness from you. Feminine, attractive, but bold and fierce at the same time. Where do those character traits derive from?
(Kat) I guess it’s just from my life experiences. From the knowledge I gained growing up. I read a lot of spiritual books growing up while seeking the true meaning of life, why are we here. Life is always going to be a mystery. We are here for however long we are here for. Just from the knowledge that I picked up growing up. And from my past lives as a prostitute and a pirate and a princess and a prisoner (Laughs!).
Photographed by: Miranda Barnes ★ MUA by: Eve Chen
(TS) What is your favorite song on My Garden?
(Kat) That’s a tough one. I don’t know if I can answer that one! That’s like saying who’s your favorite child.
(TS) Come on, Kat. I need you to pick a baby (Laughs!).
(Kat) Maaaaaaan! (Laughs!). That’s not even right. No, okay, so… one of them is actually My Garden, just because it’s so sexy but also very serious. Walk On Water is another record I wrote. It’s just so powerful. The production is like a film score. You’re attracted to the ocean and you feel like you can walk on water sometimes, but we are reminded that we can’t if we try to. But we still attempt it, as we should. Test the waters. It’s very strong and has a persona to it, so I would say those two are my favorites. But I love them all.
Go Behind-The-Scenes with Kat Dahlia at her Exclusive DOPE MAG Cover Shoot
Watch Kat Dahlia‘s Smash Single “GANGSTA“
Watch Kat Dahlia Perform “CLOCKS” Live
Read Kat Dahlia‘s Pure DOPE Magazine Exclusive in the Fall 2k13 “NOW” Issue - Arrives Worldwide 9.24