Ultra Nate: Goddess Worship
by Terry Matthew | Published May 2007 | Features Archives
AN INSPIRATION TO A GENERATION of House Music divas, Ultra Naté (her real name!) is one of the most enduring dance music icons of our time. She exploded on the scene in 1989 with the release of "It's Over Now" and the irresistible thump of "Scandal" with the Basement Boys, and was gobbled up by Warner Brothers in the groundswell when it seemed that House Music was about to breakthrough into the mainstream. There were more beats than bling on MTV, lyrics on the radio that made you move instead of grimace and a funky designer fashion mimicked but never duplicated.
Thrust into the spotlight when she was barely out of her teens, Ultra found herself frustrated when her music industry handlers tried to turn a nightclub goddess into an R&B crooner. Her smokey voice moved on to legendary dance label Strictly Rhythm, where she recorded some of her most popular songs. Today, she's back with the release of her fifth full-length album, a wild aural kaleidoscope of sound textures and tunes, breakbeats and dirty House beats aptly titled Grime, Silk and Thunder.
Industry types may be cynical, but it's impossible to talk to Ultra Naté for more than a few minutes without getting high on her exuberance. It's not enough to haul around a scrapbook of Billboard chart hits, connections with the high and mighty and a body of work that would get her in the door of any swanky awards ceremony. In addition to being a marvellous songstress, she's also a songwriter, a DJ, a label owner, impresario to a growing stable of talent, a promoter responsible for the cornerstone event on Baltimore's House Music club scene, and, most recently, a mother.
Ultra was gracious enough to grant me time for a wide-ranging interview covering her almost accidental beginnings in the music industry, the lessons learned and her future plans for life, career, family and world domination.
5 MAGAZINE: You're in Baltimore, which is the city that everyone identifies you with. Didn't you ever feel the pull to migrate to New York or LA for your career?
ULTRA NATÉ: Actually, not at all! I was born not in Baltimore itself, but close by. Then we moved to Boston, where I spent many of my childhood years, and then we moved to Baltimore just before my teen years. I've lived here ever since. I never felt the necessity to move in order to work in my industry. I was signed from the very beginning to an international label, and from the beginning I was travelling internationally. Because the music is such a global thing, it doesn't really matter where you are.
5 MAGAZINE: I read that you became a mother recently. How has that changed things for you?
ULTRA: I did, 19 months old now - a boy! It's definitely heightened the responsibility factor. You're not flying by the seat of your pants like you were before - like whatever happens only affects yourself. Now you've got another person that you're completely 100% responsible for. And you're not only responsible for their financial security but also that person's development emotionally, spiritually - all of those things. It's really a heightened sense of awareness, but also very gratifying at the same time.
5 MAGAZINE: You've brought back a couple of your very early hit songs - "Scandal," which is one of my all-time favorite tunes, and "It's Over Now" - and released new versions on your latest record, Grime, Silk and Thunder. Why release these tracks again?
ULTRA: It was really out of necessity. So many fans from way back when that I've run into have asked where they can find a copy. Or they'll say like you did that "Scandal" or "It's Over Now" were one of their very first introductions to House Music, or that the song had some very special meaning or purpose in their life. They are really special songs to people but weren't available for many years. I thought it was really cool with this album, taking on a whole new level of responsibility with starting a new label, becoming a mother - all of this evolution and transition - to rework these songs so they'd once again have a lifespan and people that once appreciated and loved them will be able to hear them again. And also for people who just found out about me as an artist from big pop hits like "Free" and "Found a Cure" - those people missed out on my first two albums. It's nice for them to be able to get that vibe too.
5 MAGAZINE: Going back to 1989, 1990, which songs from your early recording career do you think still stand up on their own?
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