Dajae Interview
by Czarina Mirani | Published October 2005 | Features Archives
IN THE HOUSE COMMUNITY, the term "family" runs the gamut of House enthusiasts: gay, straight, bisexual, black, white, brown and otherwise. The "children" is a term that some house enthusiasts use to describe themselves.
The black woman, personified as the House diva, takes the role of the "mother" of the House. The genesis of house divas is placed within African-American musical traditions of the gospel church, which featured matriarchal lead vocalists. Female singer Dajae is a prime example of a fabulous black House diva.
"You Got Me Up", "Brighter Days"... Who can forget such classic, uplifting songs that raise one's spirits? Dajae's voice is like Sunday church at the club. She is classic Chicago. People from all walks of life relate to her songs about striving past obstacles and reaching on, despite anything that may stand in the way. Her voice seems to hit that primal chord in our hearts that when hearing it forever swears our allegiance to House.
THE ARTIST
Karen Gordon was born the youngest of three children, and as she says, "came out of the womb singing." Her father was a doo-wop singer, and from the very start she always had the gift of song. Singing every moment she could, the radio was her best friend. Never professionally trained, this natural vocalist learned breathing techniques from the likes of Patti LaBelle and Aretha Franklin.
By the time she turned 18, she knew she wanted to be an R&B star. She was part of several groups, including Neutral Force, Special Touch and Suede. The latter group won a talent contest at the Regal Theater, and that night she met Wayne Williams from Jive Records. The connection led to background singer opportunities with the likes of R. Kelly and Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. At one point Williams suggested she try singing House, but Karen was still set on singing R&B.
Lucky for us, she eventually turned her musical talents to the genre, and her first House song - "Keep Moving" on Clubhouse Records - was recorded under the pseudonym of "Naná". Given the number of singers named Karen at the time, she renamed herself with the more dramatic "Dajae". Label owners Hula & K. Fingers introduced her to producer Cajmere, and the rest, as we say, is history.
Cajmere and Dajae co-wrote and worked on tracks such as "U Got Me Up", "Brighter Days", "Day by Day", "Fakes and Phonies" and her album Higher Power on his label Cajual Records. Interestingly enough, Karen says that even with all these songs, it took her a full year to really understand House music. When Masters at Work approached Cajmere with the offer to do remixes for "Brighter Days", she said "Okay! But who's Masters at Work?"
Throughout the '90s, Dajae continued to sing, including a brief stint with the House band Mr. A.L.I. For the past three years, she's been working on a project with Dustraxx Records.
Dajae has a strong desire to come back strong and hard, and has a powerhouse team of producers behind her: Ron Carroll, Jerry McAllister and Harrison Crump. When asked if it would be spiritual songs similar to her earlier work, she says that people may be taken aback by the content: a lot of party songs, with the occasional love song thrown in. With the release looming near, Dajae wants to put out a lot of songs, without having to wait around for others anymore. "This year is the year I decided to move on and do other things."
THOUGHTS
Although Dajae is an extremely positive individual, I did ask her if there was anything in particular about the House music scene that she wasn't fond of. Her one gripe is the relative anonymity of the artists. "There's no face behind House music when it comes to artists. This is not necessarily the producer's fault... It's always about who has the hot name." I told her that she wasn't alone, as even her peer Ron Carroll mentioned the same thing in the September issue of
5 magazine. Go inside any records store and note the credits are always written as "producer so-and so-presents..." as opposed to the singer getting her own shine.
"There's not a lot of vocals anymore," Dajae says. Songs today tend towards the trackier, electronic side of things. Naturally being a vocalist, this bias is understandable, as she jokingly cracks "None of that techno sh*t - it's woops for your brain!" She points out that if techno fans really listened to some of the mangled sounds in those songs, they would realize that many of them originated from vocal House samples.
Dajae is pessimistic when her first love - R&B music - is brought up again. "Music is in a sad state. It's about the beauty and the booty, and not about the singing." Unlike in past years when there were many "older" artists singing R&B and doing well, today's pop culture is obsessed with younger and younger singers. Dajae would love to sing R&B again, "but everybody's about youth." This of course she adds is true of many genres of music, especially hip-hop. Like her classic songs that made her famous in the early 90's, she wishes hip-hop could be infused with more positive energy.
THE PERSON
Dajae has to be one of the sweetest, most humble people I've ever met. She is a diva without the airs, the flamboyance nor the drama. Although not a regular church-goer, she maintains a close connection to God, and being around her feels like being near an old and trusted friend.
A typical day for this powerhouse singer is going to work at an office three days a week, working out, playing XBox with her nephew, and maybe hanging out with some friends at her neighborhood bar. Sometimes she and her friends will park their cars at a parking lot and sip on some Petron. On the more personal side, Dajae says she doesn't want kids at this time, given that the world today is so materialistic and stressful.
Dajae is also becoming a triple threat: not only can she rap pretty well, but she's also learning to mix. No, she doesn't want to be the next big DJ, but says she wouldn't mind maybe spinning some tunes at a Mom and Pop bar.
No matter what she does, we know it will be a success. Throughout her career, Dajae has shown an incredible range and a dynamite spirit that has made her, quite literally, the voice of Chicago House music.
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