Anna D’ANae shares her journey as an artist & her new single
Singer, actress, and model Anna D’Nae began her career in entertainment at a very young age. Being involved in the music and the entertainment industry has been very rewarding and shes learned a lot throughout the past years. We got the opportunity to talk to Anna about what her journey has looked like as an artist as she took us back to the age where it all began. She also discussed the inspiration behind her new single and video “Ahead of yourself” and shared what she has coming up next.
I read on your backstage profile that you have always been active in entertainment, you began singing at the young age of three…Talk to me about your childhood and what it was like growing up young while navigating the industry.
When I was about two years old, that’s when I started to perform. I went to dance school. You know, usually, parents put their little daughters in ballet and stuff, so that’s pretty much what I did at the young age of two years old. And then by the time I got to about 5 years old, I actually joined my church’s choir. We had a children’s choir, so that’s when I really started to sing and when I got to about middle school/grade school that’s when I really developed a love for singing. I remember when I was in maybe 4th grade and my mom- at this, this is when I started to do commercials and things of that sort. My agent was looking for someone who could sing. And my mom didn’t think I could sing, or I guess she didn’t know that I could sing. So she asked my music teacher. “hey they want to use her. But I’m not sure if she could sing.” I ended up meeting with my music teacher and sang for her and she said, “Yeah, she may be good for this part. I later went to a performing arts middle school from 5th grade to 8th grade (think of it like high school musical) we were all dancing, singing, and playing instruments. So that’s when I really had this singing talent and began to develop myself as a performer in general and by the time I graduated high school and went into college that’s when I really started to take my singing very seriously.
Wow, so the journey has been pretty much since young up until now. Did you end up going to college?
Yes.
When you got there did you continue going down the music route? Or did you decide that you were going to focus on something else?
Yes, so actually when I got to college at the time I was really looking to being a part of a girl group. I even actually auditioned for Kelly Rowland’s girl group show “Chasing Destiny”. I auditioned and I remember Frank Gaston saying, “There are some of you guys here, that do not need to be in a singing group.” That really stuck with me. I did try one more girl group after that and it didn’t work out so well. Afterward, one of the girls and I decided to do a song together and from then I really just started to grow in my artistry. It’s really crazy because I didn’t go to college for the arts or anything like that. At that time I was just like going to college to get it out of the way. I was on a track scholarship and its so crazy cause I met so many people who were doing music that really helped me to navigate and grow as an artist throughout my four years of being in college. That was really a blessing in disguise.
Your latest single, “Ahead of Yourself” is bomb. I hear a little bit of afrobeat. So I want to ask how did the single come about? And where did the inspiration for the song “Ahead of Yourself” come from?
Well, the single came about because the last thing that I released that was my own was in February of 2019. That was the Evolution of Anna D’Nae project. That was the last time I released my own content and visuals. I did do a lot of performing because I had my debut concert in March of 2019 and did a lot of other performances but I wasn’t releasing any music. And what I found was that as an artist you have to be very consistent because it’s hard to go in and gain all these supporters and gain this traction with people hearing and sharing your music and you being fresh in their minds and then you basically drop off the earth and then try to come back and create music. At the beginning of 2020, I started to do so many performances. Before the pandemic happened we were performing about twice a week at events, schools, and everywhere else. But I was performing the same songs over and over, which isn’t a bad thing because I felt like the music that I had previously didn’t get the shine that it should have. However, I know my supporters wanted new music. They were tired of hearing me featured on someone else’s song and it was really time to do something. So in about January or February, I said I really need to come out with new content, I need to do something fun and I need to do it all the way. I need to drop a new song with a video, the whole nine yards.
“Now as far as what inspired this song… I was dealing with someone kinda serious and he had a little “entanglement” with a so-called friend. So instead of being bummed about it, I created a song about it.”
I really wanted to do a dance-themed song. Something my mom said to me was, “All your songs are kind of slow. I’m just shocked cause you’re a dancer.” But you know the afrobeat and island, that’s my lane. My first song “Naughty Girl” and then one of my more popular songs More for You are in that lane and I really do think that my supporters love me in that area. So I really wanted to create something along the lines of Rotimi’s “In My Bed“, like something really catchy, simple, and something that people could dance to.
Now as far as what inspired this song… I was dealing with someone kinda serious and he had a little “entanglement” with a so-called friend. So instead of being bummed about it, I created a song about it. The thing about my music that a lot of my lovebugs (lovebugs is what I call them) know is that sometimes my music comes off kind of provocative or sexual. So initially when I had only wrote the chorus of Tell me why you do it like that it could have been a sexual song. But I said to myself I’m not completely sure if I want it to be more of a diss song or like an in the mood you and your man type of song. But I knew I had enough of those. So I decided to make it fun and confident like “I’m the best you ever had” and focused more on really calling him out on getting to far ahead of himself.
Back in February, you opened up for Shensea. If you could work with anyone in the industry right now on a single, EP, or album who would you choose and why?
Ohhhh. Wow, that’s good. Umm… It would really depend on what I’m going for. If I really had to choose one person I would say Jhene Aiko. She’s definitely in my top 3, which is weird because she’s not along those lines of that genre of music. However, I definitely think she knows how to pull emotions out of people, she’s amazing at freestyling lyrics, and she’s dope and unmatched. I love her flow and been a big fan of hers for a very very very long time and I think it would be really dope because although people are stuck in the house right now they want music they could relate to and bump to. She really knows how to do that and knows how to pour her emotions into her songs and I know how to do the same. Even ahead of yourself, even though it’s a dancey song, I get all the time- even guys sing it and say, “yo, I felt that.”
As an artist, I feel like there comes a time where you kind of hit a wall and have a creative block. How do you overcome those situations when you encounter them?
Honestly, I usually don’t create unless I’m in the zone to create. Even for this song, I did hit a block because it was kind of hard for me to really like put this experience in a song while still making it a groove and still making it funky. Sometimes I may ask my friends for guidance, other times I really might ponder on it. I started this song (Ahead of Yourself) back in February and I had the 1st verse. When it came down to the second verse and the bridge I had a mental block. I think I more so had a mental block because I was kind of still in the situation. So I kind of had to sit down and tap in and think to myself like “What do I want to say?” Sometimes I’ll also listen to other songs. I really wanted to pull from Rotimi’s “In My Bed”. So what I did was literally listen to the song over and over and I listened to it not so much to pull ideas but more so the structure of the song. For instance how long is the chorus, how long is the verse, when does he take a break from the lyrics and lets the beat play, and I kind of mimicked that from my point of view. So there are times where I’ll pull from other artists. Another great thing that I consider a blessing is that I have an in-home studio, that way if something comes up right now I could just run to the studio room and record. Some days I’ll wake up and decide that I want to record. So I’ll find a beat similar to my mood and see what comes out. I think being in that headspace to create and letting it be real and authentic is what it’s all about.
“I think that the biggest thing with artists sometimes is that they’ll be so pressed to push out content sometimes, which is fine, but a lot of times we don’t sit with the content and think okay is this really good? Or is this something I want to put out just to put out…? And I just rather quality over quantity, so that’s why I’ll sit on my music before releasing it.”
Although we’re still technically quarantined, what does Anna D’Anae have coming up next?
(musically or personally) Do you have any new projects you’re currently working on?
Yes. I definitely am working on some new things that I’m excited about and I can’t wait to make the big announcement about those things. However, in this season, I am taking advantage of really pushing this single, pushing the video, getting on playlists, and performing… which is a blessing because the way I usually promote my music is through performing and things like that. So being that we are still quarantined it’s a little tricky, so I have been taking advantage of social media and the little bit of performances that I have before the second wave comes.
Will you be performing live or virtually?
I’ll be performing live!
Lastly just for fun, what’s your favorite champagne or drink?
Ooooh. I love me a strawberry margarita. I love that. Strawberry margarita that’s for the win.
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