You may have seen the name Kat DahliaĀ around the Internet lately. Maybe you've seen some of our posts about her, or some ads for her EP Gangsta, or maybe you've watched the video for "Gangsta" and added to the 2.8 million views its already racked up.
The song, which interpolates the hook to 50 Cent's "Wanksta," mixes a hip-hop sensibility with fiery anger and emotional thrust. The piano loops that kick the song off sound like just another YouTube ballad, but as soon as the beat drops it's obvious that this is one of the most unique songs we've heard this year. Ā Ā
Intrigued, we had to learn more about the Miami born artist who is signed toĀ veteran record executive Sylvia Rhone's Vested In Culture label (which is aĀ joint venture with Epic Records). We had Kat swing by the Complex offices to talk about growing up in a Cuban family, the torrid love affair she got into when she moved to New York, and why it's hard being single.
As told to Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)
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Growing Up In Miami
Kat Dahlia:Ā āI was born and raised in Miami. I grew up on the beach. I grew up in a Cuban family so my mom was very family oriented. Both my parents were born in Cuba. My mom was raised in Miami but born in Cuba. My mom was a single mother of four. [My real name is Katriana Huguet because]Ā my grandparents on my dadās side are Lebanese. Thatās why my last name is Huguet, itās French. My dad had like six kids. He was around but he liked to party, he was living the Miami lifestyle.
My grandparents on my dadās side are Lebanese. Thatās why my last name is Huguet, itās French.
āI wasnāt really into school. I would skip a lot and go to the golf course next to our school and smoke weed and think about life. 'Why are we in school man? What are we doing?' But I graduated high school, that goes to show how academically accelerated my school was. In school, I wasnāt apart of the choir. I did a chorus class just to do it but I didnāt learn anything. My chorus teacher knew that I could sing, so he picked me to sing the national anthem at my graduation. [I did it but] I got wasted that day.
āI went to college for a couple years at Miami Dade College. I didnāt do any music there either. I was just taking general classes, so I was like, I donāt know what I want to do.' Once that happened I was like, 'I want to do music, I just donāt know how to do it down there.'ā
Getting Into Singing
Influences
Kat Dahlia:Ā āWhen I was much younger I was listening to what my parents were listening to, like Celia Cruz and Willie ColĆ³n. When I was a little older like eight or nine, I was listening to Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, and 'N Sync.
I love Sublime, they're big in Miami. I actually saw them at a 311 concert. I was shrooming, it was really fun.
āAs I got older, my older brother introduced me to classic rock and I started getting into Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Sex Pistols, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, and The Beatles. Thatās what opened the door for me to start exploring what IĀ like to listen to.
āI was always drawn to jazz and blues too. So I started listening to Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, Chip Baker, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, and Elvis. I was really into Elvis. And then obviously Bob Marley, that was always kind of around growing up no matter what because I wasĀ in Miami.
āI listen to everything though. Like, A Tribe Called Quest, DMX, Tupac, and Trick Daddy. I listened to a lot of Sublime growing up. Thatās my shit! I love Sublime, they're big in Miami. I actually saw them at a 311 concert. I was shrooming, it was really fun.ā
Moving Out of The House
Kat Dahlia:Ā āMy mom was strict, āYou canāt leave the house, no youāre not sleeping over anybody elseās house.ā I was very confined. As I grew up, I started rebelling because I was feeling so tied down. The moment you can sneak out of a window, youāre full force. I was doing it up in Miami as a young teen. By the time I was 18, I was making money cocktailing at the hotspots in Miami.
The surface of Miami is so sunny. But when you get into the lifestyleāespecially when you're in the restaurant industryāthereās this underlying, depressing factor. It has this real darkness to it.
āI moved out of my momās house with my brother when I was 18 after my mother told us we were going to move back in with my grandmother in a one bedroom. Iām like, 'Yo, we canāt be doing this anymore. Weāll take care of ourselves and help you guys.' We ended up getting an apartment together. My brother was going in, fucking everything in site. Every night there was a different bitch in our apartment.
āI was working as a cocktail waitress, after taking the semester off of school. I would wake up in the morning, go to the beach, chill, work, party. I go to sleep at six oāclock in the morning and do it all over again. Between those six or seven months, I got fired for drinking on the job twice in a row. Thatās kind of when I was like, āAlright, Iām not doing anything [with this lifestyle].ā It got repetitive and draining.
āThe surface of Miami is so sunny. But when you get into the lifestyleāespecially when you're in the restaurant industryāthereās this underlying, depressing factor. It has this real darkness to it. A lot of people go down there to try and rebuild their life but they end up moving back to where they came from. The lifestyle can suck you in. You end up waking up like, 'What have I done with myself?'ā
Moving To New York
Kat Dahlia:Ā ā[After a while] I was like, 'What am I doing? Thereās not enough opportunity for me here. Thereās nothing to do with music.' So my boy, who ended up becoming the love of my life, invited me up to New York. Heās like, 'Yo, Iām making paper in the Empire State Building, just come up, come up.' So I came up to New York.
āIn August 2010, when I was 20, I moved to New York. I had faith and I moved up to New York. Itās faith, itās more than believing, more than hoping, itās knowing. I knew this is where I needed to be. As many setbacks, obstacles, and crazy battles I had to go through, I ended up coming out the best.
ā[I was working in a lot of restaurants]. Restaurant managers really are [like Nazis]. Itās all about power and ego. Itās all this micromanaging. Iām good at what the fuck I do. Let me do what I do and donāt fuck with me.
[I was working in a lot of restaurants]. Restaurant managers really are [like Nazis]. Itās all about power and ego. Itās all this micromanaging.
āThe thing with restaurants is that thereās so much personality, so personality isnāt only allowed itās welcome. You're dealing with different types of personalities when it comes to restaurants and managers. [My manager] was one of those dudes that was funny but when heās having a bad day heās going to take it out on you, which is like anybody.
āAuthoritative figures use that power and abuse it whenever they're in a certain mood and thatās not right. At the end of the day we are all people bro, and he was probably more broke at the time then I was. That was the biggest thing, he wasnāt even making as much money as some of the servers.
āI was going to move back to Miami actually because I was like, 'Fuck it, New York didnāt work for me either. Let me pick up a job here for the summer, because summer time thereās no money to be made in Miami.' I was going to work for the summer, make some paper, come back, and then figure it out from there.' But I ended up meeting different characters that were artists.
āI was still partying and drinking and having a good ass time while I was doing it. But I was being productive and I was doing what I like to do, making music in the studio. I was working my ass off, working two weeks straight just to pay for a freaking music video.ā
On Being In Love
Kat Dahlia: āFirst year [I was in New York] I was in the relationship. I was trying to help this guy, in love and obsession. It was a heavy time. That relationship ended up becoming something that was not what I expected at all. It was this veil of love and obsession that confused me. It had me in a hallucination.
āI remember giving it all to this love. Then realizing later, was it love? Or was it an obsession? Was that me just clinging on to someone else? I wasnāt happy with myself or what I was doing so I was clinging on to this feeling. The only thing that made me feel good for the moment.
ā[My man] had a job for a little while. Then he ended up getting fired and it was downhill from there. So he was back and forth. He was slanging, what else are you going to do right? I had a job, it wasnāt really paying too well. We were going through so many things in the relationship and it was like no matter what, he couldnāt pick himself up. He just couldn't.
When youāre a drug addict and your selling drugs, itās just not the best combination. Then he kind of dragged me into it.
āHe was into a lot of drugs. When youāre a drug addict and your selling drugs, itās just not the best combination. Then he kind of dragged me into it. It was like me helping him but at the same time I found myself kind of getting into those habits. It becomes a very depressing lifestyle.
āI was living in some dingy places, like crack houses. But that was my man, I was supporting him. We were going to make this right so I gave him everything. When I picked up a job, I still loved him and I remember giving him my checks. Here take it.
āOnce you go all the way to the bottom you're like, 'What the fuck happened to me?' You have nothing, you're left with nothing. Thereās nowhere to go but up. It was a lot of crying, a lot of hate, and a lot of negative feelings. That feeling in the pit of your stomach when your about to throw up, [it was] that feeling.
āYou learn so much about a person, especially when you're living with them. You find yourself in situations like that, where you're so far at the bottom that thereās nothing left of you except your humility. You look around and you're like, 'Alright, I just gotta pick myself back up.' And thatās what I did. I finally got to really see what was around me, and all the opportunity that was around me. So I started taking steps in the right direction.
āI definitely donāt want to put it all out there.Ā Heās a good friend of mine still. He knows what heās done, he knows what we went through. It changed his life he says. He seems to be doing much better now. Heās like CEO of his own company now, living it up, traveling and shit. But then again I have trust issues so I donāt even know if itās true. Iām like, 'Oh yeah, just remember I was with you in the fucking crack house motherfucker.'ā
On Being Single
Kat Dahlia:Ā āOnce you find yourself in this single life after being something that was so deep with emotion and heartache, you're like, āNo dude is making me wet.ā Every dude plays these stupid games but nobody really knows how to play them.
āI had this song called 'Lions Den,' on the GangstaĀ EP that I wrote and the line is, 'Yeah you kick a little game but you donāt know how to play.' Thatās what it felt like. All these dudes kick game and Iām like, 'Whatever.' Maybe some dude kicks game a little right Iāll kick it back. But then go on a date with them and their spilling drinks all over you and their nervous. Iām like, 'Yo, you are not the badass dude that I thought you were.'
Once you find yourself in this single life after being something that was so deep with emotion and heartache, you're like, āNo dude is making me wet.ā
āThis dude really spilled drinks on me. It was two separate drinks! It was one of those moments when he wanted to seem comfortable and it was like, 'Oh, sorry, sorry.' Iām like, 'No itās cool, donāt worry about it.' I was like [to myself], This is never happening again. And then the kiss at the end of the night was so awkward.
āIf you go on a date with a guy and they're not comfortable, theyāre not comfortable with themselves, so I canāt be comfortable with you. It almost feels like Iām here bringing the best out of you. Shouldnāt we be bringing the best out of each other? Thatās what I need. I canāt be with like a shy dude, thatās not my style.
āItās hard to date, especially right after a relationship that you were so into. Thankfully Iām too busy anyway to be fucking with these fake ass dudes.ā
Getting Signed To Vested In Culture
Kat Dahlia:Ā ā[While still working in New York] I ended up putting out a project that I was just so in love with, that I felt like I needed. It was obviously about the turmoil in the relationship that I was in, and all the feelings that I went through. It felt so fucking good and the response was just so dope from my little area in Jersey I was touching. From there I ended up getting with a production company.
āThe production company saw my work and I literally was working every night until one in the morning while still waitressing in Jersey. Then hopping on the bus to New York City and cutting songs until four in the morning and doing it over again, doing it over again, doing it over again.
I walk into this blindly. Iām still learning so much about the industry, realizing how hard it is, how two-sided it can be.
āEventually, I was [discovered] by Amanda Berkowitz, [the vice president of A&R at Sylvia Rhone's Vested In Culture label]. Amanda walked into the studio and I was just chilling. She knew some of the producers, they started playing my music. Then some big redheaded girl started staring at me and I was like, 'What the fuck.' It turns out she was head of A&R for Sylvia Rhone. Amanda played my song for Sylvia Rhone and Sylvia signed me.
āI walked into this blindly. Iām still learning so much about the industry, realizing how hard it is, how two-sided it can be. Itās stressful but itās rewarding if you donāt focus on those things and just focus on the music. I met Sylvia a couple days after she heard my music and then we finished up the deal.
āHonestly, I think one of my first performances was in front of 7,000 at WiLD SplashĀ in Tampa. I was being put in the ring. It went okay. It wasnāt my best. I was still getting used to monitors, like, 'I canāt hear myself!' From the few shows Iāve been doing itās gotten so much better. Like doing South by Southwest was dope.ā
The Name Kat Dahlia
On Her Single, āGangsterā
Kat Dahlia:Ā āThat song was partly inspired by my ex but it was also inspired by a lot of dudes that were trying to kick it to me once I became single, like the dude that was spilling drinks all over me. Plus obviously everything that was going on with my life at the time.
āI was looking back at my family and seeing how much they're struggling. Everybody in the country, everybodyās going through it yo. Sometimes you want to scream from the top of your lungs like, 'Why is this so hard?'
āI feel like a lot of people hit those rock bottom moments where their like, 'Yo, Iām just tired, I donāt want to work anymore.' Why are we all working so much but none of us are happy? Why are people who have so much money not happy? Itās clear at this point that money is not happiness, success is not happiness. Happiness is success.
I feel like a lot of people hit those rock bottom moments where their like, 'Yo, Iām just tired, I donāt want to work anymore.' Why are we all working so much but none of us are happy?
āThe night before I finished writing it, I had gotten into a fight with my manager [at my restaurant]. I was the first one in the restaurant and Iām like, 'I should be leaving now, not this dude who got here four hours ago.' Heās like 'Kat whatever, you go to Miami all the time, you go out and chill.' Iām like, 'I was here on a double New Years, a double Thanksgiving, a double Christmas. I didnāt see my family for any of the holidays, donāt give me this bullshit.'
āWe started cursing back and forth at each other. I was like, 'Where the fuck were you for the holidays?' We got in a fight and of course I ended up having to stay late and work the morning shift. So that morning I got there really early because I was scared if he was working he was going to use it as an excuse to fire me. So I get there early he wasnāt working, thankfully.
āThat was the moment where I felt like, āFuck these fucking bosses, fuck this bullshit. Iām fucking tired yo. Iām fucking tired of working 12, 13 hour shifts every fucking day.ā I sat at the barābecause of course nobody comes during the morning shift so itās fucking charity work that Iām doingāand I finished writing the fucking song. I still get heated about it.ā
Future
Kat Dahlia:Ā āI have my album coming out, itās called My Garden. Itās plethora of sounds like a garden, you have some roses, you have some daisies, and some thorns. It evokes different emotions, different meanings, so it felt fitting. Then Kat Dahlia, 'Oh hey, look itās a theme.' So I got that coming out in September.
I want to stick with culture, Iām Cuban. So why not do a Spanish album?
āWe're going to start making dates for touring, nothing is set yet. Shows are coming up but the biggest thing coming up is the album in September. Iām going to do a Spanish album too. I want to stick with culture, Iām Cuban. So why not do a Spanish album?
ā[I see myself] connecting with people. Itās touching people in a way that either they've never felt before or that they've forgotten a long time ago. I donāt want to sound like a hippy but all of us artists aspire to change the world, not only with our music but hopefully with our actions, our presence, and our love. So thatās what Iām hoping for.ā