Ajia celebrates her womanhood with “All I Want”
No artist’s journey is ever an easy path. Especially when you are making music WHILE studying law! Based in D.C., singer-songwriter, Ajia speaks on the growth she encountered as an artist, songwriting, goals, and more.
Abby Martinez: Tell me about your origin story! How did you get started in the music industry?
Ajia: So I am 25 years old now. I started singing when I was 8 years old. I'm one of 5 children but everybody's music interests kind of just meshes together. My oldest sister would listen to any big artist you can think of. It was a lot of Destiny's Child, Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill. All of these people really inspired me as an artist now. So she would listen to all that music and I would just copy it because I want to be like her. And I want to listen to what she's listening to so that really started my love for music. She sang in different choirs and would come home practicing songs. I would learn the songs she practiced too. I started singing one day. My mom was like, “You sound good!” From there, they made me sing a solo in church and around 12, I did my first citywide talent show. I started doing more talent shows, joined acapella, choir at school, was in the orchestra (I played the violin), and music theory. That's when I really got more into reading music. Then I played basketball in college so I stopped singing for a while because I was just so consumed and busy. But then when I moved out to D.C., a friend of mine was making music, and I went to the studio for the first time. I was 21 years old. And I'm like, “Oh, that felt good.” I went back again and again. So I have been writing for a long time because my mom's an author. I love poetry. I wrote little books, and she'll let me give my input on her books. I think all of those things have really made me the artist that I am today. I released my first song in October 2020. In 2019, I was writing a lot because that was my first year of law school, so that was my release. I've literally taken those songs, those thoughts and feelings that I wrote in 2019 through 2020. People are just now seeing those but they've been in a notebook, in a voice memo, for like a year or more.
AM: Do you tend to write your music during or after you experience something?
Ajia: Either I write the music during whatever transition it is or after whatever transition is taking place. So for instance, my first song called “Broken” I wrote that after because it's more of a self-reflective piece. That was really hard to write because it was really vulnerable and I'm one that likes to keep a lot of things to myself. So I thought about how would this be perceived. And my second single, “All I want,” I wrote that like in it because I'm trying to figure out who I am, not just as a sister, a daughter, a friend. I'm trying to figure out who I am as a woman, who I am as an artist, and where I want to go. So that was like mid transition, and the my last single “Element,” I was not feeling positive and in my element. So I just kind of affirmed myself. So it's either in it, or after.
AM: There are artists that write music in the most unconventional places. Is there a special place where you write music?
Ajia: The bathroom. Usually in the shower. I don't have my phone anywhere in there. First, I have to step out of the shower and I'll press play. And I have to have that melody, because if I forget it, then I'm sad and it may not come back. I might listen to it later but the shower is the best place. No one to really hear me, no one's looking at me. I'm not actually recording myself expecting anything so things just come out.
AM: Is there a team that you work with to cultivate the final product of a song or do you work independently?
Ajia: Yes, there is a team that I work with. I've been working with a producer duo out of Atlanta, they're called Kreative Villains (@kreativevillains). So it's 3D and Blvck. They've really helped me come into my own as an artist, experiment with different sounds, push me to be more confident, and know what I want to. Most times I will come to them with a voice memo or a sound. Then we will sit in the studio, make things from scratch based on what I like. They're really open and also really honest. I trust their ear with the writing process. It's so beneficial to have more than one person with you to collaborate with because you mostly get like a different perspective that can kind of turn your idea into something even better, It's always fun to collaborate with friends, family, and other creatives. If I send them something, the lyrics don't change too much. They speed the tempo up or down, completely change the key...there's always something that changes and I'm like, “Oh this is even better than I imagined.” Everybody's perspective is different so that really helps a lot versus me just trying to do everything alone.
AM: What is a song or project within your music career that you are most proud of?
Ajia: I'm proud of “All I Want” for the vulnerability, trying to figure out and be confident in who I am as a woman and as an artist. People are so caught up on who they can be for everyone else. And we forget to nurture those things that we want as a child and nurture those things that we want now, those things that really set our soul on fire. We are so consumed by what people will think about what we say, instead of being true to ourselves and saying what we believe and saying what we feel. I am a really opinionated woman, a strong woman, and am adventurous. I want women to know that you can feel sexy, can be goofy, can be awkward...whatever it is. So I originally wrote “All I Want” for me. I sent the person that sent me the beat what I wrote. I had no intention of recording that song because in my mind, we were going to sell that to someone else. Really glad that “All I Want” came out.
AM: What are your goals for your music?
Ajia: I just want to continue to create as I'm inspired. I want that to either inspire someone else, motivate someone else, or just be relatable to other people. Because I think that we're all living different experiences.
I just feel like it really speaks volumes when people can relate to your unique human experience.
Other than that, people say they don't care about the award or the acknowledgment, but you know you want to feel appreciated. So for my music, I would love to have BET awards, MTV awards, VH1, and Grammys. I will have this recognition because the impact of my music has pushed people to support me and the people that support me believe that I'm worthy of the awards, even though my words do not lie in the music that I make. So 5 years from now, I will be a household name. I want to be producing, singing, writing, doing artists advocacy, and making sure that independent artists are not taken advantage of. And just using my law degree to have equitable contracts and make sure that people are on the right track.
AM: Do you have any upcoming projects?
Aija: I'm focusing right now more on singles because I don't graduate law school until next May 2022. And I think it's just a lot easier to do singles and push those for a while, rather than having 6 songs and wrecking my brain trying to promote all 6 at the same time. But the plan is to release another single either early next year or fall of this year. I'll go to the studio and make a lot of songs over a period of time so I have things in the works. I do have a music video coming for “Element.” I feel like God is always putting things on my mind, in my heart, because of the ideas that I came up with. My sister is an artist, and she does creative direction with me on a lot of my projects, videos, photoshoots in different things. So I'm excited for people to see this video and be inspired by this video!
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