Kat Dahlia
Katriana Sandra Huguet (born July 29, 1990), better known by her stage name Kat Dahlia (formerly Kat Hue), is a Cuban-American recording artist from Miami, Florida. Dahlia, a singer, songwriter and rapper, is known for her "razor sharp" lyrics and her "unique, aggressive flow".[3][4][5] She released her debut single "Gangsta", in March 2013, to rave reviews. Dahlia released her debut studio album My Garden, in January 2015, with Vested in Culture and Epic Records, the latter of which she secured a recording contract with in 2012. In 2013, Dahlia ranked number eight on Billboard's "Next Big Sound".[6]
Kat Dahlia | |
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Kat Dahlia poses for Complex in 2014 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Katriana Sandra Huguet[1] |
Also known as | Kat Hue |
Born | [2] Miami, Florida, United States | July 29, 1990
Origin | Miami Beach, Florida, United States |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
|
Instruments | Vocals |
Years active | 2011–present |
Labels |
|
Website | katdahlia |
Early life
Kat Dahlia was born Katriana Sandra Huguet on July 29, 1990, to a Cuban mother and her Lebanese-Cuban father, in Miami Beach, Florida.[7] She began rapping at the age of eight and writing songs at the age of 15, ripping instrumentals from YouTube, in lieu of a band.[8] At the age of 18, after saving money from jobs as a waitress, Dahlia decided to leave Miami, and moved to New York City a month later, "on a whim."[4][9] Thereafter, Dahlia became involved in what she describes as a "toxic relationship", which she would later come to regard as a source of inspiration and "writer's gold."[10] She chose the name Kat Dahlia as her stage name after her producer suggested it and kept it, because its soft and beautiful, but still has a dark undertone to it.[11]
Musical career
After self-financing an extended play (EP) and a music video, Dahlia was discovered by Vested in Culture VP of A&R Amanda Berkowitz. Berkowitz quickly brought Dahlia to the attention of veteran record executive Sylvia Rhone.[12] In 2012, describing Dahlia as "more than just a pop artist", Rhone signed her to her newly launched label, Vested in Culture (VIC), a joint venture with Epic Records. Dahlia's debut album was originally set to come out in 2014, becoming VIC's inaugural release.[13][14][15]
Dahlia's first single and video for VIC, was the track "Gangsta", which MTV called "filled to the brim with fierce rapping". The video, filmed in Miami, reflects the difficulties of her earlier life.[16] The video was directed by Samantha Lecca[1] and premiered via Vevo, on March 5, 2013.[17] Also in March, Dahlia was selected as a BET "Music Matters" artist.[18] "Gangsta" was featured in the background of the September 24, 2014 Season 16 Premiere of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Girls Disappeared.
Dahlia digitally released three songs, "Gangsta", "Money Party", and "Mirror" on March 5, 2013. On December 17, 2013, she released her song "Crazy" for free on her website. Her debut My Garden was released on January 15, 2015.[1] The album debuted at number 54 on the US Billboard 200 chart. My Garden received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 63, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on four reviews.[19]
Kat Dahlia released her third EP, titled 20s, 50s, 100s, via SoundCloud on May 9, 2016, which features three songs, "Run It Up", "Voices in My Head" and "Lion".[20]
In May 2017, Dahlia released the song "Friday Night Majic", which was intended as the lead single from her planned second studio album, Naked Lady and a White Horse.[21] The album was produced by J Roc and originally scheduled to be released in July 2017,[21] but did not eventuate. On July 21, 2017, Dahlia released the single "Body and Soul" to all streaming platforms and also uploaded a lyric video to her YouTube Vevo channel.
On May 4, 2018, after creating his For the Culture Playlist, which included Miguel's single "Come Through and Chill", Salaam Remi released the EP South Beach Social Club, a collaboration with Dahlia.
Artistry
Dahlia's musical style has been described as being "razor sharp" lyrics and her unique, aggressive flow.[4][5] Dahlia cites artists BB King, Miles Davis, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Bob Marley, Frank Sinatra, and Celia Cruz as musical influences. Also, in interviews, Dahlia has mentioned that legendary reggae recording artist Bob Marley, has had a great influence on her musical style. She has said: "I listened to a lot of Bob Marley, especially down here. I used to go to Purdy Lounge on Monday night, they always had reggae bands. Reggae is just everywhere down here, dancehall is everywhere in the clubs. It's not only playing Hip Hop."[1]
Discography
Studio albums
Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
US | ||
My Garden |
|
54 |
EPs
Title | Details |
---|---|
Shades of Gray[22] (as Kat Hue) |
|
20s, 50s, 100s[23] |
|
South Beach Social Club (with Salaam Remi) |
Mixtapes
Title | Details |
---|---|
Seeds[26] |
|
Singles
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US Bub. [28] |
US R&B/HH Airplay [29] |
US Latin Airplay [30] |
US R&B/HH[31] |
US Rhythm [32] |
US Heat |
US R&B | |||||||
"Gangsta"[33] | 2013 | 12 | 48 | — | — | 25 | 13[34] | 13[35] | My Garden | ||||
"Crazy"[36] | 2014 | — | — | 45 | 40 | 26 | — | — | |||||
"Money Party"[37] (featuring Polly A.) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | non-album single | |||||
"I Think I'm in Love"[38] | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | My Garden | ||||
"Friday Night Majic" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||
"Sirens" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
"Manipulator" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
"Body and Soul" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
"I'm Doin Good"[39] | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
"—" denotes a title that did not chart, was not released in that territory, or did not receive certification. |
Guest appearances
Title | Year | Album | Artist(s) |
---|---|---|---|
"Lluvia Negra"[40] | 2012 | Puro | Heny Puro |
"Helen Keller"[41] | 2013 | Suffering from Success | DJ Khaled |
"Ain't Seen A Thing"[42] | 2014 | Hardships and Humiliation | Decon Chrome |
"Mash It Up"[43] | 2015 | Black Lion Reggae Invasion Vol. 1 | Black Lion, The Wizard, Nyanda, The Kemist |
"Warning"[44] | 2017 | Plata O Plomo | Fat Joe, Remy Ma |
"Save Me from the Rain"[45] | 2017 | Good Life | Collie Buddz |
Music videos
Song | Year | Director |
---|---|---|
"Devil's Command" | 2013 | Edwin Escobar |
"Gangsta" | Samantha Lecca | |
"Happy and I Know It" | 2014 | X Marlon Santini |
"The High" | Michael Garcia | |
"Crazy" | Rankin | |
"My Garden" | 2015 | Michael Garcia |
"I Think I'm in Love" | Sam Lecca | |
"Run It Up" | 2016 | Monique Chavez[46][47] |
References
- "Kat Dahlia Interview | "Gangsta" Singer Q&A". LatinRapper.com. n.d. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Kat Dahlia on Twitter: "Just found out The Black Dahlia (Elizabeth Short) and I have the same birthday #WTF!"". Twitter. n.d. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Kat Dahlia | News, Music Performances and Show Video Clips". MTV. n.d. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Kat Dahlia Talks Musical Beginnings and Working With Sylvia Rhone", Vibe, January 26, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2013
- "Gangsta". December 12, 2012. XXL. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- "Kat Dahlia – Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
- "Growing Up in Miami – Who Is Kat Dahlia?". Complex.com. n.d. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- Medina, Loren. "Introducing Kat Dahlia". March 8, 2013. Corriete Latina. Archived from the original on October 9, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- "Kat Dahlia Interview With Vibe TV". March 13, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- Gonzales, Nicole. "New Artist Kat Dahlia". February 28, 2013. Latin Recap. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- Lamarre, Carl (September 2, 2014). "Artist of the Week: Kat Dahlia". Pepsi. Archived from the original on August 31, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
- "Kat Dahlia's Gangsta Video". March 5, 2013. Broadway World. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- Mitchell, Gail. "Sylvia Rhone Talks Vested in Culture". February 5, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- Vena, Jocelyn (2013) "Kat Dahlia Is Prepping 'Swaggy' Follow-Up To 'Gangsta'", MTV, January 31, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2013
- "Sylvia Rhone Announces Joint Venture". January 30, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- "Buzzworthy". March 5, 2013. MTV. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- "Kat's Gangsta". March 5, 2013. The 305. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- "BET Music Matters". March 3, 2013. BET. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- "Reviews for My Garden by Kat Dahlia". Metacritic. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- "Loading". Rnbxclusive.org. Archived from the original on June 13, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- Cobo, Leila (May 22, 2017). "Watch Kat Dahlia's Stylish 'Friday Night Majic' Video". Billboard. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Darville, Jordan (June 10, 2016). "Wake Up With Kat Dahlia in the Dreamy 'Run It Up' Video". The Fader. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Kat Dahlia – 20s, 50s, 100s [Stream/ Listen]". Fundrom.com. May 9, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "South Beach Social Club – EP by Salaam Remi & Kat Dahlia". Apple Music. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- "Kat Dahlia To Release 5 Song EP "Seeds"". Epic.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013.
- "New Mixtape: Kat Dahlia – 'Seeds'". Rap-Up. November 21, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Kat Dahlia – Chart history". Billboard. May 18, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Kat Dahlia – Chart history". Billboard. July 26, 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Kat Dahlia – Chart history". Billboard. June 1, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Kat Dahlia – Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Kat Dahlia – Gangsta". Amazon.com.
- "Crazy – Single by Kat Dahlia on Apple Music". iTunes Store. n.d. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Money Party (feat. Polly a.) – Single by Kat Dahlia on Apple Music". iTunes Store. n.d. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Through Kat's Eyes • Listen to Kat Dahlia's New Single "I Think I'm In". Katdahlia.tumblr.com. February 13, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "I'm Doin Good – Single by Kat Dahlia". Apple Music. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- "Mixtape Not Found". Datpiff.com. n.d. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- David Jeffries (October 22, 2013). "Suffering from Success – DJ Khaled | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- DaykoN. "Decon Chrome – Ain't Seen A Thing Ft Kat Dahlia". SoundCloud.
- "Black Lion Reggae Invasion, Vol. 1 by Various Artists on Apple Music". iTunes Store. n.d. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- Neil Z. Yeung (February 10, 2017). "Plata o Plomo – Fat Joe,Remy Ma | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Save Me From The Rain (feat. Kat Dahlia), by Collie Buddz". Collie Buddz. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- Huynh, Davis (n.d.). "Kat Dahlia Sets Thirst Traps in Latest Video Run It Up". Hypetrak.com. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- "Kat Dahlia – Run It Up". Musicalfreedom.top. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
External links
- Official website
- Kat Dahlia at AllMusic
- Kat Dahlia discography at Discogs
- Kat Dahlia discography at MusicBrainz
- Video on YouTube