“I’ve lived in Co-Op since I was 5 years old; I went to Cardinal Spellman High School. And that sparked my love of musical theater. That’s where I began performing. My freshman year they did Aida, and I said wow I need to do this. The next year I auditioned and then it was theater, theater, theater. I went to City College and got my BA in theater and started performing around the city. I’ve been performing for over 10 years now, I started off in the musical theater world but now I’m focused on creating my own music and performing my songs. I have a project out titled Delicate that I released early last year; that was my first personal project.”

“Music was always there; my love of music was always there. Even when I was doing musical theater I was still writing on my own. When I do one thing I like to give it my all, when I was still working in theater I had to memorize scripts and songs and all. Initially, it was a little difficult at the time to give my own music the attention It needed. But then 2016 hit. It was a rough year for me, I had finished doing a musical and wasn’t really happy with the company I was working at during that musical. I wasn’t really happy with work and also with the relationship I was in at the time. I ended up having a real mental breakdown and after going through that I realized that I needed to do a lot of things differently. I needed to practice some self-care, and some self-love. I realized that music has always been my therapy; it’s always been my release. And so, I decided to create a project, and from that came Delicate. I didn’t think it would be a major career change but it blossomed into something bigger, I ended up performing throughout the Bronx and doing all these things.”

“I’ve made peace with the stuff that was causing me pain and forgiven the people that have hurt me; It’s created a challenge for me when it comes to motivation. I’ve had to learn to find motivation from the enjoyment of life and just the love music; I can’t be going through stuff every time and be sad all the time. I have to challenge myself, to express the good times, to express it all. Another challenge is with being in control of my music and learning the business side of being a super independent artist. With social media, you can have all the talent in the world but you have to also be on top of your streams and you have to network. That’s not my strong suit but I’m learning. I’m asking for help and doing all that I need to do to make things happen.”

“My community here in the Bronx motivates me. I’ve interacted with so many great entrepreneurs and creators, and so many people that have made things out of nothing. I feel like it happens a lot in the Bronx, like there’s this culture and history that outlast everything else; For me, it's inspiring. I was made to love, I wasn’t made to hate. Even when it comes to fellow artists and singers. I will be the loudest person rooting for you. I just love music. We can all make it.”

“I want to create a community of singers but right now my main focus is my music, I have to take care of myself first and then get other people in the mix. Everything has to be fast nowadays and you have to capture people’s attention span. You have to keep them engaged. That’s how things have changed. There’s more space to collaborate but it’s important to balance.”

“I’ve been very observant of what’s going on in the Bronx and how things are changing, but as an artist, it’s just about choosing what I am going to write about. To be totally honest because I’m still learning and trying to grasp my ideas and opinions, I haven’t been able to write too much about it. But that could be a song in itself. Trying to understand the different perspectives, I’ve been around so many people that it’s gotten me to think. I’m still figuring out my perspective but I do feel that there is a space in R&B for that. Curtis Mayfield, Nina Simon, and others spoke about a lot of political things.”

“I feel like I haven’t found my voice yet in terms of politics. I feel like the topics I talk about are super personal to me. A lot of the R&B I gravitate towards is very much about love and things like that. As an artist, you should never limit yourself, but I’m growing. I have a new single out titled “In Love” which just released and from there we’ll see what’s next.”

“At the end of the day, all you can do is your best. All you can do is follow your intuition and do what you love. Only you know why you’re doing what you’re doing. You just need to be confident regardless of everyone else’s perspectives and opinions. I respect people who go hard for what they believe. It’s important to know why you do it. I perform because it's healing for me and its healing for the world. Music does so many positive things and I want to give people that. I feel like I have these talents and I want to share it.”

discover more R&B with Ayanna:

@ayannathesinger | ayannathesinger.com