With unparalleled vocal power and passion, diverse style, edgy lyrics, exotic beauty, and a sharp, opinionated mind, Diana King is quite simply a star. Known to her fans as ‘KINGSINGA,’ she’s responsible for chart topping hits like “Shy Guy” from the soundtrack of the movie Bad Boys, “Say a Little Prayer” from the soundtrack to My Best Friends Wedding, “Spanish Town Blues” from Anniversary, Sly & Robbie’s Grammy-nominated album. She also co-wrote and was featured on “Treat Her Like a Lady” from Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love album. She’s even flipped a fierce dancehall style on “Respect” from The Notorious B.I.G’s debut album Ready to Die. After selling more than 5 million copies of her debut album Tougher Than Love, King went on to establish her own ThinkLikeAGirl imprint, which will release her album AgirLnaMeKING—which maintains her unique style of blending reggae with R&B, soul, dance and straight-up pop. As a woman in the reggae business, she’s no stranger to adversity. But she developed a resiliency that helped her when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis a few years ago. After a long bout with depression she rejected the drugs that her doctors prescribed, tried natural remedies, and literally willed herself to walk again. More recently she made headlines around the world when she decided to proclaim her sexual identity as a lesbian—breaking a major taboo in Jamaican cutlure. As you can see from our exclusive interview, Diana has always believed in staying true to herself, both as an artist and as a person.
DIANA KING: Hey Mumma, I’m great. I’m doing a water fast to cleanse my body and mind. Just like regular fasting but with water. I’m on my 7th day. The first three days were hard, but I feel great now. I’ve been doing nuff work!! I just released a seconnd single and video, “Jeanz N T-Shirt,” from the new album, AgirLnaMeKING, and I’ve been traveling, performing and promoting that. Since I’m now a DIY [Do It Yourself] indie artist with my own label, it’s much more challenging because I now have to do things that I didn’t do before—like foot all the expenses, manage everything, and make all the decisions. So I’m wearing many more hats. It has been a dream that took years—since the moment I realized I didn’t and would never own the rights to my older music. So it feels good. I now own all my intellectual properties so it’s very fulfilling. But it’s no joke. Mi physically & mentally tyad everyday, but it’s so worth it.
Thank you. I know, right? Alla mi bizniz outta door. I’ve always been myself from the start, except for revealing that. From my style of music to the way I do my hair to the way mi chat—everything. I am a very private person by nature when it comes to my personal life, but it just felt right to just get it out of the way. I needed to be and feel 100% real and live up to the face tattoo I’ve had for years, which means: “Love Yourself Live Yourself.”
I know not everyone agrees or condones, but I’m not seeking approval. I never have. I believe it is always best to be upfront so people know who you are and in turn you know who they are. We must always be ourselves so the right people will love you.
This question always get me heated because I have so many views. We don’t have an industry. We look outside too much. No disrespect intended, but we are always looking for a man—usually a white man—to help us cross. When are we gonna take control of what we got right here? I know I don’t do authentic reggae or dancehall, but I realize from early while traveling the world as a backup singer that for me to be a standout artist I had to keep my roots present, because I saw how Jamaican music affected people in a positive way and I felt proud. The younger artists nowadays don’t look back to learn. Many female artists don’t even know that Grace Jones comes from Spanish Town—and so do I. Reggae artists want acceptance so much that they don’t believe the music of our country and our culture is good enough. Even though it has been proven to last. People everywhere else can see it except us… Blinded by the hype so they try to fit in to have a better chance of being played or get a “buss.” It seems the best way to be, but it’s wrong thinking. We all cannot be Beyonce or Gaga. Why don’t we strive to be the next Bob? It’s our culture that makes us unique and different. It’s hard to imagine if our elders in music had thought this way—and they had a lot of pressure.
The worst is how we complain when other artists from abroad do reggae and hit it big when all the time we have it right in our hands. How do we just chill back suh and jus a pree other people’s genres and dialect? We just let outsiders “study up wi ting” and come and do our music better than us? We need to recognize our worth. We need education about the history and the business. We need to have more pride in the music that we created. It’s deep.
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