I first came across NYC based Hip Hop/Club artist 'Diva Dee' in 2008 when I was looking for cool artists to be featured in Stret Voice. When I came across this lady's page I knew I wanted to feature her. Not only is Diva Dee straight to the point but she's also very sexual. Diva Dee is the real deal and in some ways I'm glad she isn't signed to a major label simply because they would take the bite out of what she is about to make her more commercially viable. I also am very impressed with how this lady has the DIY attitude to her music too and that's where the passion shines through. With a new album due out I caught up with Diva Dee for an interview and this is what she has to say for herself.
Street Voice: First off can you tell our readers about Diva Dee please?
The answer to that question is in my song "U Want Me"
I'm The Don Don Diva
runnin Pleasure Hall
I signed it in Lipstick
RIGHT THERE ON THE WALL
I signed it real BIG
so everybody could see
FIRST NAME DIVA
LAST NAME DEE
Street Voice: What inspired you to play the music that you put out?
Most all of my music has been inspired by real life situations or experiences that I have had. I’m someone who really lives her music.
Street Voice: I've just sat here listening to 'Fame Makes Me Wet' and on hearing the sexiness in your voice I really felt like making love with you so was this written to get everyone drooling over you?
I’m flattered to hear that, I’ve had some similar comments about "Come Stop By" and "U Want Me." It was never really the intent to have people drooling over me it just sort of naturally comes out in my music because writing and doing music is like making love for me. I guess that’s why my recording sessions are so much fun...HaHa!
Actually the inspiration for "Fame Makes Me Wet" came from a time period when I was seeing an endless stream of incidents involving famous people who were misbehaving. I thought it would be a good statement of our times which could be done in a playful and sexy way as opposed to being mean and judgmental. have a saying "IF YOU DONT LIVE YOUR LYRICS-DONT WRITE THEM!" It’s my life and it’s who I am. I don’t know if that’s good or bad but it is what it is.
Street Voice: The video is also great so did you do that yourself or did you get someone in to do it for you?
I’m glad you liked the video. I did it myself like most of my work I’ve done everything myself. Although now that I’ve started to get more popular a number of people have come to me to get involved like doing remixes of tracks which is cool. I’m pretty much self taught in terms of everything so it helps when you can get someone with technical skills involved especially in areas like production. For example I thought that Rob Dale and DJ Sebastion did a great job on the "Fame Makes Me Wet" club remix.
Street Voice: New York is a pretty tough place to crack so do you get to play shows there?
Remember now New York is my turf so I can pretty much get a lot of things done in it. The "Come Stop By" track was a NYC club track that stayed on the NYC MySpace Club charts for a long time. And besides they really love sexy here in NYC. HAHA!
Street Voice: Your debut album is going to be released in September so is this just going to be available on line or can people also purchase hard copies too?
We put a lot of thought into this and decided to release it digitally but since it’s also in Amazon.com people who want a CD can order it there.
Street Voice: What kind of lyrics have you written for the album?
The Lyrics for this album are just like the title Glamour N Grime. Some of it is fun and sexy, some of it is hard and grimy but all of it is from the heart. It was a fun album to make and I hope everyone really enjoys it for what it was meant to be…a really fun, bumpin, bangin album.
Street Voice: Are you releasing this yourself or going through a label?
Glamour N Grime is being released independently on my record label Rococo Pop Records.
Street Voice: You're a very sexy lady so was this the reason you pose semi naked in many of your shots to give people a taste of what they can't have?
Well my sexuality is just part of who I am so I don’t even give it a second thought. As far as giving people a taste of what they can’t have that all depends on who they are doesn’t it? HaHa!
Street Voice: Have you had much criticism for these style of shots?
I think the shot that you have isn’t the one that got me kicked off my space for a while is it? All I can say about the criticism and to my critics and haters is listen to my track "U Can Hate All U Want."
Street Voice: If you were to be taken on a dream date what would that involve?
I already was taken on my dream date and all I can say about it is it involved limos, trains, planes and law enforcement from various countries. Thank God the Paparazzi missed that.
Street Voice: What plans have you for the rest of 2009?
I’ll be very busy recording my next album. I already have a ton of material that didn’t make the Glamour N Grime album. I’ll also be busy working the Glamour N Grime album when I’m not recording. I like to be personally involved as much as possible with my fans. That’s why a lot of the time it’s really me on myspace not someone just working the page. I try to personally answer a lot of the emails but you know my mailbox on myspace is impossible to keep up with. So if any of my fans are out there reading this just know if you don’t get a response to one of your emails it’s not because I don’t care it’s just because there aren’t that many hours in the day that I can read them all. But I try.
Street Voice: Anything you'd like to add?
Yes. Go to iTunes and buy my album. I’m an independent artist and need all the support I can get from my fans. My manager insisted I say that. He’s a very nice man who says I’m giving him gray hairs by minute so I thought I’d throw him a bone. BUY THE ALBUM…….it’s a fun album.