The first time I met Fatin, I heard him before I saw him. I was in
another room and heard a sweet voice singing on what sounded like a
demo.
I remember hurrying to see who it was and that was the
first time I laid eyes on Fatin. No, it was not love at first sight
but I did love his voice. He was introduced to me as a songwriter who
was going to help out on the album that I was working on. He got right
down to business and asked me to sing, thus the beginning of our love
story and the answer to the most commonly asked question, "What came
first, the love or the music?"
We did not have a long
courtship, eight months to be exact. He opened up to me, told his moms
about me. We talked about religion, marriage, kids, the future but
most of all we talked about music. How we loved it, how we made it and
how it disappointed us. We both spent our teenage years striving for
stardom. Getting further than others, not as far as most. We were both
talented, young and really wanting more than what we had. We both
struggled with fitting into the industry. Being raised in very
spiritual and moral families, we wore it on our sleeves and this didn't
quite fit the image of the typical oversexed R&B dude or chick. So
many things brought us together. Very little kept us apart. However,
there were haters. AH, YES THE HATERS.
"You haven't known him for very long."
"Do you really love her?"
"What will you do for money?"
"It’s just infatuation."
Our Story: Kindred The Family Soul • 12
I
mean they weren’t all together wrong but we were very determined. We
hit some walls but we climbed them. "It’s just us against the world
baby!"
One thing about this business is it’s very easy to
believe that your time is up. In fact, you kind of try to prepare
yourself the moment you choose music as goal. It seems like we decided
our time was up, accepted it and moved on in no time. Before we knew it
we had landed smack dab in the middle of a working class West Philly
neighborhood complete with row house, pregnant belly and a hand-me-
down couch. By the looks of things you wouldn't believe we had ever
lived the lives of artists. Singing. Writing. Traveling. We were “THE
DANTZLERS.” It was nice.
It also came with a job. Yes, ladies
and gents, a real live nine-to-fiver. I know what you're thinking, city
bus driver right. Nah, kiddies…the videos are fiction. My husband sold
electronics and appliances and he was good at it. In four short months
he went from salesman to assistant manager. Yes, indeed we were
civilians and lovin’ it. As to be expected the desire to perform still
burned, just under the surface of course.
What was a simmering
ember grew to be a full grown crackling fire once fate (God)
intervened. I went to visit my mom so she could cuddle with our newborn
son and the phone rang.
"Hello."
"Babe?"
"Hey Babe!"
"I lost my job."
SILENCE
Our Story: Kindred The Family Soul • 13
After another whole day of lamenting, I returned to our home. Fatin had a solution in mind.
Kindred
started haphazardly and awkwardly. I had a musical past and so did he.
I called my contacts and he called his. Some responded and others did
not. We landed right back in the same circle we disappeared into one
year earlier. The underground Hip Hop and alternative R&B scene
(which later became known as neo-soul). The Roots, Jazzyfatnastees,
Jaguar, Musiq, Jill Scott, Bilal, Lady Alma, Aries, 37009, Flo Brown
and a host of others converged on a small club in Old City
Philadelphia.
Some jam sessions we used to attend at Roots
drummer Questlove's home morphed into a "Women in Music” series called
the Black Lily. It started out with just Flo, the Jazzies, Jag and Nou
Ra from 37009. We became the fifth act on the strength of our
relationship with them and of course my ever-present ovaries. We
started out performing as Aja and Fatin, going on as the first 10
people arrived at the club. We would hit at 9:15 p.m. at an event that
did not end until 2:00 a.m.
We won some people over, still
others did not believe. Unfortunately, looking back we were more like a
broke ass Peaches and Herb than the next Ashford and Simpson. We gigged
a little but money was scarce. We were always fighting to get musicians
to play for us (a live band was essential). I remember once we had a
gig and our bass player and drummer canceled hours before to take
better paying job. In between "the Lily," which happened every week,
twice a week until they closed it in New York, and a small gig here and
there, WE WERE BROKE! Fatin worked odd jobs to make ends meet. A
flower shop, delivering box lunches and a homeboy hustle every now and
again. (No drugs of course).
Our Story: Kindred The Family Soul • 14
Finally
we got tired of chasing the "click" musicians. I mean everybody played
for us at least once. One of the most popular being hip hop über
producer Scott Storche. Other familiar faces would go on to do
everything from become a member of the rock band Incubus to write a hit
song for Michael Jackson. All of them played for Kindred at one time or
another. Anyhoo we had to come up with a core group – a group of
musicians loyal to us and who took our music seriously. That became Ted
Kenny on keys, Shareif Hobley on guitar, Jermaine Childs on bass,
Julian Brown on drums -- THE BAND – HAAAAAAAAAAAH (angelic sound
effects here).
These great people consisted of regulars from
"The Lily" and old friends of Fatin’s from back in the day who wanted
in on the new scene. They helped us to develop our sound and what
would soon become our signature stage show. But more than anything they
showed up.
Okay, so we had a band but what we really needed
was material. We had been singing like three songs. Songs we had
written believe it or not over Hip Hop beats. We would play the beats
for the band and they would play it or something that sounded close. We
added a cover ong or two, and goshdarnnit, we had a set. Aw, shit
things were rolling now. People were actually coming to "The Lily" to
see us. Meanwhile we weren't Aja and Fatin anymore. We were Kindred.
It
seemed like overnight we went from the walk-in music to the last act of
the night. By then we had added Sonny Giddiens, Tamara Hudson, and
Jamillah Wadell on background vocals as well as Radji Mateen, Jarrett
Miles and Daud El Bakara on brass. We were killin’ it if I must say so
myself. Songs like "Rhythm of Life," "The Family Song," "Hurry Up" and
"Alright," and few of our patented cover songs seemed to bring the
house down like people heard our music all the time. Rich Nichols (who
manages The Roots) used to tell a story about how "the Lily" would
attract a lot
Our Story: Kindred The Family Soul • 15
of
hardcore hip hop fans because of its affiliation with The Roots. He had
observed how they would stand there through our first song -- their
faces tight, arms folded waiting around for the open mic. But as each
song would pass, the scowl would loosen and the arms would drop and a
smile would appear.
We felt like Superman. During the week we
were regular ass Clark Kent, but on Tuesday we could fly ourselves to
any destination we wanted. We were still broke though. We caught the
trolley down to the club and back home. Our cable was bootleg but had
the essentials. Our son was still an infant and didn't take well to
being away from me. I would nurse him and run down to do the show so I
could be back in time for his next feeding. In fact the first Black
Lily I ever attended was in New York (pre-Kindred). Fatin kept the
baby and I went to New York to participate. I missed my baby so much
that I retreated to basement of the club to an empty bar room. I sat
there, my breasts engorged with milk, crying in pain (both physical and
emotional). A girl came over to me and asked if I was okay. I shared
my problem and we cried together.
That girl was Jill Scott.
So
things were hard. No nannies, honey, we had babysitters -- Fatin's
godsister, his brother, my mother, his mother. The whole family chipped
in. They really believed in us. Without them we would have NEVER made
it.
Performing led us to a meeting that truly changed things
forever. As we became staples at "The Lily" other acts joined the
party. Aries, Floetry, and Jazmine Sullivan, to name a few. Philly was
on fire. The Roots had won a Grammy. Jill got a deal and so did Jag
and Musiq.
Everyone but us.
Our Story: Kindred The Family Soul • 16
Jill
and her husband (at that time her boyfriend) invited us to the crib for
a talk. They encouraged us to talk to Steve McKeever, the president of
Hidden Beach Recordings. Soon after he came to Philly and we knew he
was coming to the Lily. Now mind you he wasn't the first exec to come
looking for us but he was the most inconspicuous. Complete with
long-sleeve GAP t-shirt and sneaks, he was the picture of a rich guy
who did not care about money. He blended in and watched the show from
the floor not a table. We inadvertently sang one of his favorite songs,
and it was as if the angels signed our names (so to speak).
Getting
a deal by no means solved our problems in a “happily-ever-after” kind
of way. Before our record came out we would welcome yet another baby
into the world, gain and lose band members all within what’s considered
the most challenging time in a couple’s life. In the first two years
of our marriage, we argued a lot. We made love a lot. Mostly, we just
tried to stay strong and trust God. Attempting to understand your role
and succeeding in marriage, music, business, family and community
continues to be our life’s greatest challenge, but we step to it like
soldiers. We attempt to complete this mission not just for ourselves
but for our little generations to come.
