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Music

Meet Neijah Lanae, the LA Artist Brightening Up Alt-Pop

She's shaking up pop and challenging the way people think about strong women.

Over the past couple of years, Los Angeles has become somewhat of a breeding ground for rising alt-R&B and pop singers– Allie X, King avriel, Kelela, and SZA, to name a few. Neijah Lanae is about to join them in shaking up pop. The 25-year-old, who moved to LA from Oakland, is making some of the more interesting pop music coming out of the city but with a decidedly different approach. For one, Neijah’s songs are bright and danceable, while still loaded with social commentary and takeaways. Her new Sapphire EP, which is premiering today on Noisey, is a take down of the old stereotype called “Sapphire” that was used as an attack against outspoken women.

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On highlight “Tell Me,” a slinky 90s throwback, Neijah reverses the songwriting trope of a female singer trying to figure out her partner’s feelings and instead demands that they share. “I feel like in a lot of relationships with women who are outspoken, the man can fall into the shadow while the woman takes the lead in emotional issues,” she says over the phone. Another thing that sets Neijah apart is that she works alongside her boyfriend, one-half of the production duo, The Formula–which can obviously be hurdle given the themes she deals with. We talked to Neijah about challenging the way people think about strong women, navigating a working relationship with your significant other, and whether or not Prince's reign was better than 90s pop.

Let’s start from the beginning. When did you start singing and making music?
Neijah: I started singing in choirs as a young kid in middle school and trained in music theory and vocal technique when I was in high school at Oakland School for the Arts. As soon as I graduated high school, I knew that I wanted to do it professionally so I looked for a college either in LA or New York. I ended up moving to LA and doing music continuously on the side while in school, and performing and writing in my free time.

Has living in LA shaped your identity as a performer?
I don’t think so. I still draw a lot more influence from Oakland and the Bay Area.

A lot of artists living in LA have said that the city doesn’t really impact their music. Have you thought about why there’s more of a fractured music community here?
I think it’s because there are so many people that are in it for the business side of things. LA is an entertainment business city, and that’s what you get from it so you have to step back to be inspired more. Not trying to down LA, it’s a beautiful city with lots of things going on, but it’s not as inspiring as other places where you can have a fuller experience outside of the business.

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The EP is refreshingly brighter and more sensual than a lot of the other alt-pop being made today. Do you see your music as a foil to that scene?
I do. The reason why my stuff is a little different is because I grew up obsessed with N*SYNC, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, and, all the way to hip-hop, Tupac. You’ll hear that poppy, upbeat feel in my music. And I like to talk about things in a very simple way.

What’s your favorite era of pop music?
I go back and forth between the 80s Michael Jackson and Prince era–with Sheila E. and Vanity–and 90s pop and R&B.

Let’s talk about some of the vocal techniques you use on the album. Your voice ranges from almost-spoken bits at the beginning of “Tell Me” and “All Night” to these to blown out melodies.
I think that really speaks to the collaboration that happened on this record. I wrote a lot of the songs after hearing the beat, with the exception of “Tell Me”—I wrote that Acapella. “Kiss” and “Touch” were all me freestyling based on what I heard from the music. My vocal producer has a cleaner R&B style compared to mine.

And the producer on this album is also your boyfriend. Is it hard to leave “work” at home when you go out? How much does it consume your lives?
A whole lot, I’m not gonna lie. We’re always coming up with ideas and talking because he helps me in a lot of areas and not just production. It consumes us a lot but we still take time to have fun and watch a movie now and then.

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Are there a lot of obstacles when you’re working with your boyfriend?
You have the challenges of bringing two different personalities together and also balancing being intimate with a work environment. I’m a really direct person. I say what’s on my mind and the communication can get a little challenging. [Laughs.]

Have there been instances where as you’re writing a song he realizes that it’s about him?
I’m pretty simple with my lyrics but there’s been songs where he’s been like, "Yeah I knew that was about me." And there’s songs where he’s like, "I don’t like when you perform that song. I’m not gonna stick around then."

Are any of those on the EP?
Luckily most of the songs are happy songs. I think it’s usually the heartbreak songs where I’m pissed off at him. [Laughs.]

So what’s the concept behind the EP?
Sapphire is my birthstone but it’s also what my step dad would always call me. I realize it was a character on “Amos ‘n’ Andy” named Sapphire Stevens and she was a very outspoken female until later. My stepfather called me Sapphire in a positive way, speaking to my personality and how I naturally take the lead on things.

I did a little research on the character and “Sapphire” became a negative stereotype in TV and cinema about how women that speak up are intimidating and self absorbed. I feel like outspoken women are perceived the the wrong way. People use that label to shut them up and devalue their opinions. I wanted to turn that around and show that outspoken women are passionate and know what they want. And that’s a beautiful thing that should be embraced. All of the songs on Sapphire talk about love and intimate situations in a very direct way. I thought this was a way to show what the outspoken woman feels when it comes to vulnerable things like love and intimacy.

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That's not a very explored topic in pop.
I think that’s the missing piece to a lot of pop songs. We don’t articulate what’s going on. They should be a lot deeper than something you can just dance to.

A lot of pop music is style over substance. Do you think you’ll address more similar issues in your future music?
I really really want to. I feel like I have a story to tell… that sounds really cheesy because everyone says they have a story to tell—but I do, being from east Oakland which is stricken by poverty but also very creative and affluent in some ways. I just feel like I want to touch on some things I’ve experienced and learned throughout my life. I have a platform to do this, and I want it to mean something.

Download Neijah's Sapphire EP over at her website.

Marissa is also a child of 90s pop and R&B. She's on Twitter - @marissagmuller.

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