Blend Calle 13’s powerful lyrics, a deep voice like Amy Winehouse, Rihanna’s flow and the sexy attitude of a Latin woman and there you have it, or should I say have her.  That’s how I can describe Kat Dahlia.  Born Katriana Huguet, this Cuban-American singer from Miami was discovered by record executive veteran Sylvia Rhone and she is here to stay.

Her first single Gangsta, from her EP My Garden, is a female empowerment song in which she describes what her family has been through since they arrived from Cuba and how that molded her into the person she is now to basically, tell the man she was dating that he is not “all that”.  Kat explains: “ I was in a toxic relationship.  I broke up with my boyfriend one night and the next day I was working the day shift at the restaurant I was waitressing for, I got into a huge argument with the manager.  I was very upset.  I sat at the bar and wrote the whole song.”  The song became instantly a female anthem.  “I wasn’t expecting anything from the song.  The reception it had caught me by surprise.” Specially after her mother listened to it for the first time and didn’t like it, “My mom didn’t like it because she thought I was putting the family’s dirty laundry out there.  As a Cuban, she is very protective of her family and you are not supposed to discuss your family problems with everyone, but eventually, she understood what I was trying to do.  She is a great supporter.” 

Changing her name by request, her producer suggested dahlia, and she wasn’t very impressed with the idea at first. “I thought it was very dark, but then I looked for more information and discovered it is a very beautiful and powerful flower.  Then I found out I share the same birthday as the Black Dahlia and thought it was very creepy.  I decided to keep the name.”  The album name, My Garden, came from one of the singles in it.  “I am not obsessed with flowers, but I thought the name was appropriate because the album has many pieces of me and it is like a garden in a way.  I am inviting the audience to my garden.”

Planning on releasing an album in Spanish, she is already nominated for Best New Artist in Premios Juventud and her EP hasn’t come out yet.  “I can’t believe it.  I am very happy and excited.  You know what, I just realized this is my first nomination ever for an award and it is coming from the Latin community.  I am very grateful.”

Kat Dahlia’s My Garden is out in September.

Her latest single released is titled Fireman. Listen to it here: