Azilda Steps Into Solo Spotlight
Azilda by Cassandra Oseni
Just a day before the release of her debut solo single, “Come Over,” Azilda is beaming with pride, her smile radiating through the screen during our Zoom meeting. After winning the Danish X-Factor with her sister, Anilde, as duo group KAPUTU - formerly known as Embrace - in 2016, Azilda went on to make waves of her own in the entertainment industry. From dubbing the part of Chenille in the Danish rendition of Trolls to using her platform on screen to inspire young Black women in Denmark, the artist is ready for a brand new chapter.
Stepping away from her duo role and ready to show the world who she is as a solo artist, Azilda’s latest single proves herself a sonic force in musical creativity. Fusing together R&B and pop music, “Come Over” is a track about discovering your new self and letting go of the past all while inviting its listeners to dance. Azilda’s Angolan roots also inform much of the artist’s song-making process which is why “Come Over” features rhythmic Afro-beats inspired by her heritage and its musical influence on her. Recorded with producer Alexander M. Hansen, the track showcases Azilda’s flair for unique sound and enticing vocals clearer than ever.
Marking the beginning of her solo career today, Azilda is more than ready to introduce the world to the music she’s been working on. “It is both scary, but also a feeling of freedom to stand on my own two feet now,” she explains in a statement about the start of her solo journey. “I always knew my sister had my back when she was there. But now it's just me. At the same time, having the final say also opens up a lot of possibilities. Now it's entirely up to me who I want to be as an artist.
With a passion for bringing representation for young Black girls into Danish media, Azilda spoke with Amplify Her Voice about the story behind her debut single, her time on The X-Factor, and her experience as a woman in music.
We are so excited for your new music! Was lockdown and being home the thing that led you to starting your solo career or is that something that you’ve been working on before COVID?
Actually, this lockdown helped me take the next step to becoming a solo artist because I was at a place where I didn’t know what I wanted to or what I wanted to be, but this last year put everything into perspective, and I found out that this is what I’m supposed to do. It made me see that it was now or never. I can’t waste any more time now because we never know what’s going to happen.
You’ve been performing with your sister for a long time now. From winning the Danish X-Factor to even recording together. Was it scary for you at first to step away and decide you wanted to have a solo career? What was it like when you realized you needed to be your own artist?
My sister and I performed a lot, and I feel so much comfort in having her. Yes, we’re sisters and it was always good just knowing that she’ll always know how I feel and she’ll always catch me if I fall on stage, but she is a mother of two kids now. She just bought a house with her husband and is very settled down now, but for me, I just felt that I was very much in my comfort zone. I felt I didn’t grow as much, both as a person and as a musician because I love singing with my sister and we still sing together, but I just felt like I needed to challenge myself. I needed to do the best that I could do to take the next step to be my own person. I wanted to try that, to move to a big city, to make some music, and just be on my own two feet.
Going off of that, what about “Come Over” made you choose it to be your debut solo single? Why did you decide to use this song as the starting point for showing the world “This is who I am as a solo artist.”
I chose “Come Over” because I say in the song, “I get stubborn and busy and I speak without thinking.” It was kind of a story that tells how I had to take a deeper look at who I used to be and breaking out the feelings, putting it into songs to explain who I am and who I’m going to be - and I can be sassy and flirtatious, and I can still be myself!
How did you come about writing “Come Over?” What does the creative process look like for you?
Normally, I have so many ideas in my head so I just find a few chords, either on the piano or guitar, and then I just think about a situation - something that’s happened in my life. I put lyrics to it, and an important part is that I find a producer that matches my style. I search for producers who can understand where my ideas and songwriting at and ask them, “Please make that!” That’s how I collaborate!
Do you remember the first time you fell in love with music, or the moment you realized you wanted to perform?
Yes, I do! First and foremost, my dad is a musician from when we lived in Angola, so we’ve always been singing and dancing at home. We’d clean the house with music on, so it was a huge part of our lives. When my sister joined the school choir, she got a solo part in the band, and when I saw her sing that solo, I thought, “Wow. I need to be doing that too!” I also felt creative things so deeply, and I felt like I wasn’t really good at anything else, and so I felt like music was my place to be.
Is that why you chose to go on The X-Factor?
Yes, so here in Denmark, The X-Factor isn’t as big as in the UK and so on, and at some point, they were kind of saying that it might have been the last season that they were going to have. So, my sister and I were like, “We should do it!" It was going to be our last chance, so we tried that and also to get connections and more into music, and we just wanted to see where we could go with it.
Azilda by Cassandra Oseni
I know that inspiring young Black women artists and young women of color who want to be artists someday is a major mission for you, as well as bringing representation for diversity into Danish media. Do you feel like you were able to accomplish inspiring people in some way by being on the show?
Yes, and I know that it’s also one of the reasons why I keep going because so many parents - mothers, especially - of Black children have come to us and just told us that, “My daughter watched you guys, and I feel that there’s a place for us now. When you won, it felt like we won,” and my heart honestly just melted.
What was it like for you, as a Black woman, to be on a televised singing competition show, considering how often the music industry sees women and they judge them first on how they look rather than paying attention to how they sound? Did you encounter any difficulties like that being on the show or making your own music?
Yes, I felt that a lot actually because some of the comments were like, “Go home to your own country. Why are there two Black, Muslim women singing on my Danish TV? We should send them back to I don’t know where,” so we had some encounters where we felt like, “Why are we doing this?” because people didn’t want us anyway. It was also the show because the story around us was that we were immigrants and came to Denmark, and now we were “something.” The way it portrayed us, it really felt like the world was kind of against us. Even though so many people voted, it felt very much discriminatory.
What kept you going to keep making music despite all of that?
I once met a woman who was also a mother who told me that we made space for Black young women and girls of color, as well. They felt that they had someone to look up to and see that I wouldn’t give up on my dreams because it was possible. I love music and that’s why I do it, but also knowing that I can be there to inspire someone to do something they love despite their color, their gender, their religion, or whatever. That really pushes me.
Speaking of your heritage and going back to music, I know that you love to include Afro-beats into your songs. Whether it’s more R&B or more Pop, you still love to include those beats in tracks. Does that come from your dad’s influence with music?
Primarily yes, but also the thought of my roots and bringing them with me to make space for that as well. A lot of people hear Danish artists make music inspired by so many other African artists and take it as their own, but they don’t quite see where the music actually comes from so I would just love for people to see this what we do, this is what we make, and this is our heritage.
Do you have any advice for young girls or women of color who are hoping to be artists one day?
Do not listen to haters! There are so many people who don’t want to see you thrive. They’ll just give you backhanded compliments to make you feel unworthy so make sure you just do what you love, and surround yourself with people who support you. If you’re surrounded by people who are just with you when you’re at your highest, you won’t know how real people are. You won’t know how great your passion is if you’re not around people who support you.
What can we expect from you and your upcoming music plans?
I am working on my debut EP coming soon. It’ll be a lot of dancing, a lot of feelings, and that’s my plan so far. No plans to perform soon. It’s still difficult with lockdown, but we will plan a mini-tour just to show the world who I am for sure.