In her new album Second Line: An Electro Revival, Dawn Richard honors Louisiana’s Creole culture and promotes Black female art.
Discovered in the late 2000s by Diddy, with whom she went on to form the band Dirty Money, the actress, singer, songwriter, lyricist and model is back to dazzle listeners once more. Two years after the success of her album, New Breed, which was inspired by her father, Dawn Richard is enhancing her native New Orleans roots in her new album Second Line: An Electro Revival, this time inspired by her mother. This album embodies the creator’s artistic quest, defined as: “A movement to bring Black female pioneers of electronic music to the forefront of the scene.”
She also adds: “We see very few women being recognized as true producers – especially Black women. Today it’s time to recognize their talent, not only in electronic music but in all genres. I want to be the one to motivate a young Black woman in the Southern United States to be what she wants to be musically, visually or artistically.” This goal is captured perfectly by the video for “Bussifame,” in which beautiful Black dancers captivate with their footwork on rhythms tinged with house and also R&B.
Dawn Richard thus wishes to put an end to labels, integrating the term “Revival” within the title of her album: “In New Orleans, the definition of Second Line is the celebration of a person’s return home. In life as in death, we celebrate a person’s influence on his or her surroundings through dance and music. On the album, I celebrate the death of an old vision of the industry, the death of boundaries and labels. I celebrate the Future, the emergence of a new wave of artists, all the new King Creole to come. This is our resurrection.”
Pre-order the album here before its release on April 30, via Merge Records.
Find Dawn Richard in our Songs of the Week playlist on Spotify and Deezer.
