Singer-Songwriter Ha’Diyah Sets Her Eyes on Branching Out Musically and Establishing Herself
Rising songstress Ha’Diyah’s love for music was born and nurtured in the cradle of her father’s music collection, a beginning that heralded the promise of a future star in the deep house space. With songs like “Tonight” and “Sunset” and writing credits for other artists, Ha’Diyah is not merely a musician, but a euphonic envoy of emotion and an artisan with the pen.
For a number of successful singer-songwriters, the songwriting pipeline before hitting the big time as a performer has been a major route to the top, equipping them with time and anonymity to hone the skill without the pressures of being a frontman. Ha’Diyah talked about her graduating from life behind the curtain.
“I’ve been writing songs for quite some time now, ten years to be exact, and recently, I had an epiphany to step out of the songwriting space. Not necessarily to say I won’t write for other people but to now just writing and doing my own songs,” she said.
Ha’Diyah | SUPPLIED
Stretching the scope of her capabilities as a house musician, Ha’Diyah released the single “No Limits”, a serendipitous song in which she challenged herself by blending hip-hop and rap into her DNA and all she knew. She spoke about the creation of the song.
“I actually stumbled upon ‘No Limits’ because it’s within my boundaries as a deep soul and house musician. So, when I was in studio with my producer, he was actually playing this beat and working on it while I was getting ready to record another song. The beat kind of inspired me because at the time I’d been writing for another artist, although the song didn’t unfortunately land. I hopped onto the mic when I didn’t have much for the song, just the chorus, and kind of sang-rapped it, in a way, which is something I don’t usually do.
“My producer thought it was dope, and encouraged me to write a first and a second verse for it. I struggled a lot with that because it had a hip-hopish vibe, and it took me a couple of hours to actually put together the first and second verse,” she said.
Listen to “No Limits”:
More than about making music to create motion, Ha’Diyah revealed that “No Limits” was her way of diversifying, showcasing her ability to branch out beyond familiar territory.
“The reason I chose to release this song is to show that I’m versatile. In terms of where I wanna go as an artist, I want to be featured not only in deep house songs but in amapiano, hip-hop, Afrobeats, and all the other sounds outside of what I specialise in. For me, it was a move in which I was letting everyone know that in as much I can sing soulful and deep songs, am flexible enough to do well in other genres. I also wanted to explore myself as a songwriter and a musician overall,” she said.
From studying admirable artists to simply putting the hoe to work in the field of music, Ha’Diyah shared valuable lessons on growth and what it takes to keep one growing steadily.
“I feel I’ve grown a lot. It takes time to sharpen your craft and be able to feel and be confident in what you do. It takes practice. It takes hours of work. It takes you crashing out in studio and not being able to find any words to express how you feel. I have this one friend of mine who’s in a band, and I used to basically practise with him on a weekly basis on how to capture my emotions and write a song on top of them. Being a musician is something that definitely comes with putting in the hours. The talent may be God-given, but that shouldn’t be an excuse not to polish your skills through practise and learning from others. You have to learn and study other musicians and ask questions on what they do and how they got to where they are. You can never ever have enough knowledge in something you love,” she said.
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Turning away from trends and what’s hot, for Ha’Diyah timelessness is a quality that matters most in the essence of any music’s composition. To her, it’s about the ability of a song to linger as a ghostly whisper that beckons the listener to go back in time and to recall the first time they heard the song with enough fond nostalgia to even go for seconds.
“I want to create timeless music such that when you listen to my songs five years down the line, they still sound the same. I don’t aim to have a music catalogue made of trends. You know, the type of catalogue made up of genres that are popping at a certain time. I want to have that thing that makes you think of my song on a random day while you are chilling, which makes you want to go and play it. I want my music to stay with people long enough to make them remember the feeling the first time they heard it—and to recreate the feeling everytime they listen to the song,” she said.
The singer shared her thoughts on deep house and the evolution of music as a whole.
“Deep house is something that will always be there. South Africa is a deep house country, and it evolves overtime. We love beats, dance, and having a good time. We’ve even gone as far as capturing the rest of the world with our love for music and our entertainment. This is something captured by house. Amapiano comes from bacardi, and bacardi comes from house, and house comes from soul. So, I feel like house is long-lasting because it’s always evolving and we keep on reinventing the sound to make it relevant and fresher,” she said.
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She expressed a desire to work within three other genres outside of her wheelhouse.
“I want to dabble in Afrobeats because I have the skill and a taste for it. Afrobeats is something I wanna do a little bit more of. I am also inspired by other local sounds like amapiano and techno house from our own DJs like Dlala Thukzin and Kelvin Momo and Black Coffee. I’d like to step into that international sound that will take me outside the country so I can explore other sounds and genres all over the world,” she said.