Cuban-American Singer & Songwriter Kat Dahlia Talks About Her New Album ‘My Garden’ [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]

The spirited 22-year-old was raised by Cuban-born parents in Miami Beach. Though fluent in English and Spanish, her French surname, Huguet, is owed to her paternal great-grandparents who came to Cuba from Lebanon. Kat’s parents emigrated to the U.S. as children and their island culture carried over into the language and salsa music that was fundamental to her upbringing, as Celia Cruz, Tito Puente and Willies wafted through the air in her abuela’s kitchen. “I always knew I wanted to do music. I just didn’t know how I was going to get there.” Kat performed her first solo, “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie, at a benefit when she was 8-years-old and started writing her own songs at age 15. she’s the rare artist who will go into the studio and record nine songs in one day. Tell her she can’t do it and she’ll prove the naysayers wrong.She soon settled in North Bergen, New Jersey, but on arrival in 2010, became derailed by a toxic relationship.

A year later, she emerged confident, strong, running her own game and endowed with the insight to channel her emotions into songs that she wrote. That’s when Kat Hue became Kat Dahlia. “My friend J. Dens—who produced ‘Gangsta’ and ‘My Garden’—came up with the name Kat Dahlia,” she explains. “At first, I was hesitant about it because I thought maybe it was too dark and harsh. But when I looked up the definition of a dahlia, I discovered that it’s a beautiful flower, one of a kind that’s very hard to grow and very hard to duplicate. I also like the duality of the hardness and softness of the name, which is why I feel it’s an accurate reflection of me as an artist.” For years, she waited tables six days a week to save up enough money to independently fund studio sessions, a music video and an EP all on her own. That combination of hustle and infectious vocals is why music industry veteran Sylvia Rhone swiftly signed Kat to her Vested in Culture label with Epic Records the very first time she heard her demos.Kat is a talented Latina artist and a true example of resilience and determination. Take a look at what she shared with Latin Times.