AdELA on Music and Storytelling



AdELA; singer, rapper, songwriter, and now children’s book author for a series inspired by her dogs, Hunny and Koko. She relays her journey from apartheid South Africa to sunny South Florida, joining the choir, becoming a rapper, and hating being ‘an artist in a box.’

The following recaps an interview with AdELA as part of Downtown Music’s series, The Music Industry Lives Here. Downtown Music is a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

AdELA grew up in South Africa during the apartheid. “We had signs that said non-whites are not allowed. My dad was a professional soccer player. He ran track. He had endorsements with Adidas. So we had a good life. But he was still not allowed to ride with the white players or sit in the same restaurants as them. And my parents didn’t want that for us.”

“And when I was nine, my parents were like, we’re going to go to the U.S., and we’re going to pretend like it’s a vacation. But we’re never coming back.”

“So we came to the U.S., and I immediately made lots of friends. I loved it, I loved being here.”

AdELA grew up in South Florida where she joined the choir. “That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to do music.”

In middle school, AdELA told her father she was going to be a rapper. “I was like, Dad, I’m going to be a rapper. And he’s like ‘you’re going to college, and you’re going to do something with your life.’”

“I surely went to college. I got a degree in biology. But music always called me.”

“I was influenced by artists like NAS and Pac (Tupac), and then went into my bedroom and played these instrumentals. I would use their melodies and flow to rewrite songs. Ultimately, somebody introduced me to a studio, and I loved the experience. So I started working as an independent artist.”

“My first album was called Off the Burner. It was the perfect nine-song album. I rapped and I sang. I wanted to show people that I could make a complete body of work.”

“The first lyric on the album said ‘I felt hopeless,’ and the last lyric on the album said ‘f*** you pay me.’”

So I took people on this journey, like, here I am, I’m singing really pretty, but by the end I’m f***ing bustin’ it down on these raps.”

Even though the album didn’t do numbers, AdELA believes it laid the foundation for her career and showed people her artist side.

“I’m not making a single that’s going to get on the radio, or just be there for streaming. I’m not following a trend.”

Ultimately, AdELA began working on an idea to work with other rappers and feature them on her album. “I started making a list, and my second project featured Fat Joe, Royce da 5’9″, Cormega, Jon Connor, Torae, and Sky Zoo. It was just spitters, and I had to keep up with them. I still listen to the Royce da 5’9″ track, and it’s Royce, myself, and Jon Connor. I can’t believe I’m sitting between the two of them, and we’re on par. I mean, Royce is one of the most genius rappers of all time.”

AdELA then got a call about one of her records, Octane, ‘a very Beastie Boys type record.’ “I got a sync for it, and I didn’t know what sync was. When I saw the trailer for this video game, Rider’s Republic, and I heard my voice, I was in love. I knew this was where I wanted to be.”

“I decided to make a couple more records. Now, keep in mind that the first song that was sent was from my very first album. So, it was sitting there, and in my mind, it didn’t really do much, but it came full circle and brought me into this world.”

“So I went to the producer, Ms Madli, and I’m like, let’s make like five records. In three weeks, I had five records, and I had no idea what to do with them. Somebody told me to hit up Olly Sheppard at APG.”

“I sent him a DM asking him to check out my music. He was like, sure, sure, sure. I hadn’t heard from him for a week, so I hit him back, and he called me. He said, ‘We want to sign you.’”

Olly and AdELA ‘hit the ground running.’ “I hold him dear because he gave me a chance. He believed in me and still believes in me. Olly said to me, You’re the reason I’m always going to listen to people’s music, because if I hadn’t listened to it, I wouldn’t have discovered you.”

From there, AdELA began working with other companies. I’ve done some really cool stuff, like writing the theme song for the Stanley Cup for the NHL, creating songs for Morgan Freeman documentaries, and working on TV shows and trailers. “It’s fantastic to be part of these other legacies.”

For AdELA, it was hard to be this ‘artist in a box’ of hip hop or R&B. “Now I’m part of the NHL and the NFL and all these different things. I love where I am musically. I can be all of these different things, but still be AdELA. I love that because I’ve always hated the box.”

“So I made a track called ‘champion.’ The NHL wanted to use it as long as I could be in the video. I immediately said yes. I was at SXSW so I flew home, went into the studio, changed up some of the words, some of the lyrics, really specific.”

“I went to New York, and it was the coolest experience to be able to go up to the NHL offices. I shot there. I shot with a marching band on the ice.”

“Here I am, AdELA. I’m in NHL gear, I’m on the ice with the marching band, and then there are these legendary hockey players. I felt like I was part of that legacy, part of that world. That was really neat.”

Adela turned her love of storytelling with songwriting into authoring children’s books.

Speaking about how that pivot came about, AdELA talks about her three dogs, “I have three dogs, and two years ago, my dog, Hunny, was about to be 14 years old. She was perfectly healthy, but I knew the end was coming. So I had this idea to start writing a book series — funny stories for kids about my dogs, Hunny and Koko.”

“Six months later, Hunny passed away. It turned out she had cancer. I was dealing with so much grief that I couldn’t go into a studio, and I absolutely didn’t want to make music. But I still am a creator at heart, and I needed a release.”

So AdELA holed up at home and started writing stories about Hunny and Koko. “They live in this neighborhood called Whisker Woods, and it’s a way to pay tribute to them and leave a legacy behind.”

“How cool would it be if some kid finds this book at a thrift store in a hundred years, and it’s about these goofy dogs, and they find joy in that? I wanted to share that story. I’m writing, and I’ve hit 22 books. And at that point, I should probably stop, but I’m thinking, “Now Whisker Woods needs a soundtrack.” So we made ‘Chase The Happy.’”

AdELA relays how she called the same creators she worked with on my first couple of albums. “These are the same creators I make music with on the sync side. And I asked, ‘Do you guys want to work on an album inspired by my dogs? It’s called Chase The Happy.‘”

“I was really humbled because these super talented, Grammy-nominated, Emmy-nominated artists, writers, producers put a million percent into working on a kids’ album — an album that my dogs inspired.”

“We released the album in March, and it became an editorial playlist, and it’s doing well on Pandora.”

“The music is so good. And when you have good music, it’s going to travel where it travels and go where it goes. So I’ve been pleased with that.”

When I did ‘Chase The Happy The album’, we were able to roll out our social and emotional resources that we provided to parents, teachers, and kids with Songtrust.”

And that’s also how she connects to her relationship with Songtrust. “They have my first album, ‘Off The Burner,’ which is obviously very dear to me. We’ve done a lot of really cool things together.”

“I want my music to be something people can listen to a long time from now. Still relevant and classic.”

“If you play a Sinatra record today, it still gives you this powerful feeling. That’s what I want. I want to make that kind of music. I don’t want to make something that’s currently popular. I want that to be my legacy.”

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