FEATURE:
Spotlight
with the incredible Saidah. This is an amazing D.J. that everyone should know about. This Amsterdam-based queen has London roots. I want to lead off with Nowadays Magazine and their interview with Saidah. This acclaimed and hugely respected D.J. draws inspiration “from the birthplace of garage to bring high-energy four-to-the-floor beats to her sets. Blending UKG classics with underground gems across garage, house, and bassline genres, she offers a fresh sound and perspective to open up the UK scene to new audiences. A resident at Amsterdam’s Radio Radio, she hosts her monthly radio show Sweet Like Chocolate, dedicated to UK dance music soundscapes, and a quarterly club night inviting personal inspirations to join her on the program”:
“Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got hooked on music?
I grew up in a household where music was always playing. I had a heavy UKG influence from my mum, who was into that scene, and grime from my older brother, who rapped and had Channel U on the TV at all times. I also love to sing, so I was involved in bands and choirs from a very young age. As soon as I was old enough (and even when I wasn’t quite...), I couldn’t get enough of clubbing, and that opened up a whole new way of experiencing music for me.
What inspired you to become a DJ?
I’ve honestly wanted to learn how to DJ from the moment I saw someone do it. The idea that you could be in control of the music, play all of the songs you want to hear, and experience everyone in the crowd loving the music as much as you do felt like the coolest thing ever to me. But I didn’t learn until I moved to Amsterdam and one of my besties had decks and taught me how to use them, which I’m forever grateful for. I fell in love with it immediately, and spending hours on end discovering music, learning techniques, and developing my own style inspired me to share that with people on dance floors”.
What challenges did you face while breaking into the industry, and how did you overcome them?
I think the biggest challenges came from within, to be honest. You have to continuously believe in yourself and what you’re doing- if you don’t, then it’s very hard for anyone else to. I struggled with imposter syndrome a lot at the start, but I think the only way to overcome it is to continue to challenge yourself to do things outside of your comfort zone. Then, when you achieve those things, you can look back and say, "That was something I didn’t think I could do, and I did it, so I’m definitely capable of doing this next hard thing.". It’s also about letting go of perfection and not being too hard on yourself when things don’t go as expected. Learning to be comfortable with discomfort and imperfection is a huge superpower, and it allows you to enjoy every moment so much more, which is what it’s all about really.
Where do you see yourself in five years, both musically and professionally?
I’ll be releasing some of my own music later this year, and I’ve been working on tracks both as a producer and a vocalist. So I’m excited to see what new opportunities that brings and to contribute to the scene. I hope that I’ll get to travel to cool places, meet even more amazing people, and mature as an artist and performer. So much has already happened that I would never have imagined a few years ago, so I feel really hopeful about what comes next”.
There aren’t many interviews available with Saidah. Her E.P., takeme2, is out. It is phenomenal. I would urge everyone to listen to it. I think that can’t stop is the best track on the E.P. Like all of the tracks, it has such energy. It is a work that really gives you a boost and a lift. I am going to end up with DJ Mag and their interview from last month. They spent time with Saidah ahead of the release of takeme2. The “fast-rising Amsterdam-based, London-born DJ, producer and vocalist opens up about finding her feet as she surfs UKG's new wave”:
“Having studied music at school, Saidah turned her attention to production shortly after starting DJing. Initially, she shadowed peers and played around on her own, then did a course with Parisian house producer Julien Chaptal. "That was less about how to use Ableton and more about how to be experimental in what you create," she reflects.
A keen collaborator, she’s also featured on several tracks with friends in recent months. In April, there was 'NICE + SLOW', a link-up with Lamsi released on Nervous Records, which blends UKG with Afro-diasporic rhythms beneath Saidah’s sensual, stripped-back vocal. Before that, in January, came 'Tears', a festival-ready slammer that doubles as a deeply personal track for Saidah, which revealed something important about where her music could go.
It came about after an invite to the studio from producer friends Freddi and Milion, who were building tunes ahead of Lowlands and were in need of some vocals. Saidah had come straight from London after a final conversation with a partner of almost seven years. Despite that, she didn't expect to fall apart. "I just thought I'd go into the studio and be like, ‘OK, let me just do some vocals, and it's gonna be okay’. But I was very emotional."
Keen for her to tap into something real before singing, the producers asked, ‘What are you going through right now?’ It broke Saidah open. "I just burst into tears, and I was like, ‘I feel like this is what I should talk about on this track, so you guys can just leave, and I'm just gonna talk into the mic and talk about what's going on’." She poured everything out, then left before she could listen back. When she finally heard her words on the finished track, she understood. "This is it. This is what it's about. It's about putting stories and emotions into the music."
The experience clarified something that has become central to her sound: she's a singer who has spent years in choirs and bands, but what she's really interested in is speaking. "I actually much prefer my voice on tracks when I’m talking rather than singing," she says. "It adds this extra layer of storytelling."
"I try to just think about it as if it's me playing at home. Because when I'm playing at home, I'm dancing like crazy."
Saidah was born and raised in South East London. Her mum had been a garage raver and "pretty much the source of my musical upbringing,” she says. “Some of my earliest memories are just being in the car with her and listening to these UK garage compilations. We would be singing along to them. I knew all the words to every single track."
Growing up in that particular pocket of the city, with an older brother who kept Channel U on the TV at all times, and who spent his evenings rapping and making beats, meant that Saidah was plugged into the musical landscape on her doorstep. Garage and grime mixed with Erykah Badu's neo-soul and the R&B of Destiny's Child, before university years in Manchester led her to the Warehouse Project. The ingredients were all there. The opportunity to do something with them wasn't.
"It felt very inaccessible," says Saidah on the idea of DJing at that point. "There were all these dudes who ran their parties and DJ’d and booked each other. It was never a case of, like, ‘Oh, maybe you might like to try this’." So she never did. Instead, she built a serious career in advertising. Keen to experience living somewhere new, she applied for jobs in Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam and Barcelona. It was the Dutch capital that ultimately came calling. Six years later, she's still there, but everything has changed.
Now that her debut EP is here, there is much more music to come, and the sound has already evolved. Her producer tag is the sound of her laughing, and it feels like an intentional signpost of what’s to come. "This lightness, this joyfulness through the music: I think the future stuff is leaning much more heavily into that."
The people she's previewed demos with have struggled to name what genre they belong to: garage drum patterns are layered beneath trance-inflected synths, house vocals and tempos that don't fit the mould. "I hate the idea of using a reference track," she says of a common practice for many producers, especially early on. "You're literally using a template to create music, and that's not what it's about at all. You should go into it and just figure out what sounds good to you."
Saidah quit her corporate job last year after signing with management, a characteristically impulsive move that served as a sort of “now-or-never” moment. "I can't have regrets in life. I have to just do it," she says. Though her diary is now full all summer long, the nerves haven't entirely gone just yet. Big shows still bring them, but she's learned to manage the moment.
"I try to just think about it as if it's me playing at home,” she says. “Because when I'm playing at home, I'm dancing like crazy." It’s an energy you can really feel in her mix for DJ Mag’s Recognise series – a blazing 70-minute set packed with all manner of UK club heaters, her voice and solo productions unmistakably peppered throughout the tracklist.
Connecting with the crowd, as though inviting them into her home, she says, is everything: eye contact, smiling, jumping around with people. "That makes me feel part of the experience rather than a performer with a barrier between us”.
I am going to advise everyone to follow Saidah. You can see here where she is playing. A busy summer of festivals ahead. If you do have the opportunity to hear a set from Saidah, it will be a phenomenal experience. With a debut E.P. out and this momentum behind her, there is a lot of love around Saidah. I think that everybody should check out…
THIS remarkable D.J.
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Follow Saidah
