In an industry that is content to live by their preconceived notion that all black female artists need to be either R&B singers or rappers, soul rocker Danielia Cotton breaks the mold. Being different has actually been one of the prevailing aspects of her life since day one. Cotton grew up as one of the only black kids in the mostly white town of Hope, New Jersey, and by the time high school was over she realized she could parlay her uniqueness into a college education, making her way to Bennington College in Vermont. She notes, “there were only ten blacks when I was at Bennington because at that point it was one of the most expensive colleges in the nation. I sought them out knowing I really couldn’t afford a college education but I could give them something they needed and they could give me something I needed.” Now firmly ensconced in New York City’s rock scene, Cotton sat down with me this week to discuss what influenced her to go into rock music, why we don’t see very many black women in rock, and which artist she’d most like to hit the bars with. Click here...
October 20, 2008
Artist Of The Week - Danielia Cotton
In an industry that is content to live by their preconceived notion that all black female artists need to be either R&B singers or rappers, soul rocker Danielia Cotton breaks the mold. Being different has actually been one of the prevailing aspects of her life since day one. Cotton grew up as one of the only black kids in the mostly white town of Hope, New Jersey, and by the time high school was over she realized she could parlay her uniqueness into a college education, making her way to Bennington College in Vermont. She notes, “there were only ten blacks when I was at Bennington because at that point it was one of the most expensive colleges in the nation. I sought them out knowing I really couldn’t afford a college education but I could give them something they needed and they could give me something I needed.” Now firmly ensconced in New York City’s rock scene, Cotton sat down with me this week to discuss what influenced her to go into rock music, why we don’t see very many black women in rock, and which artist she’d most like to hit the bars with. Click here...
