Afropop artist Aiza discusses the making of her debut album, Sovereignty

Afropop singer Aiza's debut album Sovereignty has been years in the making.

Following her 2018 EP Adieu and a 2019 Allan Slaight Juno Master Class win, the Montreal-born, Toronto-based artist has divided her time between acting on shows such as Jupiter's Legacy and producing, writing, directing and co-hosting Real Blackity Talk, all while steadily releasing music.

In the past five years, she's dropped tracks that showcase her singing and rapping prowess, all leading up to Sovereignty — a bouncy, groove-forward record that's equal parts uplifting and empowering.

CBC Music producer Kelsey Adams wrote that on the album, Aiza "blends Afropop, R&B and more to create an enticing and fresh sound."

Aiza recently opened up about releasing her first album, connecting with her roots and growing up in a musical household with The Block's Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe.

So you are getting ready to release your debut album. Congratulations!

Thank you so much.

But I just want to take it back to the very beginning as we get to know Aiza a little bit better. Of course, we just heard music off your debut album, Adieu, and it was in French.

It was in French and it was an EP, so just five songs. And it was, in a way, me reconnecting to my French side before I left for the big city of Toronto.

Really? Why did you feel you needed to reconnect with your French side?

Because growing up in Montreal, Quebec specifically, you know, I didn't really feel represented in the music and in the media in general and so I was listening to Destiny's Child and all the R&B divas. And so French wasn't really cool, like it was a language and I spoke it every day, but I didn't really relate to it as a creative. And then at some point I was like, 'Wait, I used to have a pretty sick pen in French, so let me let me just try to write a song in French and see how it feels.' And the first song that I wrote, I was like, 'Whoa, I think there's a whole wealth of music in French that needs to come out.'

I've heard — because I sadly speak one language, which I find to be incredibly unfortunate since I wasn't born here, and my mother spoke five languages and my dad as well — the way you express yourself or the way you feel when you're speaking a certain language changes. So when you were writing in French, what would you say is kind of the vibe?

I feel like I'm this woman living in Paris, who's chain-smoking cigarettes and she has a lot of frustration, but has a very poetic way to express it. I think that part of me gets to express myself in a way that, in English, I'm a little more punchy and to the point [but] in French there's a lot of metaphors and there's a lot of drama.

And there's a certain coolness to the expressions as well, you can be telling somebody to go F themselves, but it still comes off as completely relaxed. And so you were raised in a low income household.

I was.

From the beginning, we had this affinity or this appreciation for music.- Aiza

And you, much like myself, shared a bedroom with your sister.

I did, I did. The three of us in this tiny little bedroom. You know, I'm grateful for the experience when I look back, because we really became each other's rocks and we learned to cooperate and compromise. And also, we just had each other's backs. 

Good. I'm jealous. I mean, my sister and I almost killed each other, because it was completely the opposite experience. So talk to me a little bit about how it all started for you, because some people in their families have parents who are artists themselves, and that's kind of how they get introduced to music, or acting, or art or dance. Did you have any of those influences? 

Well, my dad, when we were younger, he would play guitar for us very often, and he came up with these little birthday songs that were very curated to each daughter. So it was super cute. And so from the beginning, we had this affinity or this appreciation for music. And every room had a little radio playing a different genre of music too. It was like a club, but at home, in [our] tiny apartment. 

And so my sisters, they loved music too and so I just grew up around it, you know, many different styles [including] a lot of Congolese music [and] a lot of music that I didn't even understand. 

That's the thing about music, right?

Exactly.

You can still vibe to it, you don't necessarily have to understand it word for word. So how did you kind of go from being somebody that appreciates music into somebody that wanted to do music or embark in the artistic sort of realm of life?

I guess my music career dreams started [when I was] washing dishes in the kitchen, belting Mariah Carey tunes, bothering my neighbours. And then [in] high school, I started doing musicals and that's when I started discovering my love for the stage. And at the time, I didn't even know I could make it a career, but it was just something I was really passionate about, and it [clicked] when we got to my senior year and you have to decide where are you going to go [and] what are you going to study.

Because my sister had gone to study music, I [thought] 'Wait, let me go into theatre [and] kind of sharpen my my skills as a performer.'  And as I was [performing], I really missed music, and that's kind of what pushed me to start writing, because I was on the stage acting and I was like, 'Where the music at?'

So that was the beginning, and I would go around Montreal with a little CD with burned instrumentals, ripped from YouTube. Any talent show happening in the city, I was that chick who would rip the number from the little flyer on the poles. I would actually take the number and call them and be like, 'My name is Aiza, I'm a performer. I really want to perform at your barbecue.' So, that's where my career began. And and then from there, it was just a gradual thing, meeting musicians, connecting with my community in Montreal.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. To hear the full interview, listen to The Block on CBC Music.