D'Layna
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D'LAYNA is a vocalist, a writer, a producer whose inspirational voice regularly echoes in clubland from San Francisco to New York and abroad. Music has been D'Layna's passion since she was a 11 year old kid and first heard The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin and, later, her disciple Chaka Khan. D'Layna's music took a spiritual dimension when she joined the gospel world, learning from such accomplished professionals as Walter, Tramaine and Edwin Hawkins of the influential Love Center Choir. D'Layna also toured over six years with Lynette Hawkins-Stephens, who is better known as "Little Sis".
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About
D’Layna was born on 9 November. She has collaborated with some of the world’s most renowned DJs and beat-makers--including Sandy Rivera of Kings of Tomorrow, Jose Burgos, Vincent Kwok, Nowak, Federico Conti and Davidson Ospina—the Northern California based, multi-talented singer/songwriter has lit up dance floors from Ibiza and the U.K. to The Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany and Italy with of some of the last decade’s most inspiring club hits. These include the KOT/Soul Vision -produced You’ve Been On My Mind and Don’t Stop, the 9/11 inspired anthem Love Is The Answer and her most recent tracks, the Ospina grooved LaDaDi (Da Da) and the Conti-helmed So Thankful.
One of the most popular and influential forces on the global dance scene since her 2000 breakthrough track Special D’Layna has elevated club music to a spiritual realm with her voice, house beats and positive lyrics. While D’Layna’s been a noteworthy presence on a variety of dance compilation discs since top DJ Victor Calderone placed “Special” on his 2001 project Victor Calderone E= VC2, Vol. 2, her listeners throughout the world are glad that she’s finally gathering her best tracks and writing a batch of new ones for her upcoming full length solo debut dubbed, appropriately enough, D’Layna Unleashed.
While D’Layna is still in the process of writing new tracks for Unleashed, a handful of her favorite past dance hits are set in stone—including her most recent hits LaDaDi (Da Da) and So Thankful; a new arrangement of Special by D’Layna herself; and a live, jazz-flavored remix of Love Is The Answer. While she promises a lot of stylistic variety throughout, colored by her own vision as well of those of the DJs she has worked with, D’Layna’s driving rhythmic force is her home base of underground house music. Some of the original tracks she is currently working on are the triumphant I Got the Victory, Peacemakers and Thank You.
Inspired by her lifelong classic soul influences like Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan as well as contemporary soul greats like Jill Scott and Angie Stone, D’Layna is also working on an R&B/old school funk project, either for a full album or a digital singles release. One of the key songs of this venture is Front Line, an inspiring duet by D’Layna with her son, former Casablanca recording artist Ryan Duarte. The track is about stepping up from the sidelines to the front lines using what you can to change the world for the better.
D’Layna is also committed these days to Vocal Downloads, her thriving two year old website business which provides quality vocal samples from known professional singers for a very affordable 99 cents. In addition to over 2,000 samples, the site also offers more extensive vocal mini-packs, which have inspired countless DJs in their creation of new tracks. Vocal downloads is the first website of its kind, committed to bringing a variety of quality vocal samples to DJ libraries without breaking their project budgets for royalty-free music production.
All through her career D’Layna has worked in an exciting array of unique musical settings, from co-producing and doing sound development for the Latin female group Picture Perfect to leading the female vocal group on Hammer’s hugely successful 1992 Too Legit To Quit tour. She’s also been involved in projects with Grammy award-winning producer Michael Narada Walden (producer of Whitney Houston, Patti Austin, Aretha Franklin et al), Carl Wheeler (of the multi-platinum recording group Tony Toni Tone), Louis Biancanello (producer of Jessica Simpson, Aretha Franklin and many more), Felton Pilate (of Confunction and Andy Norell), Sista Monica, Santana vocalist Tony Lindsay and many more.
Before turning her creativity to dance music, D’Layna toured for six years with gospel singer Lynette Hawkins-Stephens, aka Little Sis of the legendary Hawkins Family.
From this experience, she learned how to integrate faith and music from Walter, Tramaine and Edwin Hawkins of the influential Love Center Choir. This powerful musical-spiritual foundation has been a driving force in her dance career as well.
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Awards & Certifications
Awards
| Year | Award | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Sistuh to Sistuh award | Best musical activities and vocal gift of the year |
News
Tours & Concerts
- August 22, 2007: D'LAYNA is now licensed in UK, EIRE and SOUTH AFRICA. Right now in two big compilation:
- The new HOUSEXY compilation Ministry of Sound (UK)
- THE BEST OF VIBE Vol. 2 - News Cafè (The most important restaurant chain in South Africa)
- When D'Layna is done with her forthcoming solo album next year, she will start performing again. She will be preforming again after 10 years.
Announcements
- D'Layna is working on her new dance album, with a Soul/RnB album to follow.
- D'Layna is back in the sweatbox with Producer/DJ Vincent Kwok. Her new track will release soon on Ospina Music.
Discography
Comprehensive list of the recordings made.
Albums
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Compilations & Live Releases
Other artists
Similar artists
Influences
Trivia
- D'Layna is the first Latina to receive the "Sistuh to Sistuh Award.
- D'Layna started singing as a professional when she was just 12.
Reviews
