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With just a cursory glance, it is instantly obvious that Dana Lee has the looks, style and charisma to measure up to today's pattern for R&B princesses. What may not be as immediately evident, is the fact that she is poised to shatter that mold and remind music lovers of the days when "talent" couldn't be synthesized using expert engineering, clever marketing ploys, and an expensive glam squad. With a voice that was tailor-made for story-telling, songs that speak broadly and honestly to the human experience, and the creative backing of music industry play-makers, Dana Lee is one more catalyst in the movement toward the resurgence of quality music.
Conyers, GA, a town just east of the south's musical hotbed of Atlanta, is known more for golf and horses, than for being a breeding ground for vocal armor-bearers. Nevertheless, this quiet community was the back-drop for the birth and childhood of a star. Dana Lee is the youngest child in a family with a strong and lasting musical tradition. "I grew up in the church, she recalls. So I've been singing since I was able to talk." My mom plays the piano, my dad sings, my sister sings as well, and my brother grew up playing the drums. So it was pretty much destined that I would do something along the same lines." Emboldened by her rich musical inheritance, Dana could sense in her spirit, even from her childhood, that music would be a prominent and permanent fixture throughout her life. So much so that she can't remember ever wanting to do anything else. While her playground partners had visions of being firemen, astronauts, and athletes, Dana was singularly fixed on a career in song. "This isn't just an opportunity or a career to me; It's my calling! Even when I pray about it, God sends encounter after encounter, incident after incident as further confirmation that this is my purpose. Music is do or die for me!" And so the journey began.
It was Dana's older sister, Neena, who first helped to open doors and position Dana to pursue her ambition. Neena, who was making her own headway into entertainment, began to introduce her sister to many of her industry contacts. These encounters led to Dana's first recording session, after school on her last day of the 8th grade. The attraction was instantaneous! For Dana, being in that recording booth was like being in her natural habitat, and hearing her voice played back in the same way that she had listened to the voices of her idols was supernatural. "It's hard to articulate how amazing it felt to hear myself on a recording for the first time. It was overwhelming!" In that moment, Dana's mind learned what her heart already knew: She wasn't created simply to love music, she was created to make it!
As the vocal prodigy continued to record, her reputation as a gifted vocalist began to make room for her in some influential circles. When one of her early believers handed her package to Dwayne Nesmith of the Atlanta-based production team, Tha Corna Boyz (Jagged Edge, Omarion, Ciara, Britney Spears), something in the pristine delivery of her vocals set off the alarms in his intuition. After alerting his partner, Jean-Pierre Medor, to his find, the pair brought Dana into the studio for a session. Once she stepped into the vocal booth, any remaining skepticism was immediately expelled by the dexterity with which her voice danced through three octaves, responding expertly to the demands of each subsequent song. The hit-makers were convinced, and a creative musical match was made. Medor doesn't hesitate to declare his confidence in his new protégé: "With me, the magic is in the studio. I didn't want someone I would have to school on how to deliver a record. That's something that you can't teach! You can find pretty girls who can sing anywhere. But in order to be successful, you have to be well versed in what it takes to deliver great records. Dana has that!"
So now, with Tha Corna Boyz crafting the tracks, and Dana and Pierre on writing duty, Dana's long awaited (and as yet untitled) debut album is taking a shape that will both surprise and satisfy those who demand music that stands on more than just infectious baselines. Thematically, the songs are as diverse as the production on which they are buoyed. The dance-inducing "Get Away," "More Than Friends" and "Open" flirt with the mixture of danger and desire inherent in the possibility of taking a friendship into romantic territory. Dana's partiality to ballads is displayed in the intensity of her execution of "For All Your Love," a passionate throwback to the musical era of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
Elevating the expectations surrounding music will not be an easy job. Nor will it be performed overnight by a single crusader. It will take time, and it will require the efforts of many. Armed with authentic and exceptional musical gifts, a battle-ready creative arsenal, and a deep seated understanding of her purpose, Dana Lee is ready to carry her weight. She is firm in her self-assurance as she considers her place in music's landscape: "I'm so happy with where I am with my music, and I'm very happy with the people with whom I'm working. I know that this situation was divinely appointed, and I know that my time is near!"
