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Fundisha: the daughter of a preacher woman one
Interview, June, 2002 by Margeaux Watson
With a name like Fundisha (pronounced Foon-DEESH-ah), which means "to teach" in Swahili, it's no mystery why the 27-year-old Newark, New Jersey, native titled her hotly awaited solo debut Lessons (So SO Def/Columbia). "I'm at a stage in my life where I've learned so much that now I can share my experiences," Fundisha says.
"My music is a mixture of hip-hop and R&B, but I'm singing about God being the resolution to what we go through in life. But don't pigeonhole me just because I'm talking about God. I even wrote a song on the album, 'Don't Judge Me,' so people will understand what my music is about: It's saying, you can't judge what I do; you just have to feel it." With a mother who's a preacher and Atlanta hip-hop pooh-bah Jermaine Dupri as a producer, Fundisha's sound is state-of-the-art street while her message is church without being preachy--think Mary J. Blige putting a little Saturday night into her Sunday morning. In fact, getting a message out to the people has become something of a family tradition for Fundisha: Her uncle is the acclaimed Afrocentric poet and Black Power icon Amiri Baraka. "I hated my name when I was younger," she says. "Now I feel like it was predestined."
COPYRIGHT 2002 Brant Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
