![\"M-32-DARNAA\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/M-32-DARNAA.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nHOMETOWN:<\/b> Sacramento, Calif.
\nINFLUENCES:<\/b> Yolanda Adams, Kirk Franklin, Destiny\u2019s Child
\nALBUM:<\/b> Album due out 2014
\nWEBSITE:<\/b> darnaamusic.com<\/p>\n
As one of nine siblings, Darnaa was determined\u00a0to stand up and be heard. \u201cI grew up singing a lot to princesses in cartoons like The Little Mermaid,<\/i>\u201d she says. \u201cIn our neighborhood there was a rock, and I\u2019d get on the rock and pretend I was her.\u201d Inspired by Lauryn Hill\u2019s performance in Sister Act 2<\/i>, she polished her vocal chops in the church choir, but soon set her sights on center stage. \u201cOriginally I wanted to be in a girl group with my sisters,\u201d she says, \u201cbut eventually I decided to go solo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darnaa first attracted national attention with a remake of R.E.M.\u2019s \u201cEverybody Hurts,\u201d her tribute to those affected by the 9\/11 attacks. An advocate for children\u2019s and women\u2019s rights, she feels a responsibility to speak out against violence and injustice. On her debut single, \u201cRunaway\u201d\u2014which received more than 1 million YouTube views\u2014she addressed her own struggles.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy life hasn\u2019t always been what you would consider normal\u2014far from it actually,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I used my music and writing as a way to cope, and now I want to share it with others.\u201d\u00a0By presenting music with a message, she hopes to empower her audience. \u201cOnce you get out of a bad situation, the next move is to seek help,\u201d she says. \u201cI think it\u2019s a good thing when you speak\u00a0out about what\u2019s right.\u201dNow living in New York City, Darnaa has landed opening-act spots for the Wanted, Ke$ha and R. Kelly. She plans to showcase her new uptempo single, \u201cCowgirl,\u201d on an upcoming national\u00a0tour. Regardless of subject matter, Darnaa believes authenticity\u00a0is key. \u201cI try to tell real stories about things that are close to me and experiences I\u2019ve had,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s all about the truth\u00a0and keeping it real.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DARNAA HOMETOWN: Sacramento, Calif. INFLUENCES: Yolanda Adams, Kirk Franklin, Destiny\u2019s Child ALBUM: Album due out 2014 WEBSITE: darnaamusic.com As one of nine siblings, Darnaa was determined\u00a0to stand up and be heard. \u201cI grew up singing a lot to princesses in cartoons like The Little Mermaid,\u201d she says. \u201cIn our neighborhood there was a rock, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[83],"tags":[7410,7403],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12343,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12341\/revisions\/12343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}