Q&A with AJA
“People underestimate the power of your mind, and I’m one of those people who thinks that we’re all made up of matter and energy.”
AJA on CROWN.
An outpouring of vulnerability, spirituality, and self-love, AJA’s new album CROWN puts forward all sides of the Brooklyn-based artist. Their layered identity, represented in the musicality and lyricism of the tracks and interludes on CROWN, is captured in their deeply personal collaboration with other musicians throughout the album. AJA shared some personal notes about the process of creating this work of art from ideation to completion.
What influenced you in the writing of this album?
My album CROWN is heavily inspired by the Orisha tradition. These traditions are truly diasporas from Africa, and these deities made their way to Central America, Cuba, Brazil, and Latin America through the Atlantic Slave Trade. [The album] is very inspired by my tradition and practice, and I just wanted to make something really influential and spiritual at the time.
CROWN is really about me overcoming such darkness, bad thoughts, thoughts of suicide, thoughts of wanting to give up, and finding that happiness that I didn’t realize was there because I was consumed by so much darkness. It’s a big labor of love but it’s also such a catharsis.
How does your spirituality show up in your music?
Spirituality has been very influential [in writing this album]. In the Orisha tradition, there’s a lot of drumming that takes place and it’s how they evoke the orishas and trans-possession and such.
That percussive element is very evident in Crown, and a defining feature of the album. What was it like to bring in these different musical styles into one cohesive album?
For the album, I had higher elder priests from my practice come into the studio. They brought drums, cowbells, and they played an Oro to the Crown of Oshune. They played for ten different Orisha, and then we took those ten songs and sent them to producers who made them into these elaborate interludes. I explained to each producer what the Orisha’s energy was so that they could know what kind of instruments and how to maneuver the music.
“The truth is that even if we leave it to science, science tells us that energy cannot be created or destroyed.”
AJA on CROWN.
What does the image of the Crown represent to you?
The crown is so multifaceted for me. It represents your worth, your value, your truth. It’s who you are and how you see yourself. Your royalty, your confidence. If you see yourself as big and amazing, you'll feel big and amazing.
In my practice, the crown represents being fully initiated; it’s how the Orisha manifest. It aligns with other things, like the chakras, the head. People underestimate the power of your mind, and I’m one of those people who thinks that we’re all made up of matter and energy.
You mentioned energy and the power of your own mind. Can you share more about how that concept shows up in your music?
The truth is that even if we leave it to science, science tells us that energy cannot be created or destroyed. We can do so much with our minds. We can convert our thoughts into manifestations and energies. It’s the law of attraction. If you really want something you put an effort into doing it, and that’s manifestation as well.