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Aja: “I was too emotional to sit in an office for the rest of my life“ | My Life In 20
30 March 2021, 16:41
Aja will release their second album Crown next month.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, 27-year-old Aja found fame around the world after appearing on the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Since then, Aja has left the drag world and focused on building their music career as a rap artist, receiving critical acclaim for their debut album Box Office in 2019 and gaining a new legion of fans in the process.
Next month, Aja will release their second album Crown, which incorporates themes of Black spirituality and elevation. "I bared my soul my heart and put in a lot of blood sweat and tears into this project", Aja says. "I spoke about everything from my confusion, to my own stubbornness, to my suicidal thoughts...I can’t wait for you to hear my full story."
To find out a bit more about that story, we asked Aja to take a trip down memory lane and answer our My Life In 20 questions. Read those after the jump and check out the lyric video for Aja's latest single '21 Roads' below.
21 Roads (Ft. Katie Jobes) - Aja [Official Lyric Video]
20) What did you learn about yourself in 2020?
In 2020, I learned how to be vulnerable and unapologetic about it.
19) What was your favourite album from 2019?
My favourite album of 2019 was Bittersweet by Oshun. I would play it from front to back and just listened as my flights were taking off while I was on tour. I would learn to love myself and to submit to my Divine feminine energy.
18) What was the most important thing to happen in your life when you were 18?
When I was 18 I dedicated my entire life to fulfilling my passion of being an artist. My family was very disappointed because they thought I wouldn’t make any money from it, however my mom was very supportive. I had the mental capacity to do basically anything I wanted to, however I think I was too emotional to sit in an office for the rest of my life.
17) Who was your crush at 17?
When I was 17 my celebrity crush was Travie McCoy, the lead singer from Gym Class Heroes. He just had the aesthetic, the tattoos and piercings and the attitude. I wanted him to choke me 😂.
16) What can you remember about your 16th birthday?
On my 16th birthday I remember that my current partner didn’t want to hang out with me so I hung out with my weed dealer who was so into me. We went to a Chinatown arcade and I bumped into my other ex, who was not the person I wanted to see. It ended with me going home and finding out that my current partner was cheating on me. This is only a relationship you would hear from a 16-year-old in New York City in 2010.
15) What did you hate at 15 which you love now?
I feel like I have been extremely consistent my whole life. If I didn’t like something then, I will probably not like it now. I always say I’ll try everything once! But I’ll throw this one in, I do much more enjoy being sober now than when I was 15.
14) What TV show were you obsessed with at 14?
I remember I used to come home after school and watch the Nightmare on Elm Street TV series on Chiller. It was so cheap for 2008 but so enjoyable for a horror fanatic like me.
13) 13 is unlucky for some. Do you have anything that you’re superstitious about?
I view everything as extremely polarising, meaning that some people may view 13 is unlucky but that doesn’t mean that there’s not one good thing that will happen with adjacency to that number! I do love the Friday the 13th movie serious though.
12) If you could live the life of any other person for 12 hours, who would you be and why?
If I could be someone else for 12 hours I would probably want to be Naomi Campbell. I would love to just go around and start a bunch of shit because everything Naomi Campbell does is iconic, and if I started some shit while I was her, I know it would be even more iconic and then I could say 'girl I did that'.
11) Who was your best friend when you were 11?
It is very bold for you guys to assume that I had friends when I was 11. LOL, I’m kidding. But I’m sort of not kidding. I didn’t really have friends when I was 11. It’s sad but true.
10) Where do you hope to be in 10 years time?
In 10 years I want to be living off of my music and touring the world, inspiring other people to express themselves freely and not under the chains of society. If there’s anything I want to accomplish it's getting signed to a record label, having amazing visuals, having a nice house and a healthy family.
9) What was your biggest fear when you were 9?
I’ve never really been scared of anything, but I do remember going to a haunted house when I was nine and I literally ran someone over like running over them because I got so scared. The worst part was I had no idea who the person was.
8) When you were 8, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be a musician. I wanted to be someone who created music; embodied music through performance, through dance, through visual.
7) Which of the seven deadly sins are you most guilty of?
I love the seven deadly sins. I think I’m most guilty of lust. I’m 27 with 12 year old hormones. I think sexual openness is a great thing though. But according to the seven deadly sins, it is bad. If I am going to bask in my sin, I might as well have some fun!
6) You can invite six people to your dream dinner party (dead or alive), who would you invite?
Paris Hilton, SZA, Nicki Minaj, Beethoven, La Lupe and Celia Cruz
5) Name five things you can't live without.
Spirituality, humility, kindness, determination, and stability.
4) Describe yourself in four words.
Buy my album Crown (out May 21st).
3) Your top three songs of all time.
Billie Eilish - 'Everything I Wanted', Nicki Minaj - 'The Crying Game' feat. Jessie Ware, and Aja - 'Crossbow'. Yes, I added a song from my new album coming May 21st! It’s one of my favourite songs ever.
2) Name two things on your bucket list.
I would like to buy my mom a house so she never has to worry about anything again, and I would like to just make the people I love proud of me.
1) What or who is your one true love?
My true love is hot chocolate and enchiladas. I really can’t live without either. So I’m gonna say half and half because that makes 1.
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