GRAMMY PREVIEW: ALUNA

GETS A NEW PARTY STARTED

On her solo debut album, Renaissance (Mad Decent), Aluna Francis—half of the prolific AlunaGeorge—is a call to hit the dance floor, but it’s also a call for inclusiveness across the dance-music spectrum. “I wanted to show that all these different genres can blend together, because they are all dance music,” she explains. “By expanding the definition of dance music, I wanted to defy the way Black people are boxed in or out of certain genres.”

What made you step out as a solo artist? What was your inspiration?
It was really time for me to ask myself what I wanted to say with my music. With George, we work together so seamlessly that it feels like a shared message. I needed to explore myself, my love of dance music from all the different sides of my cultural heritage—and to do that I had to be in the driver’s seat, both lyrically and sonically. I was seeing a Black renaissance happening across all forms of art, which inspired me to find the same spirit of rebellion in myself. I wanted young Black women to listen to this album and not only feel invited to the party but be at the center.

What was the creative process like?
It was about unapologetically trying things that might fail, mixing elements that clash in order to start hearing something fresh, something from my gut. As I went through that process, I realized the sound was going to be very diverse, but since I’m also diverse, this was my area of expertise. Finding the harmony in the music was much like coming to terms with who I am.

Renaissance includes so many different genres of dance, as well as artists from Africa, Europe, Canada, Jamaica, and the U.S. It’s racially and culturally diverse, and it is, without question, dance music. The album itself is a message to Black creators that there is no box they need to fit into. My hope is that they listen to this album, see me, and that that expands their idea of who they are allowed to be.

Now that you’ve made your solo debut, what’s next?
Hopefully, tour it! I know we’re going to have to wait a bit for that. In the meantime, I’m going to continue to fight to reshape the way the music industry categorizes dance music, and keep fighting to secure a healthy, racially inclusive future in dance music.

What do the Grammys signify to you, and what would a nomination mean?
For me, the Grammys signify an opportunity to both celebrate excellence in creativity and to inspire artists of the future by bringing exposure to the cutting edge of music.

Being nominated would be a win for my idols, the Black women who have brought soul to dance music tirelessly and without acknowledgement in the category of Best Dance/Electronic Album since its inception. It would also be an opportunity to inspire young Black people and the LGBTQIA community to embrace their forgotten and beautiful musical heritage as the creators of dance so that we can once again party together as people from all cultures, in a space of true unity, protest and freedom. For me, personally…well, I just want to be at that party.