Jana: Powerful Pop with a Native Soul

from Native Peoples Magazine

She is unmistakably one of pop music's rising stars, and perhaps Native America's premiere diva. With a powerful and range-shattering voice, Jana (Lumbee) is sweeping aside outdated notions about Native music and its place in the broader spectrum of vocal expression.

Achieving a solid three- to four-octave range and presently working toward five, Jana (born Jana Sampson) already hold several prestigious honors, including a Nammy for Best Pop Artist (2001), a shared Grammy nomination (also in 2001_ for "Kiss and Tell" (a song she co-wrote with Crystal Lewis for that artist's Fearless album), and distinction as the first Native artist to debut with a Billboard Single of the Week, "Ooh Baby Baby."

Several recent remixes, including her single "More Than Live," include collaborations with Anthony Acid and MTV VJ phenom Skribble, with whom she has worked for several years. The song is a fact-paced fusion of percussion-oriented dance beats punctuated with an impressive range of vocal harmonies and synchronized layers of techno-esque club mix. Other significant milestones to date include well-received cover songs, including Meat Loaf's "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" and Led Zepplin's "Stairway to Heaven."

Look for her newest CD, containing all-original material, this fall on her newly signed German recording label Radikal Records.

Talent, however, is not Jana's only blessing; she is also strikingly beautiful, well-spoken, intelligent (she holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from prestigious and challenging Davidson College in Charlotte, North Carolina), compassionate and reflective, elaborating on issues concerning tribal politics blood quantum and the socioeconomic landscape of Native peoples. And she has a sense of humor that possesses a certain Mercurial quality; popping into and out of conversation like quicksilver, delivered with a slight East Coast accent that is at once unexpected and endearing.

While active in her tribal ceremonies, she describes herself as an "urban Indian," and notes, "We [Native people] need to come together as a group and support each other's similarities and differences. We need to progress and move forward, not forgetting the past, but not welling on the negative s that it prevents us from seeing the positive of what's happening now."

Jana's shows are full-tilt, high-energy, fun and, shall we say, aesthetically appealing showcases of voice and sound, music and dance, artistic creativity, spirit and culture. Her distinct style is exotic and rare, yet familiar and earthy. Native inspired attire with an ultra-edgy flair--including beaded and fringed leather micro-minis and halters, feathers and traditional style elk-bone chokers, red war paint and platinum blonde Cleo-cut wigs on back-up vocalists and dancers--adds to her stage persona of a hip-hopping, hard-rocking, by her own description "Indian warrior princess," and simultaneously ties her to an ancient and prolific tribal heritage.

"I know my work does not go uncriticized by some; perhaps there is a feeling that I am not traditional enough, not Native enough," Jana says. "But I can't let that deter me from my goals. If I can be a positive role model for young people, that's important. When I was growing up, I had to look to the non-Native world for that because there just wasn't anyone doing this kind of work. I function from my Nativeness at all times, but I also live and work in the here and now, in the 21st-century business of music, and as an artist, I take liberties--as do many creative people. The legacy of creativity is traditional in the truest sense of the word. If someone feels threatened by something, you often hear them say 'That's not traditional.' It's a subtle yet powerful form of control."

Notes her manager, Stephan Galgas, "For Jana, this is about more than music. It's about leadership and truth, spirituality and artistic freedom. She's pushing limits, but she's being very careful. She speaks on behalf of many young Native women, and she takes that responsibility very seriously. The music industry is still a very sexist business, and she's breaking ground that has been previously untouched."

With the release of her new collection pending and two feature roles in upcoming films, including the much-anticipated Dreamcatcher, Jana is rocketing toward her place atop the star-blanket of her people. "I want to continue to make a change. There is always a fear of change, but sometimes you have to be a leader and not a follower."

RoseMary Diaz of Santa Fe is an award-winning author and poet with literature degrees from the Institute of American Indian Arts and the University of California, Santa Cruz.