We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kidarah a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kidarah, thanks for joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

My whole life I have felt like an outcast. Growing up as a mixed girl in an all Jewish private school was confusing and caused a bit of an identity crisis for me. Constantly being surrounded by people who looked nothing like me but represented half of who I am helped me learn a lot about my moms side of the family and, of course, about Judaism. But as I grew, I fell into more confusion because being surrounded by so much religion taught me that I am not a religious person. I am extremely spiritual, but I don’t identify with any one religion. My beliefs have always been apart from “group think”. I don’t like to join a group because it is convenient. Furthermore, as I grew and found myself surrounded by more diversity, I felt even more misunderstood. People calling me the ‘whitest black person’ they’ve ever met definitely didn’t help. What is a black person supposed to act like anyway? I am half black and I act how I act, like what I like, and do what I do. Does that mean I am less black if I don’t fit the stereotype? There has been so much nuance to discovering who I am and if I’m being honest, I am still going through an identity crisis to this day. I think the best lesson I have taken away from all these experiences is that I am a mixed girl – Russian, Hungarian, Polish, Cherokee, Choctaw, Irish, and African. All of these labels represent my lineage, but have nothing to do with how I act, speak, think, or feel. The worlds stereotype of who or what I am means absolutely nothing when it comes to learning about who I actually am in spirit. To conclude, I feel like I used to mischaracterize myself because of all the noise coming from the outside world. So of course other people mischaracterized and misunderstood my music too. Now, I’m in a place where I’ve learned that I am who I am and that is what grounds my art, not the worlds stereotype of it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the one and only Rainbow Rockstar, Kidarah – singer, songwriter, producer, engineer. My lengthy list of skills began with interests from my childhood. I have always felt that my greatest natural gift was the gift of songwriting and it fuels the fire that ignites the rest of my budding career. I wrote my very first song in the shower at 9 years old and still remember it to this day. After showing a serious interest in pursuing music as a teen, I was lucky to be trained by the Grammy award winning Betty Wright – rest in paradise, Ms. B – for 6 years from the age of fifteen. I learned an instrumental lesson from Betty in the time I had the privilege of knowing her – that no matter how successful or wealthy you become, you must always stay humble and operate from a place of love. I am proud of my music, of course, but what I am truly proud of is how much I have grown in the process of expressing myself through the music I create. The only way for an artists music to evolve is for the artist to evolve in their individual human experience. All I search for every single day are new ways to grow and I allow that to influence the natural progression of my music, I talk about things I am afraid of, traumas, being an outcast, love, the struggles of finding self love, and more – in only two places: to the people I hold closest and in my music. When you take the time to listen to even one of my songs, you become one of those people I hold closest, let into the my truest of thoughts and feelings, where if you relate, you will find a safe space to call home in music.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is to raise away the darkness. The first half of my name – Kida – means “raising away the darkness” in the Native American language, Kiowa. There is so much pain, trauma, unfairness, and hurting in the world that I think music should be a place where we can find even just a little bit of light. It is my belief that to find true light and happiness, we must rummage through the darkness, make mistakes, and struggle. This is why my lyrics are so raw – I hope to encourage my fans to think deeper. Find the beauty in the realization that the light comes from growth. That there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but more growth. It is in the journey that should be the source of joy, not the final destination. Honestly, this is something I often have to remind myself of, but I think our world would be a better place if more people had this frame of thinking.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Let’s go back to a time before Kidarah ever existed. Back when I was just cute, curly haired Sarah. I was 4 years old about to compete at my very first gymnastics competition, There was a trick that haunted my dreams – the summersault on the balance beam. The morning of the competition came and I was utterly mortified to have to do my routine with the summersault. After throwing a complete tantrum that morning, my mom almost let me stay home, but then she decided we would go anyway and encouraged me to try my best. Somehow, against all odds I was able to do the summersault on the beam – a trick I had never done before. What was truly remarkable about this experience is that I also won first place all around. I literally won the whole competition in my age category. I remember this resilience always because even when I doubt myself as a whole or think I am not good enough because of one of my small fears or faults, I am a champion in my soul. True resilience comes from acknowledging your fears and powering through them anyway, unleashing true strength.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kidarah.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kidarahh/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kidarah/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kidarahh
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/kidarah
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kidarah?lang=en