I must admit in preparation for this particular post, I never struggled to find a title. However, I found the chosen title intriguing. As with many titles, I took a little time to delve into the origins and meaning. This week I chose to feature a brilliant, rising artist named Queen Naija Bulls from Detroit, Michigan. She brings with her a great story and marvelous vocal talent. Before we introduce her though I would like to discuss the reason for the post title.
All of us at one time or another has heard the proclamation, Long Live The King, or Queen. Most us have only heard the words by way of movies or other forms of entertainment. There are some who live under the rule of a monarchy that truly understand the significance of those words.
To fully understand the proclamation, you must hear it spoken or see it written in entirety. “The King is dead, long live the King!” is a traditional proclamation made following the accession of a new monarch in various countries. The seemingly contradictory phrase is used to simultaneously announce the death of the previous monarch and assure the public of continuity by saluting the new monarch. Given the memorable nature of the phrase, as well as its historic significance, the phrase crops up regularly as a headline for articles, editorials, or advertisements on themes of succession or replacement.
The original phrase was translated from the French Le roi est mort, vive le roi!, which was first declared upon the accession to the French throne of Charles VII after the death of his father Charles VI in 1422. In France, the declaration was traditionally made by the duc d’Uzès, a senior peer of France, as soon as the coffin containing the remains of the previous king descended into the vault of Saint-Denis Basilica. The phrase arose from the law of le mort saisit le vif—that the transfer of sovereignty occurs instantaneously upon the moment of death of the previous monarch. “The King is dead” is the announcement of a monarch who has just died. “Long live The King!” refers to the heir who immediately succeeds to a throne upon the death of the preceding monarch.
When speaking of the title of this post, we are not discussing a new monarch of music. Not yet at least. There are many even today who have been given the title king or queen within the music industry. Of course Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is commonly called Queen B. Mary J Blige is considered the Queen of Hip Hop. Whitney Houston called then husband Bobby Brown the King of R&B. Such titles only refer to the heights reached in their respective careers. Many entertainers who have died years ago are still given royalty status. Elvis Presley many still consider the King of Rock N Roll. Michael Jackson is still revered as the King of Pop. Aretha Franklin might forever be called the Queen of Soul. With no one succeeding them. Music seems to be the platform where there is room for several monarchs, and death does not change the ruling status.
That brings me back to featured artist Queen Naija, who I must admit is Queen only because of her name. However, it gives me an opportunity to write about another good artist who may one day live with music fans considering her Queen within the music industry.
Born October 17, 1995, Queen Naija has described her ethnicity as a mix of “Black, Italian and Arab”. Her mother is African-American and Italian, and her father is Arab, originally from Yemen. Her birth name, Queen Naija, was given to her by her mother. “Queen” was inspired by her grandmother, who had the same first name, and “Naija” represented her father’s name, Naiji.
Queen Naija started singing at the tender age of 3. Then went on to songwriting as a third grader. Music was always a part of her childhood and into her teen years. She found her way to auditions for television show American Idol. At age 17, Queen Naija, then known as Queen Bulls, returned to audition for a second time, after her audition two years previously did not advance her into the next round. In the eighth season, she succeeded in her audition and advanced into the Hollywood round, but was cut when the top 30 were chosen. After her American Idol experience, her music career started to take off.
Queen Naija began her career as a YouTuber in 2016 alongside her now ex-husband, Christopher Sails. The YouTube channel named “Chris and Queen” consisted of couple-related videos such as challenges, story times, vlogs and pranks. It also consisted of music by the couple, including a few popular songs with each other and remixed/covered songs. The couple’s channel quickly grew in popularity, reaching over 2.3 million subscribers within a year. In November 2017, the couple officially separated, and Queen filed for divorce. Their channel, which held over 2.3 million subscribers, was given to Sails by Queen Naija after she filed for divorce and left him; he renamed it to Chris Sails.
After her public breakup, Queen Naija decided to channel her emotions into a song which she hoped could answer the questions many fans had about her relationship. She dropped “Medicine” on December 31, 2017, and in less than two weeks, it had more than 2 million views on YouTube. In an interview with Fader magazine, she described the song as “Medicine was basically made to confirm to my supporters on YouTube what happened in my marriage. They wanted to know was I leaving or not. I didn’t want to say anything because the first time after the cheating situation happened, I stayed. I felt stupid. But then it happened again privately and I didn’t want everyone to be like, I told you so. So instead of talking about it, I told them I’d write a song about it. Once I saw how crazy it went outside of YouTube, I was like, Okay, I need to take music more seriously. I’ve always wanted to sing — I’ve been singing since I was three. I knew it was going to happen somehow, but I didn’t know how.”
A while ago I heard an interview with Queen Naija on the radio show The Breakfast Club. Host Charlemagne the God made a statement about how much the young artist has been through in such a short time. He asked, Do you feel old? I agreed with his thoughts and found it interesting that such a young artist had a lot of life experience to fuel her songwriting.
2018 proved to be a successful whirlwind for Queen Naija. In January 2018, she did an official lyrics & meaning interview with Genius. A month after the song’s release, it continued to spark buzz, and had 5 million views. The buzz around the song captured the attention of record labels across the country. Queen documented on her YouTube channel a few meetings with record labels that she attended with her team/management. By March 2018, Queen’s initial song post of “Medicine” had more than 10 million views. An official music video was released later that month, which sparked even more buzz and capitalized on the growing interest of the song. The video acquired 4.5 million views on the day of its release, and has over 73 million views as of October 2018.
Queen Naija released her self-titled extended play on July 27, 2018. Queen Naija has described the EP as an emotional journey in which each song describes either an experience or emotion she has gone through. The songs reference topics including heartbreak and betrayal, motherhood, and finding new love again. “Medicine” deals with her heartbreak and emotions toward her ex-partner, and “Karma” explains overcoming the heartbreak while sending a message that she will be fine. “Mama’s Hand” dedicated to her son; she promises to give him everything and encourages him to have optimistic thoughts about the future. “Butterflies” reveals that she is beginning to fall in love again with someone new. “Bad Boy” describes her connection with a new lover, and how her goodness may cause him to change for the better.
As I listened to the entire EP – four times in a row – I thought it was a winner. This one is in my personal collection, a place only for the works I really love. Will Queen Naija one day be considered royalty within in music industry? It’s very possible!