Most nights, and always after a nerve-racking commute from work, singer Wayna Wondwossen would crash on her couch feeling drained and frustrated.
Just out of college, she worked as a writer in the White House Office of Presidential Letters and Messages. It was a prestigious position, sure, but much too buttoned-up for an artsy spirit. Drafting commemorative messages to dignitaries on behalf of President Bill Clinton hardly lent itself to creative expression.
Wayna (she goes by just her first name) longed to trade the business suit for a form-fitting dress and sing her songs. The transition from White House employee to neo-soul artist took a lot of guts - and prayers. Now, nearly a decade later, the striking Ethiopian-born singer-songwriter is celebrating her first Grammy nomination.
She'll find out tonight whether "Lovin You (Music)," her hip-hop-laced interpolation of Minnie Riperton's 1975 classic, earned her a win in the urban/alternative category. Wayna will be seated among the industry's biggest stars at Los Angeles' Staples Center, where the pre-show and on-air awards will be given out.
Her competition includes musically daring acts with major-label support: Kenna (who also happens to be Ethiopian), Chrisette Michele and Janelle Monae. But Wayna, who lives in Bowie, has seemingly come from nowhere. Even in the Baltimore-Washington area, where she has been performing professionally for about four years, her name is just beginning to be recognized. Local urban stations, namely WHUR (96.3) in Washington, have recently added "Lovin' You" and other cuts from her new album, Higher Ground, to their playlists.
With the Grammy nomination, "I felt as if God has given me this huge validation that I'm on the right path," Wayna says. "I felt my hard work was being affirmed."
Wayna's quirky vocal style - high-pitched and crystalline, a cross between Minnie Riperton and Erykah Badu - is something of an acquired taste. Her voice flutters, quivers and soars over the sparse, programmed tracks that fill her albums. Of the two, Higher Ground is the most accomplished. "Lovin' You," which features Washington rapper Kokayi, is one of the CD's standout cuts. Like the original, whose arrangement included only an electric piano, an acoustic guitar and a chirping bird, Wayna's remake is musically simple. Her vocals are multi-tracked and sparkle over a low rumbling bass line and beat boxing by Kokayi.
