Take a sick beat mixed with African rhythms and drumming, the bold lyrics of Mohammed Yahya about human rights and oppression, and add Sarina Leah’s bluesy Billie Holiday-esque vocals, and you have the recipe for what Native Sun calls “starving artist music.”
Commonly referred to as world town music, it encompasses rhythms that will make you sway, but engage the audience to look deeper. One producing such powerful music needs equally powerful style. I got the chance to speak with Sarina Leah, the singer of the duo, about what inspires her personal style and how does that represent the music. She wore an oversized jacket, vintage dress, black leggings for comfortable movement, Nike high top sneakers and big earrings in the shape of Africa.
Eclectic and urban are the perfect descriptions of the interesting ensemble that the singer pieced together.
“Because I studied fashion, it comes from a make, mend, do point of view” Leah said.
Her Caribbean heritage has contributed to her love of vintage and one-of-a-kind pieces. The mixture of patterns, textures and accessories reflects the conscious music she creates alongside Mohammed Yahya, by using recycled clothing, abstaining from leathers and furs and wearing more ethnic pieces or prints representative of the African culture.
The oversized jacket was a piece she found and added her own personal flair by sewing some of her favorite patterns on. When asked about who her fashion icons were, she said she was a “head hunter” who finds inspiration from whenever she sees something that interests her and dresses according to however she feels, rather than modeling her warbdrobe off of one particular person.
Sarina Leah is the style love child of Erykah Badu’s spontaneous modern African twist and the cool factor of a Andre 3000. Style like Leah’s is timeless because it is personal and unabashed by main stream trends.
You can view more of Sarina’s creations by visiting www.wildsuga.com for more style and vintage inspired pieces.
Nia Decaille can be reached for comment at [email protected].
