Meet emerging R&B artist Dallas Aleea (@dallasaleea). Hailing from Tallahassee, Florida, the newcomer is stepping into the spotlight with her vulnerable and soul-baring debut single, “Breakdown.” With influences rooted in early 2000s R&B and a vocal tone that draws comparisons to Teyana Taylor, Aleea offers a modern twist on a nostalgic sound.
However, it’s a sound that’s intimate, intentional, and emotionally rich. Remixd Magazine had the opportunity to speak more with Dallas about the powerful inspiration behind the single, what message she hopes to bring to her listeners, and her plans and goals for the future. Thus, keep reading to learn more about her journey.
Get to know Dallas Aleea
Dallas Aleea told Remixd Magazine that “Breakdown” was written from the depths of self-reflection. Moreover, in this song she explores the themes of self-sabotage in love. In addition, she shares a powerful story that changed her perspective on love, and the emotional weight that comes with it. “Breakdown” serves as the lead single to her upcoming EP LMK. The track sets the tone for a project that’s as sincere as it is sultry.
Through her music, she welcomes listeners into her world. Furthermore, she is unveiling herself as a multi-dimensional, vulnerable, and undeniably powerful new voice.
Keep reading to learn more about Dallas Aleea, and be sure to stream “Breakdown,” below.
Q&A with Dallas Aleea
Remixd Magazine: For those who are just getting to know you, who is Dallas Aleea, in your own words?
Dallas Aleea: I am Dallas Aleea. I’m a singer songwriter out of Tallahassee, Florida. I’ve been dedicated to R&B my whole life, really, my whole existence. I’ve been singing since I was six, seven years old, performing recording since I was 15.
Who were some of your influences growing up?
In the car, my mom would be bumping anything from Mariah Carey to Mary J. Blige to Alicia Keys and Brandy. We listened to Usher, R. Kelly, Luther Vandross, Anita Baker. All of it sculpted me into me realizing that this is what I want to do. I want to make music. I would just sing other people’s songs, until I started writing my own.
Inspiration behind “Breakdown”
Now you are entering the music scene now with a debut single you wrote yourself. It’s called “Breakdown.” What inspired this song?
Dallas Aleea: I was in a space of just being kind of scared of my big feelings. Scared of falling in love for real. So “Breakdown” is like a series of rhetorical questions that often don’t get asked, because you don’t want to come off as insecure, or clingy, or worried too soon about something that hasn’t even happened yet.
But I’m definitely an overthinker, and I need reassurance. So I was just kind of in a little headspace where I wanted to be in my feels and dig deep into how I was really feeling.
I had a breakdown in real life. Basically, I was a month or so into talking to my significant other and I started to realize this is someone that I could potentially be with for the rest of my life. That’s scary! Like what? My go-to was to self sabotage and get in my head because I felt it was too good to be true. Instead I decided to lock in, find music that matched how I was feeling, opened up bandlab, and the song just poured out.
The concept of self-sabotaging
I love the way you talk about the concept the self sabotaging. Moreover, pulling away from something good. Talk more about how this was something you’ve experienced within your life?
My very first experience with love was with my high school sweetheart, we had ups and downs, but stayed together all throughout high school. Our senior year, he was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma cancer at age 18. He had a full ride scholarship for football, and was accomplishing a lot at a high level, all with cancer and we didn’t know until May of 2017. From May to November he went through such drastic changes, one significant change involving an amputation. I stuck it out with him and took care of him, and I’d do it again, because I really did love him so much. He proposed to me a month before he passed. This was my first hands-on experience with unconditional love.
It’s like, not only was I afraid to lose people because of an argument or because I just lost interest, or we fell off badly … But now basically, I was afraid to lose someone on this side of eternity, a different deeper type of loss. And so, you kind of want to self-sabotage. It’s about beating people or circumstances to the punch. You don’t want to feel that pain ever again, so you kind of just end it before you can get hurt.
Learning to be vulnerable, one release at a time
Wow, that’s a crazy story. How was it hard for you to be that vulnerable on your debut? Or did it feel more freeing for you?
I was a little nervous to do like a slower song for the debut, and I even kind of went back it. But when I thought about it, I was OK with bearing my soul for people first. And then we can get to the fun stuff. I don’t need to fake the funk. We just need to kind of get through the hard stuff together, right?
Since this is the lead single for the EP ‘LMK’, what direction are you going with in general for the sound of the project as a whole?
So LMK is amazing! Just from where it started to where it is now. And what it was supposed to be, and what it turned into. It’s just a beautiful journey all the way around. Every song is kind of like a series of unanswered questions. Emotions that are being tackled through figuring out who I am in love and through jealousy and anger. It starts out kind of heavy, and then it just kind of reveals who I am through each song and what I’ve gone through. It sounds kind of like a diary, because it is like everything is written by me.
Looking ahead
What’s one thing that you hope people walk away with after hearing “Breakdown”?
I hope that people understand that it’s okay to have to feelings. And that you’re not alone in feeling like that. You can get hurt no matter what. Whether it’s friends, your mom, like it doesn’t matter. And so I want people to know that it’s okay to feel that, but tackle it. We’re growing up. I’m coming to the reality of realizing this is something good. And even though I’m scared, I’m gonna bring these questions to you.
What’s next for you and what can the people look forward to?
They can look forward to a “Breakdown” visualizer, a music video is coming out. And just to stay tuned for another single and EP coming out. More content and storytelling kind of revealing who I am.
Follow Dallas Aleea on her journey @dallasaleea and stay tuned for what she has coming next.
