Deja Belle
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Deja Belle

Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States

Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States
Band R&B Soul

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Deja Belle is currently working on her debut album.

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Bio

A captivating singer—a brilliant and inspiring songwriter—Deja Belle’s distinct sound resonates through the music venues of our nation’s capital, yet has its immediate roots in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Deja Belle was born in a Parisian suburb to two Congolese parents. She recalls, as a small girl, listening to her father “Papy” Sodolo sing and play Afro-Cuban tunes from the Congo. Spending a short stint of time in France and Congo, Deja Belle arrived in America at the age five and her family settled near Washington, D.C. There, she heard R&B, Pop, and Hip-Hop music of the 80’s. As a Soukous musician in the Congo, Papy brought his music career across seas to America and took Deja Belle to all of his gigs and rehearsals. These early years inspired Deja’s love for music.

In her adolescence, Deja Belle loved to sing and dance for her friends and family. They noticed that she was no ordinary child singer, yet she was shy about showcasing her raspy and low-register voice to others. In those defining years, she began to write poetry and dance competitively. Deja Belle became well known around the city for her moving poetic performances and her unbeatable and award winning dance team. As she got older, she began to transform her poems into songs but remained a closet-singer.

It wasn’t until she left home and attended Howard University, that she truly found her voice. She took a voice class one semester out of curiosity and ended up discovering an enchanting world of Jazz music. “I was blown away by the compositions of the music and the sensational vocalists of that time,” Deja Belle recalls. “Many of the female vocalists who pioneered the Jazz era influence me tremendously like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and Etta James.” Consequently, David Hughes, owner of Unknown Legends Booking Agency, described Deja Belle’s voice in a 2006 magazine article as "…raw, but oh so powerful."

Not only did Deja Belle find her voice but she also found out she could use that voice to bring awareness to socio-political issues that were near and dear to her heart. One of her most noted performances is when she performed at a V-Day event in 2009 to bring awareness to the epidemic level of sexual violence that women and children of the Congo have suffered of because of war. Deja Belle shared the stage with Eve Ensler, founder of V-Day and renowned playwright of The Vagina Monologues.

Aside from her activism, Deja Belle has worked on the recording projects of many underground artists and is currently working on a debut album that will seamlessly combines Soul, Jazz, Rock, and Hip-Hop music to create an unforgettable sound.