It’s been a privilege to follow the journey of Natalie Jackson, known to many as Kudisan Kai, over the years. We first connected more than a decade ago, when she was already leaving her mark as a powerful backing vocalist and collaborator with some of music’s greatest names. Later, in 2014, we caught up again as she began carving out her path as Kudisan Kai, stepping into the spotlight as a solo artist, composer, and storyteller. Now, almost ten years later, we reconnect once more. So much has happened since those early conversations: new projects, new stories, and new perspectives. Kudisan Kai’s career has always been defined by passion, resilience, and versatility—whether singing alongside Elton John or Chaka Khan, teaching the next generation of musicians at Berklee College of Music, or sharing her own truth in her book Memoirs of a Back Up Diva.
Now I find you… in Paris!!! A city known for its history, art, and music. How did fate lead you here, and how has living in this luminous city influenced you, both personally and artistically?
You know, it’s really funny. After returning to Los Angeles in 2014, from teaching at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, I thought I would be in LA doing recording sessions and solo projects forever. But, after all of the challenges, specifically, yet another SAG/AFTRA union strike, I decided to dive into other areas of my life that I had passion for. That would be wine. I have always wanted to open a restaurant which included a performance venue. I attached this ‘for-profit’ restaurant concept to a non-profit project I founded called, Transcend Cradle (aka TCLC). It’s a cooperative living/lifestyle community that reacclimates homeless people back into society in an empowering, healthy way through free housing, spa/wellness, and mental health services. As part of learning about the restaurant industry, I decided to study wine. So, I completed my WSET Level 1Wine Certification in 2024. Then, I figured, why not study wine at the source? So, I closed my eyes and took a chance at going Europe. Initially, Dijon, France was my first destination to study at the Burgundy School of Business. But, I flew to Paris first to await word on a wine scholarship and ascertain finances and living quarters in Dijon. I already knew from my travels that European lifestyle suited my spirit. However, I found peace in Paris. Of course, fate stepped in and connected me to some musicians I had actually worked with on a film in the US (an animated film entitled Rugrats: The Movie). I ended up singing, writing music for this friend’s record project, and doing a private gig with Bernard Fowler ( bgv for The Rolling Stones). Who knew?
And how has your creative perspective changed since moving to this city?
At this point, creatively, I think I can probably do just about anything I want to do. I believe anyone can. The days of feeling you need to be in LA or NYC or London to really make it in the music industry are dwindling. You can do recording sessions for producers from anywhere in the world and just email them the tracks. There are still sessions in those cities, but they are fewer as the years go on. I really want to get into writing music for film and television. I’ve connected with a couple of music supervisors here in Paris. There’s a great probability I will be singing the tracks I write, so my voice will be heard and that’s exciting. The only thing that has changed is that I’m no longer touring on the road as a back up singer. However, I stopped looking in that direction in 2016. It was time to do something different.
I am always amazed and grateful for my precious time spent working with Chaka and Elton. I learned more from them than any of the other people I ever toured with. You know, their birthdays are two days apart 😉 I realized their impressions through my teaching experience at Berklee. I could see in ‘real time’ how I approached singing and performing on all stages, arenas, and stadiums, watching and hearing my students regurgitate what I would teach them, confirming the validity of what those icons taught me. What can I say, I learned from the best. They both LOVE what they do and are secure in themselves as artists. They don’t second guess. Brilliant at what they do and they know it. And yes, they are both extremely witty, hilarious, quite intelligent, probably having a high IQ.
As you’ve grown as an artist, how would you describe the evolution of your sound from your early days as a backing vocalist to the music you create today?
It took me a long time to realize my insecurities and to be confident in my singing voice. For many years, I spent time trying to be the best I could be at whatever people wanted. I wanted to do my best job at whatever the genre, whatever the sound I was asked to make. I worked hard and think I did rise to the occasion. I give all thanks to a narcissistic mother for this. It was all about feel I needed to be perfect and making her happy. I realize now that I missed out on a lot of fun and just enjoying singing. I appreciate and accept my sound which is rooted in classical training. It colors my tone. Also, I recognize that being raised in Memphis, TN influenced me as a soul/funk singer. I love myself as a human now more than ever, so I sing with a new level of trust and freedom, and vulnerability, and self-love. The backing vocalist jobs allowed me the space and time to sing EVERYTHING. So, I know what feels good in my voice. I know what vocal qualities I have and how to exploit them. I’m ok with me vocally. I am happy and I really enjoy singing songs I am emotionally connected to ♥
Whew! Now that’s a loaded question! That time and those two songs which are from my EP Transcend, were written after my divorce. They are filled to the top with angst, despair, sadness, tinged with a few teaspoons of determination. At the time, I wanted to really sing more in my alternative rock genre, I was still teaching at Berklee and wanted to find a way towards solo performing. I felt a bit suffocated with it all. I feel that the energy that was felt from hearing me sing at that point, might have been interpreted as unsettling. Sometimes, that can work because it can be palpable. Sometimes, it can come off as freeing but unfocused. I don’t know. You would have to ask a listener. My process simply is to be honest. Good, bad, or indifferent, that’s honestly where my head was at the time. Hey, it was the truth.
You also have a strong classical background. How do you bring those elements into your contemporary style while still maintaining your unique musical identity?
For a long time, once I decided that alternative rock was my genre, my passion, I was upset that I could not find my ‘natural’ voice. I feared the vocal training had destroyed it. What could I do? I had been classically trained since the age of 10. What I came to realize was, the training had created a color/texture/ buttery quality to my tone which affected everything I sang. THAT quality became my DNA. That quality is what shaped and formed my brand of alternative rock. All I had to do was to be honest in my intentions and just allow my personal experiences to speak through my instrument. That’s it. So, now I am grateful for my training. It is part of the shaping of my unique musical identity. I accept it.
Shifting a bit, as a former professor at Berklee College of Music, what lessons do you consider essential for emerging musicians today?
Be a master at whatever you do. Once you figure out your passion, learn it, know it inside out and around. Live and breathe it so that when you get up in front of people to express your story through your instrument, you can be 100% open and vulnerable as you channel/perform. That’s where the magic is. That’s what the audience want to experience. The magic.
And looking at the broader picture, as an educator and artist with a solid classical foundation and experience in diverse genres, how do you view the current musical landscape, especially with new trends like reggaeton dominating young audiences’ tastes?
I love the beat. I love the groove. It’s popular music. It’s an escape. I don’t know exactly what they are saying. I hope it’s positive. Popular music has always had its place in every society. People need a release. People need something to escape to. The world is going through a traumatic change right now, so today’s pop music can be a welcome break. What’s also happening is that this world of decadence and obsession with material things is coming to a boiling point. I feel it’s about to end. Money can’t make you happy. Even with all of the hate that infiltrates social media, I feel it is a sign of people feeling unheard and in total fear of the changes that are happening on the planet, so they are lashing out. It’s incredible to watch. However, I am a believer that love will always win in the end. The pendulum is swinging far, far to one ugly, murderous, hateful side, but hey. This only creates an incredible momentum in the other direction. As artists who write and perform the music that will tell that story? It will be heard. Society will need to hear it. Society will beg for it to be heard.
Throughout your career, you have been an advocate for African American women in rock. How do you see the evolution of this movement, and what steps still need to be taken to solidify it?
I think we are finally over placing a color on every freaking thing. Thank God for the racial mixing and yes, I contributed to that ♥. My daughter is bi-racial. I did get caught up in that conversation and felt a need to be heard as a black woman who knows the history of the music and wanted to be a recognized part of it. People in the US are so racially separated. At this point in life, I see people as all being the same. We are spiritual beings in a fat suit. Period. If you still want to acknowledge different, then we are all members of one race. The human race. The people who are fighting to maintain separation are wasting their breath. Their killing, fighting, and hurting others because they are different, will only wreak havoc on themselves.
I started out writing it as a guide on how I got started in the music business. Everyone at Berklee College would ask me that question. It turned out to basically be a ‘day in the life of a singer’, which I thought my experience was unique and not so extraordinary at the same time. What it became, was a story of how I was trying to re-invent my career in a new music world order with the challenges of homelessness. It became a story of resilience even in the face of still working as a back up singer on f ilm, television, and on the road (at that time, I was with Chaka Khan). I think finding the strength, the resilience from day to day, became the most significant part. The stories of being on the road became entertaining. The resilience in the face of homelessness became the lesson.
Is there an anecdote or reflection, however small, that you find particularly meaningful in your artistic journey?
I’m still on the journey. It never goes away and I never give up. It takes a different shape and goes down a different path each moment, each day. I took acting lessons during COVID and continued them later. I started painting abstract watercolors a few years ago and have sold a few. I’m amazed at how my artistic journey expands. It’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get ☺
Looking ahead, what projects are you currently working on? Is there a new direction or collaboration that excites you?
My last collaboration was a Christmas duet with the Goo Goo Dolls a couple of Christmas’s ago. No other collaborations right now. I am hoping to get the call to write for a film at some point. I did get asked by someone in the US to do some writing for a tv series, but that’s still in the works. I am still hoping to get my WSET Level 2 Wine certification. I’m awaiting word on exactly where I will do it now. I have decided not to go to Dijon. I may do it here in Paris or I may do it in the South of France. I’ve been considering moving there. I really miss the ocean. I’ve been writing music in what people are calling alternative indie (Teddy Swims, Yebba, Shaed, Moses Sumney). I’m thinking my solo work will probably come out of writing and performing this genre on film/tv. I’m writing a second book now, which should be the ‘epilogue’ to my previous book (Memoirs Of A Back Up Diva) now that my life has found its happy ending here in Europe. Finally, I am promoting my online vocal performance masterclass right now called, In The Spotlight: Vocal Performance Mastery. It’s on Patreon now. It’s for professional singers who are ready establish their brand to secure their audience via masterful performances.
And finally, what advice would you give to young artists who want to follow in your footsteps and make their mark in the music industry today?
Follow your heart/passion/bliss. Do what FEELS GOOD. The world will seek and find you. Be ready.
Through this conversation, we gain insight not only into Natalie “Kudisan” Kai’s artistic journey but also into her vision of resilience, education, and life itself. From Paris, surrounded by memories of historic collaborations and new creative ventures, she leaves us with a clear message: passion, perseverance, and authenticity are what truly define an artist — no matter how the musical landscape shifts or which trends come and go. To dive deeper into her journey, readers can discover her memoir Memoirs Of a Back Up Diva or join her vocal training program In the Spotlight: Vocal Performance Mastery. We sincerely thank Kudisan for your time and generosity in sharing your journey, and I wish you continued success and inspiration in all your creative endeavors.
Pictures Courtesy Of Kudisan Kai
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