A&E

Fifth Harmony’s Dinah Jane is breaking out as a solo artist

Image
Big things are happening for Dinah Jane.
Courtesy

She couldn’t have come up with a more appropriate name for her first solo single.

All five members of Miami-based pop group Fifth Harmony have been steadily moving on to solo careers, and last week was Dinah Jane’s turn. She performed “Bottled Up,” a bouncy R&B track featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Marc E. Bassy, for the very first time at the Fashion Week Teen Vogue Body Party, and it was about time.

“It went really well, everything was in place and the dancers came through and the outfit was spot on. It was definitely the vibe,” she tells the Weekly. “It was really great for my first show, but I’m just so relieved at this point. I’ve been holding on to this record for about a year now, maybe more. It’s been hard to keep quiet all this time but we had to make sure to do it right. There’s no rushing to this, even if your patience is always being tested.”

Jane will be onstage as a presenter at this weekend’s iHeartRadio Music Festival, which will feature performances by Justin Timberlake, Fleetwood Mac, Childish Gambino, Jack White, Imagine Dragons and others. Jane is the latest Fifth Harmony member to sign a solo deal, recently inking with Antonio “L.A.” Reid’s upstart Hitco label. Camila Cabello left the group first, signed with Epic and released a debut album containing hits “Havana” and “Never Be the Same.” Normani Kordei signed with RCA this year and collaborated with Khalid on the smash “Love Lies.” Lauren Jaregui and Ally Brooke are also working on solo material.

For Jane, continuing to work with mega-producer and record exec Reid—who played a role in forming Fifth Harmony as a judge on The X Factor—was a natural fit. “We always had the same vibe musically, and he listens to his artists and is such a fighter,” she says. “I walked into his office and told him about ‘Bottled Up’ and he said, ‘If you believe in it, I’m right behind you.’ It feels great to have a fighter in your corner.”

Jane has kept busy while waiting for the right time to spring into solo action, shooting a small role in the Netflix hip-hop flick The After Party and logging lots of studio time. The 21-year-old Californian says she’s enjoying the creative process and is searching for the right sounds before the serious business of completing an album.

“I’m an R&B kinda girl, ’90s and 2000s. I’m very inspired by that,” she says, listing Lauryn Hill and Destiny’s Child as particularly influential acts. “My vibe is very chill so there will be some laidback moments [in songs] that I’ll be able to work into beast mode when I’m onstage. It’s kind of like a science project, trying to create your own sound. My producers are really trying to figure out what my ear is attracted to. Everyone has been so involved to help me write these records and get them at their best.”

IHEARTRADIO MUSIC FESTIVAL September 21-22, 7:30 p.m., $86-$823. T-Mobile Arena, 702-692-1600.

Share
Photo of Brock Radke

Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of managing editor at Las Vegas Weekly ...

Get more Brock Radke
Top of Story