Sabina Ddumba (born 23 February 1994) is a Swedish singer. Her music has
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
,
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
, and
R&B influences. Ddumba was a backing vocalist on
Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...
's song "
Walking on Air" in 2013 and has collaborated with artists such as the hip hop band
Looptroop Rockers
Looptroop Rockers is a hip hop group from Västerås, Sweden. The members are rappers Promoe (Mårten Edh), Supreme (Mathias Lundh-Isen), DJ/ Producer Embee (Magnus Bergkvist) and CosM.I.C (Tommy Isacsson). On their fourth album, Good Things, ...
, duo
Lorentz & Sakarias and Adam Kanyama in 2012. She is signed to
Warner Music
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
. Ddumba released her first single, "Scarred for Life", in 2014, and her second single, "Effortless" in 2015. Both were certified
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
.
Ddumba appeared in Moraeus med mera in 2014 and performed at Grammisgalan in 2015.
She performed at the 2015
Swedish Grammis,
and in 2015 won 'Newcomer of the Year' at the Grammisgalan and 2016 P3 Gold Awards.
Early life
Sabina Ddumba was born on 23 February 1994 in
Fisksätra,
Nacka
Nacka () is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to a 16th-century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mil ...
. She is the sixth child out of eight in her family. Her mother is Ugandan, and when she was eight years old, her mother moved back to Uganda.
After listening to traditional Ugandan nursery rhymes and songs, she became interested in melody and phrasing.
Ddumba has started writing songs since she was 10. In 2008, at the age of fourteen, she joined the Tensta Gospel Choir, and sang with the group for about six years. It was through this choir that she found singing was her vocation.
Her father and relatives wanted her to pursue a more scholarly profession, such as a doctor.
Musical influences
Ddumba was inspired by the Ugandan nursery rhymes and songs she heard when she was a child. She also grew up listening to the
hip hop and
R&B of the late 1990s. As her family was religious, the
gospel music
Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...
she heard in church on Sundays has also greatly influenced her musical style. Her time with the Tensta Gospel Choir strengthened the influence that gospel music has had on her work.
Career
Ddumba participated in
The X Factor Sverige in 2012. Also in 2012, she sang on Adam Kanyama's track, "The Golden Child"
and collaborated with the duo
Lorentz & Sakarias. In 2013 she sang
background vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...
for Katy Perry's single "
Walking On Air", which was featured on Perry's album,
Prism
Prism usually refers to:
* Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light
* Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron
Prism may also refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...
. The same year she collaborated with
hip hop group
Looptroop Rockers
Looptroop Rockers is a hip hop group from Västerås, Sweden. The members are rappers Promoe (Mårten Edh), Supreme (Mathias Lundh-Isen), DJ/ Producer Embee (Magnus Bergkvist) and CosM.I.C (Tommy Isacsson). On their fourth album, Good Things, ...
on their song "Sea of Death". In 2014 she released her first single, "Scarred for Life". After the release of this single, in 2015 she signed with
Warner Music
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
.
In 2015, Ddumba released her second single, "Effortless", which was certified
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
in Sweden.
The song was co-written with
Carmen Reece
Helen Culver, known by her stage name Carmen Reece, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer based in Los Angeles, California. An accomplished pianist and flautist from childhood, Carmen penned her first song aged 11 and has sinc ...
, and produced by Nick Ruth and T-Collar.
Her latest single, "Not Too Young" was 30 October 2015.
This single was certified
double platinum
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
.
In February 2015, Ddumba performed at the
Swedish Grammys.
In 2016, she performed "Not Too Young" at the P3 Gold Awards, winning the award for Newcomer of the Year.
Ddumba will be releasing a follow up single to "Not Too Young" titled "Not Too Young Pt. II", which will be produced by
Wolf Cousins
Maratone is a music production company, and started by two music producers and songwriters, Max Martin and Tom Talomaa. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, it was started in January 2001 after the closing of Cheiron Studios. Maratone moved in at Cosmos S ...
.
In the autumn of 2016, she participated in TV4's "So Much Better", where she was among others praised for her interpretation of Uno Svenningson's song "Vågorna".
Discography
Albums
Singles
Promotional singles
Notes
References
External links
Facebook
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ddumba, Sabina
Living people
1994 births
21st-century Swedish singers
English-language singers from Sweden
Singers from Stockholm
Swedish pop singers
Swedish soul singers
Warner Records artists
Swedish people of Ugandan descent
21st-century Swedish women singers