Sada K: The Californian R&B singer who literally had to learn how to walk again

Radio hitmaker Sada K talks about her years in music ministry.

عربى

When in 2015 Sada K released her debut solo album 'Long Story Short' it received thumbs up from the Christian music world. CCM magazine called it "a colourful collection that volleys between soulful ballads, with a mix of pop and danceable celebrations" while New Release Today praised Sada for "showing off a unique urban and soulful vibe in her music." In fact Radio Hayah picked up on three songs from the album, "Fly", "All About Love" featuring Jonathan Thulin and Sada's current radio pick "Stand Up" featuring Chief Wakil. The latter is a song with particular resonance for the 33-year-old California-based singer/songwriter. She explained, "'Stand Up'" was the first single I released after suffering from a knee injury that wouldn't allow me to physically stand up when I recorded it. I went from living on a tour bus to learning how to walk again after two surgeries. It was a song of victory and a song to encourage people to live life and shine our lights bright in this world."

Sada was born Sada Kristin Irvine Spearman in 1983 in Kansas City, Missouri. With her brothers she sang regularly at the Quindaro Church Of God In Christ before relocating to Los Angeles. Her music career began in 2009 when she joined the Christian pop rock band Press Play. Their synth-driven approach to pop, rock and dance brought something fresh to worship music and for a season Sada was caught up in the excitement of a local worship band exploding onto the national Christian music scene with a massive marketing help from Universal Music once they'd bought Dream Records. Sada remembered her Press Play days: "I served on the worship team at the LA Dream Center and as my relationship grew with the members, I began to sing with them on the road and was able to record two albums with them. It was truly a blessing and a huge learning experience for me. It was a blessing to be able to travel and touch so many people's lives. My favourite part of it all was being able to connect with people at the merchandise table. I was able to pray with so many people and love on those who really needed it. It was a beautiful time in my life."

But then disaster struck the young singer. "I'd had problems with my knees throughout my childhood and one day, after coming off of a long tour, my knee dislocated with a simple step and it didn't go back in place correctly. It took the doctors a while to figure things out but God's timing was everything. I learned a lot of valuable lessons through recovery and physical therapy and one thing is for sure, every step counts and never take a moment for granted. Without my faith, I don't know where I would be. I literally had to walk by faith, even when I couldn't physically."

After major surgery things finally began to improve for Sada. "I knew I wanted to release an album and the vision became clear in 2014. It's hard to share your story in three-minute songs but I tried my best to do so. That's why the album is called 'Long Story Short'."

I ended by asking Sada why the American Church still seems very divided between black and white sections. Was my observation fair? She responded, "I've never been asked this before and it's definitely a sensitive subject here, but I would say that it's a fair and unfortunate observation. Many churches are trying to unite people, but there's still a lot of work to do. I've dealt with it a lot with my music, not fitting in on a specific side or genre, but I'm determined to bridge those gaps and continue to be creative and be able to share my music with people from all walks of life. I believe it can happen."