Naja Gbala

Celebrating Black Music Month: A Profile on Naja Gbala

Contributed By: Faith Smith

In the heart of Gary, where stars like the Jackson 5 and Janet Jackson were born to a modern Black home, music is the foundation in a community that is surrounded by the love and light of the artists that paved the way. In the midst of solidifying our position in the music industry, young stars carry the torch of Black music, just like our musician of the week, Miss Naja Gbala.

At the age of twelve, her love for music sprouted from a moment in the kitchen while doing chores. After repeating the phrase “my middle name is Lanail,” Gbala began to make a beat on her kitchen table and started to perform.

It was her guardian, Doris Jean Johnson Cooper’s words of “never give up on your dreams” that allowed Gbala to run toward her destiny: teaching, rapping and singing.

When Gbala was asked about what she thinks of when she thinks of Black music, she responded with, “Connecting the words Black and music is beyond powerful. Considering the two words separately holds much inspiration; to think of Black music warms my heart.”

“Black music contains the truth about life. A few words that represent Black music would have to be: chain-breaking, inspirational, accomplishing, overcoming, heart-warming, and creative,” Gbala said.

The piano was the first instrument she learned to play. The church is where she began her self-taught lessons.

She mentioned, “At the age of sixteen my sister Alycia bought me a keyboard of my own and I was officially in business. By the age of seventeen I was a self-taught pianist with performances booked up for months at a time.”

Gbala highlights her time at Bolingbrook Middle School and Rich South High School where she debuted her talents – joining the choir, dance team, step team, black history programs and even show-choir.

After graduating from Rich South High School in 2015, Gbala attended Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. “I was part of several programs including gospel choir and was the front page headline on the Alestle Newspaper at SIUE after performing an original song, titled “Bruised” for Black History Month in 2019. Additionally, I competed in Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority’s Miss Annie Neville Pageant in 2018 and was crowned Miss Annie Neville of the Central Region for two years.”

Gbala joined the staff as a music teacher in Spring 2024 at Charter School of the Dunes, for grades K-5. She is currently teaching music at Indiana University Northwest Kid’s College for the summer.

“Being an artist is all about being free,” Gbala said. “One of my favorite quotes is, “An artist must be free to follow their muse.” Who doesn’t want to be free? Free to express my creativity in song, dance, poem. What I am most grateful for is that I am a true artist … meaning the majority of my artistic projects have come from turning my pain into power.”

That pain, Gbala said, came from being born into the foster care system. “It was not easy, at a young age feeling unloved. I am so thankful for my great aunt and uncle Doris and Andrew Cooper for taking guardianship of me. But I still felt like an outsider. I was extremely voiceless growing up so I began to write my thoughts down on paper.”

Gbala encourages future artists to be themselves and find their own style so they do not imitate anyone else. She tells them, “Don’t let society’s stereotypes of what you should look like, sound like, or song choice create someone you're not.”

Story Posted:06/16/2024