Katana Da Don was born in Pittsburg, California and was introduced to Salsa and Afro-Cuban rhythms at age three by her father. By age five she played the drums and cowbell alongside a group of brothers that lived up the street who later became known as Los Lobos. At age ten Katana Da Don was writing Hip Hop and R&B lyrics. At age twelve she started taking Jazz/Gospel piano lessons and that gave her the knowledge and tools to compose her own music.
By age sixteen, Katana Da Don was taking classical piano, composing songs and dancing in the Pep Squad at her high school. Music and dance became a way for her to escape a dark past. Although, she was shy eventually Katana Da Don became known in her circles for lyrical abilities and guys would refuse to battle her in house party rap cyphers. With the motivation from friends to do something with her gift, Katana began collaborating with artists in the Bay Area of California on projects in search of a home for her music. Being able to sing, rap and write her own lyrics made her stand out among other artists. She released her first solo cd Bad Habits in stores throughout the northern California area (including Rasputtan’s) and CD Baby in 2002 but later moved to Minnesota where she began writing songs for local artists through Urban Grooves Productions (UGP) at Fuzzy Slippers Studios.
Katana released her double album: Secret Weapon Vol. 1 (Hip Hop) and Secret Weapon Vol. 2 (R & B) in 2007 at Electric Fetus and CD Baby. The cd’s received good reviews from local dj’s, amongst her rap peers as well as the local Hip Hop/R & B audience. Her song “Lost” featuring St Paul Slim and produced by T – Lace, was listed as one of the best songs of the summer by Peter Scholtes of the City Pages.
Never afraid of testing her artistic boundaries, Katana Da Don branched out to flex her acting muscles playing a main character in local drama/comedy TH3M! The 5 episode series was showcased at the Twin Cities Black Film Festival in 2010. In 2011, she starred in the gospel play/musical The Devil Didn’t Raise You, where she sang an original song selected from her catalog by the play’s author.
In 2015, Katana Da Don became an active member of the HECATOMB crew led by veteran MCEE/Entertainer Carnage The Executioner, published a book of poetry – From the Bottom (Amazon) and release a line of marijuana paraphernalia called NUMB (based on a song from her upcoming album). Her new album Kut Throat is a mixture of Rock, Hip Hop and R&B, on which she produced the majority of the material (excluding SNOW produced by Eycee Slim) . With her first single Grim – a cutting edge rock anthem – Katana Da Don is showing her range as an artist and baring her soul.
