Born On This Day: Chaka Khan
Are there words to describe Chaka Khan except superlatives? Like, magnificent; force of nature; the one and only; Empress of Funk; life-altering experience?
Chaka has expressed many times that her voice is a gift from Creator. The love for music is so obvious in every note she sings. Love in every form is healing. Love in the form of music is what Chaka Khan has been offering for decades. She does it effortlessly, with a huge smile on her face, with no preparation at all. Her confidence as a singer roots in her talent. There is no genre that Chaka Khan couldn’t sing. Is there a problem in your life that you couldn’t forget for a while when you hear that voice?
Ain’t No Body was her first song that I consciously remember. I listened to it often when I was a kid, figure skating at a skating rink near my school. Without noticing, it turned into my favourite song while gliding over the ice: it was so smooth, so rich, so cool, so fly. When I hear it today, my muscles’ memory kicks in of that time, and I am that kid again. I love the song even more than I loved it then, since it is not only a fetching piece of music, the lyrics deliver too. Let me throw into the room that the love she sings about suggests an almost exemplary emotional intelligence, overflowing gratitude and celebratory consciousness. The blend of feel good experiences makes it one of the big love songs of all time.
Celebratory consciousness, overflowing gratitude and emotional intelligence is also what I connect with Chaka Khan, the person.
Happy birthday, Chaka.
23 March 2021
