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Poet By Design:
Fashion and Flow by Golden Infamous da Angel
(Part II)
By: Ccep J. Dew
In Part I, we learned how Kadijah Harris became Golden Infamous da Angel, her struggles in a single-parent household, and how she started pursuing her dream of being a fashion designer. Here, Golden Infamous more into fashion, the importance of Hip-Hop in her life and getting people invested in Golden Infamous The Corporation.
Ccep: How would you describe your fashion style?
GIdA: My fashion style is colorful and eclectic. You never know what you will catch me in on a given day because I never know what I will put on on a given day.
Ccep: I know you do pants, capris, and tops. Do you also do purses, bracelets, accessories, and things like that?
GIdA: Yes, I do. I do all that.
Ccep: Just multi-talented all over the place!
GIdA: [laughs]
Ccep: G-N-A Designs… That’s the name of the fashion line?
GIdA: Yes.
Ccep: Is that just a spin-off of Golden Infamous or does that stand for something else?
GIdA: It’s two different things. It’s a spin-off of Golden Infamous da Angel. You get it? G-N-A. It’s also a spin-off of my mother’s name. My mother’s name was Gina. So, I took the I out and… G-N-A.
Ccep: That’s fly. That’s like a dedication to your mom. I dig that.
GIdA: Yeah. Yeah.
Ccep: What designers and current trends influence your designs?
GIdA: I like Heatherette. Heatherette is my favorite designer. They do a lot of quirky, colorful, off the wall clothes. I like to look at things and put my own spin on them and a lot of the time I’ll make something and I’ll see something I made like months later. Like, I remember one time, for my first fashion show, I made this denim skirt and it had a white tulle train and lace at the bottom. It was like a denim mini-skirt and a year later I saw a picture in Vibe [Magazine] with the same exact style of the skirt that I had made. And I was like, “Wow! I made that already.” But, a lot of stuff I see like months later and I’m like, “I’ve already done that. I’m on to something else.”
Ccep: [laughs] How do you feel when you’re on the runway or you’re watching other people display your designs on the runway?
GIdA: Oh! It’s great because it’s like you’re having a baby. You know, people always say that when you get into a project and you get to see your project come to life it’s like having a baby. That’s the way it feels. Like, “Wow! This is something I’ve done and people are paying to get into a venue to see stuff that I made,” and that’s great! It’s a great feeling. And it’s good to see models interested in stuff you make. I like to see models wanting to put on my clothes and wanting to walk with my clothes and I like to see the looks on people’s faces when they see different things. They’re like, “Oh! I like that… I like that.” You know it’s a sign and it makes me want to keep doing what I’m doing.
I feel like my entire style is driven by hip-hop and I feel like that’s one of the things that separates me from a lot of people and a lot of artists: that my style is completely driven by hip-hop.
Ccep: That’s what’s up… What do you like to do in your spare time?
GIdA: I like to read. I’m a big book reader. I like to eat.
Ccep: [laughs]
GIdA: I eat a lot. I like to watch dumb reality shows like Making The Band and [America’s Next] Top Model… Flavor of Love and all those reality shows. Other than that, you’ll probably catch me hanging out with my niece.
Ccep: Earlier you mentioned about hip-hop and wanting to start your own hip-hop magazine. What role does hip-hop play in your life?
GIdA: Oh! Hip-hop is one of my driving forces. I love hip-hop. I’ve been into hip-hop from the time I was a young child and I’ve always had issues with that because growing up I was always into hip-hop and I’d be hanging out with the girls on the playground and they’d be talking about this song and that song. I was like, “What about Red and Method Man,” and they would look at me like I was crazy. So, hip-hop is definitely a vital part of my life… I listen to mostly hip-hop. I feel like my entire style is driven by hip-hop and I feel like that’s one of the things that separates me from a lot of people and a lot of artists: that my style is completely driven by hip-hop. And I’ve had people tell me all the time, “You sound like you’re rapping even when you’re not trying.” So, I guess that comes out.
Ccep: So, currently what’s your favorite album or your favorite hip-hop artist?
GIdA: My favorite hip-hop artist ever is Nas. I can’t really choose a favorite album. It depends on the mood that I’m in. Typical it’s “The Lost Tapes” by Nas, but Nas is my favorite artist ever.
Ccep: Are there any celebrities or hip-hop artists that you would love to design for?
GIdA: Rihanna… I would love to design for Rihanna. She’s hot.
Ccep: Alright. So, other than the spoken word, writing, fashion… what other things are you good at doing?
GIdA: Umm… what am I good at doing? Sheesh. I’m good at forging signatures.
Ccep: [laughs]
GIdA: [laughs] I’m good at it. Umm… What else am I good at? I’m good at telling jokes. I make people laugh a lot. I always get people telling me I should be a comedian… I don’t agree with them, but you know.
Ccep: Maybe you could tie that in and do like a comedy/spoken word CD.
GIdA: I know, but my problem is I couldn’t write down jokes. Like the whole writing of jokes, I would have a problem with that. Sometimes, when I say funny things it’s like off the top of the wall and I don’t even know I’m about to say it until I’ve said it and then it’s like, “Oh, everybody thinks that’s funny.” But, I couldn’t sit down and write jokes. It would probably be corny if I tried to do it like that. Nobody would laugh at my jokes. It would be crickets. People would throw hamburgers and stuff at me on the stage.
Ccep: Where does your confidence come from ‘cause you’re a very level-headed, 
confident person and it’s hard to find people like that. A lot of people have so many insecurities and things that they’re dealing with… How do you just maintain that?
GIdA: My confidence comes from the fact that I have to believe in myself or nobody else will. My family is not very supportive and growing up I was not really encouraged to do much by a lot of people outside of my mother… I never really had that encouragement from people around me, so I have to have it for myself. One thing that my mom told me before she died… I remember I was like seventeen and I had just gotten this poem published in a magazine and I was so excited, I showed my mother and she said, “You know what? You deserve it.” And those words have always stuck with me through everything I’ve done. I’ve gone so far and worked so hard and I feel like I deserve it. I feel like it’s my right to be confident now. I don’t have to be meek and I don’t have to be feeble… I’ve earned it and nobody’s gonna take that away.
Ccep: That’s real… Your novel [A Vision I Had] you did while you were in college, but what inspired you to write that. To get the character CeCe, where did all of that come from?
GIdA: The novel came from seeing a lot of people in college who fit that character type ‘cause CeCe is a girl who comes from a White neighborhood who goes to a Black college ‘cause she wants to get a sense of “belonging”. And I saw a lot of people like that at Morgan [State University] and that’s what first brought the character CeCe to mind and I kinda wrapped the story around that.
Ccep: How was the self-publishing process?
GIdA: It was awful! Oh, it was awful! Self-publishing is hard. I probably would never do it again unless I was desperate. Self-publishing is hard because you have to do your own distribution. So, you literally have to go store to store, person to person, like, “Put my book in your store… Put my book in your store…” and one thing that you’ll find is that you don’t understand how many people have books until you start marketing yours.
Ccep: Right.
GIdA: And then it’s like, well, what separates your book from everybody else’s? I thought my book was very good. You know, that’s what I’ve been told by everybody who’s read my book… That’s the problem with self-publishing. You have to do everything yourself unless you go to higher people.
Ccep: Do you have a favorite writer?
GIdA: Yeah. Donald Goines is my favorite writer.
Ccep: Do you have a favorite poet?
GIdA: My favorite poet is Rebecca Dupas. I don’t think she knows that.
Ccep: Yeah. I haven’t told any of my favorites that they’re my favorite either.
GIdA: [laughs] Rebecca Dupas is my favorite poet because her poetry is simple, but it says a lot and that’s the type of artistry that I like. That’s one of the things I like about Nas. His rhyme-style is simple, but he says so much using regular words that people can understand and relate to.
I feel like it’s my right to be confident now. I don’t have to be meek and I don’t have to be feeble… I’ve earned it and nobody’s gonna take that away.
Ccep: How did you go about choosing the title “R.A.I.N.” for your spoken word CD? ‘Cause I love that R.eal A.ngels I.nspire N.ow… That’s cool.
GIdA: Thank you… It happened because the title track was “Rain” and I knew it was gonna be the title track, but as I was writing the CD, thinking of different things and concepts, I kept noticing that in at least two of the poems I had referenced rain. I was like, “Oh. What if I do that in almost all of the poems? How would the CD sound?” So, I said, “That’s gonna be the name of the next CD,” and almost every poem on that CD has a reference to rain. There are two different poems called “Rain”: the first track and the final track.
Ccep: What advice can you offer to someone who’s thinking of starting their own company or finally stepping onstage at an open mic?
GIdA: Don’t let anything hold you back. Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do it. Don’t feel like you’re not good enough. Just get out there and do it. A lot of people wish that they could do the things that we do. There’s a lot of people who wish they could get on stage, but they’re scared. There’s a lot of people who wish they could start a company, but they’re scared. You can’t be scared. You just have to get up there and do it. You have to have that confidence in yourself. You have to know how to sell yourself as an entity. I feel like every time I go out I’m selling Golden da Angel. I look at myself as a corporation almost. I’m selling Golden Infamous The Corporation and it works ‘cause I’ve built up a network. So, right now I could probably do a fashion show in one week because I have so many contacts. I have a list of models who love me. They love working with me. They’ll support anything I’m into because they buy Golden Infamous The Corporation and they know that I’ll support things that they do ‘cause that’s what it’s about. You have to support other people. If you support other people and they support you, you’re ninety percent of the way there…
Have you enjoyed the interview so far? Do you want more? Come back next month for the conclusion in Part III of Poet By Design!