Tekitha Washington, a longtime vocalist affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan and former bae of RZA, has joined forces with their daughter Prana Supreme Diggs to form O.N.E The Duo, a mother-and-daughter duet infusing the warmth of soul music with the twang of country and the grit of hip-hop.
On Aug. 11, the dynamic duo dropped their debut album Blood Harmony, a 12-track country-inspired album that features their breakout single “Feels Good.” During an interview with BET Aug. 7, Tekitha said that the album “was a long time coming.”
“I think we’ve been a duo for 23 years. We include when Prana was in the womb and all that stuff,” the proud momma shared. “I feel like this has actually been a long time coming, and although we’ve only been working on the project and been here in Nashville for seven years, the last two years of us kind of connecting with our partners, the distribution we wanted and needed for the project and finding our sound and honing that in made this timing perfect for us to release now. We took our time creating the album, and once the body of work was tightened up and ready to go, we were like, ‘Let’s give it to the world.’ It was just a matter of time, and it had to be done.”
Echoing a similar sentiment, Prana gushed about how the process of making Blood Harmony with her mom was “very natural.”
“I think every time we come into a co-write, our goal is just to expand or bend what country music can sound like. For us, it’s really important to stay authentic to the influences that we’ve had growing up and bringing that into country. We never wanted to come into the country space and just put on a mask and pretend. It feels inauthentic, and people can tell that,” Prana said of Blood Harmony’s eclectic sound. “Some of our songs on the album are a little bit more Americana and a little bit more rootsy than some of our other tracks, but that all exists to us within our definition of what O.N.E. The Duo is a country artist.”
With the acronym O.N.E standing for “observant, noetic, effervescent,” the pair bring their own unique style, vibrance and musical prowess to the group. Tekitha earned her stripes in the music industry as a solo artist and Wu-Tang’s in-house singer in the late ‘90s. You can hear the soulful mother’s sultry vocals on 1997’s “Second Coming,” a track that appeared on the hip-hop collective’s sophomore album Wu-Tang Forever.
Prana is the poetic and insightful daughter of hip-hop legend RZA. The youngster’s passion for performance and theater in high school helped to shape and hone her candid songwriting and performance skills, according to the group’s website. Prana knew she wanted to pursue a career in music, thanks to her mother. Tekitha would hold weekly jam sessions at their home in California, which became a hub for spoken word, musical and visual artists to express themselves and share their creativity. Soaking up all of the talent around her, Prana drew inspiration from those vibrant sessions when creating her own musical identity.
The group’s hard work has paid off. In January. O.N.E The Duo landed a spot in CMT’s 2023 Next Women of Country Class, further amplifying their talent to wider audiences.
It was a historic move, given how artists of color have been long misrepresented in the country industry. A SongData study published by Dr. Jada E. Watson in 2021 found that Black and POC artists made up less than 5% of the commercial country music industry between 2000 and 2020. Sadly, Black women and POC artists received 0.01 % of the annual airplay in 2020.
As they continue to carve their name in the country music history books, Prana and Tekitha are happy to be sharing space with other Black women who are planting their roots in the genre. The dynamic duo showed love to Mickey Guyton and Chapel Hart, two Black women who are also redefining country music.
“It’s fantastic. I get so excited whenever we see Chapel Hart or whenever we run into Mickey Guyton around town or industry events,” RZA’s baby girl gushed. “The first time we met either of them, it was like we had already met them before. Knowing someone is out there going through the same experiences as you and to be amongst the first to do something is so comforting. It doesn’t make the frontline feel so daunting because at the end of the day, even if country has changed and is changing, we’re still the first Black mother-daughter duo. It’s nice to stand there and look beside you and see other people there. As we know, Black women stick up for each other and for others, and they’re the biggest champions for other people.”
Building community with Black women in country music is vital for Tekitha.
“When we were named CMT’s Next Women of Country earlier this year, they were at the event. It was our first time meeting them in person and all that. When I tell you the love they show, Prana and I just made our night. It was like seeing your cousins or people that you already knew,” the matriarch added.
“I know that it was 10 times harder for Mickey and Chapel Hart. They were the ones that put us in a position to be able to get the reception that we’re getting now. For all the love we’re getting, there are still a percentage of people who are aggravated by the fact that we’re here doing “their ” music. So as Prana said, to look across the room to get that hug and love and vote of confidence from other Black women in the genre does change the game.”
Congrats to O.N.E The Duo! Listen to Blood Harmony in full here.
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