Dawn Angeliqué Richard is a New Orleans-born (Aug 5 1983) singer, songwriter, dancer and multimedia artist whose trajectory spans pop stardom and avant-R&B innovation.

She first entered the public eye through MTV’s Making the Band 3, becoming a founding member of the girl-group Danity Kane under Sean “Diddy” Combs. After Danity Kane’s split and a stint in the electropop collective Diddy-Dirty Money, Richard struck out solo in 2011 and soon unveiled a daring trilogy (Goldenheart, Blackheart and Redemption) that re-imagined R&B as epic, cinematic and genre-free.

With subsequent albums such as New Breed, Second Line, Pigments and Quiet in a World Full of Noise, she deepened her sound into art-pop, electronica and Afrofuturist territory—without ever losing sight of her New Orleans roots or her commitment to self-definition. Her work is built on the belief that Black women don’t just inhabit genres—they reshape them.

From major-label beginnings to self-directed independent artistry, Dawn Richard remains a singular voice in modern music: always evolving, always in control.