Dinah Jane finds her voice and her roots

Dinah Jane was first introduced to the world as a teenager on the second season of The X Factor (US), where she joined four others to form Fifth Harmony, one of the biggest girl groups of the 2010s.

With global hits like Work From Home and Worth It, each having over a billion Spotify streams, the group’s rise was fast and massive.

In an interview with Buzzfeed, Jane said she was encouraged by management to “tuck a piece of herself away”. Those parts being her Tongan, Sāmoan, and Fijian heritage.

Born Dinah Jane Milika Ilaisaane Hansen in Santa Ana, California, she is the eldest of eight children and has spoken about the family and financial responsibilities she carried from a young age.

As a 15-year-old contestant with powerhouse vocals, Jane was moulded into what the US music industry saw as "marketable". She was often mistaken for being mixed-race Latina or African American.

Now more than a decade on and as an independent artist, Jane is reclaiming that identity on her own terms.

“I think I was consumed by so much chaos at the time and we didn’t realise how fast our lives were,” she tells Niu FM’s The Morning Shack (TMS).

“We were like 15, 16 years old trying to navigate through this industry. I would say I’m in a place where I’m able to be home. Silence the noise or make my own noise. I’m just really grounded more now into my own voice and what I want.”

Since Fifth Harmony disbanded in 2018, Jane has taken a different path.

After an early run of solo Pop/R&B releases like Bottled Up, she stepped away from music for three years before returning in 2023 with clear shift in direction.

Her recent work leans into Island Pop/Poly-Soul - sounds rooted in the Pacific - such as Falling in Love with JKING.

In August 2024, Jane released her EP Juice County: Volume 1. The title is a nod to Orange County (OC), California, home to a large Tongan and Sāmoan population.

The project itself is described as a “love letter to Pacific women”.

She leaned into island rhythms, skanking guitar patterns, and harmonious melodies for the reggae version of Road Less Traveled. Ocean Song is described as a “personal prayer to my ancestors”.

Written during a trip to Bali, what started out as a love song evolved into an anthem of reclamation. “As it continued to flow, like water, it evolved into something more personal. This one is for the culture,” Jane writes in the music video’s YouTube description.

Last week, Jane was in Aotearoa and she spoke with TMS about a “special project”.

“I’m here for a special project that’s coming out this summer,” Jane says.

“Which is why I’m trying to extend my stay. It’s featuring one of my favourite artists, Stan Walker, and that’s all I can say.”

Jane is part of a growing wave of Pacific artists reconnecting with Aotearoa as a creative and cultural hub.

Artists from across the global diaspora like Maya Piata, Common Kings and J Boog are working with local talent and producers. They are joined by Sammy J, who despite being Aotearoa-born, currently operates out of the US.

Often these artists are working alongside award-winning producers such as P-Money, Noa Records, Edy Liu (Edyonthebeat), and Canaane Ene to help shape a distinct island sound on the world stage.

With over eight billion streams, Jane remains one of the most commercially successful Tongan-American artists in music.

But for her, success now means something different: “Compared from then [with Fifth Harmony] to now, I would say the success was finding myself and staying true to myself.”