Dignity

Comprising Susan Haps, Gracia Gorré and Karima Lemghari, Dignity are a female vocal trio formed in Amsterdam in the late 90s. Alongside peers Roméo, they have done much to energise the Netherlands’ burgeoning contemporary R&B scene. They began their career with a contribution to the No Sweat - Dutch R&B Flava compilation, an enterprise subsidised by the government-backed National Pop Institute in 1996. Their two tracks resulted in a contract with Virgin Records Benelux via A&R manager Flip Van Der Enden ? a self-confessed addictive collector of soul records in general and ‘female groups’ in particular. One of the tracks that featured on No Sweat, ‘Talk To Me’, was issued as the trio’s first single. Released in 1997, it became a minor domestic hit but topped the R&B charts in Germany. The group’s self-titled debut album followed in 1998, with most of the material written by the trio themselves. In the interim, they lost original fourth member Edsilia Rombley, who launched a successful solo career and represented the Netherlands in 1998’s Eurovision Song Contest. Dignity, meanwhile, extended their popularity by providing the half time entertainment at the Ajax versus Olympiakos European Champions League match in November 1998 ? Ajax’s winning goal was scored by Gorré’s cousin, Dean.