Dawn Robinson of En Vogue Reveals She’s Been Living in Her Car for Years

En Vogue’s Dawn Robinson has revealed she’s been living in her car for the past three years.

The Grammy-nominated R&B singer, 58, revealed in a candid video posted to her YouTube channel on March 11 that she has been living in her car on and off since 2020.

“This is not like, ‘Oh my God, poor Dawn. She’s living in her car. It’s terrible. Oh, woe is me,’” Robinson said in the nearly 19-minute video. “I’m learning about who I am. I’m learning myself as a person, as a woman.”

The “Free Your Mind” hitmaker explained that she initially took to living in her car after a stint of cohabitating with her parents in 2020 took a turn for the worse. “That was wonderful until it wasn’t. I love my mom, but she became very angry,” she explained. “A lot of her anger, she was taking out on me. I was her target all the time and I was like, ‘I can’t deal with this.’”

Robinson said that after about a month living in her car, a former manager persuaded her to move to Los Angeles, where he rented her a hotel room for 8 months. In March 2022, however, Robinson tired of the agreement and moved back into her car after the manager allegedly refused to help her find an apartment.

“I felt like he was playing games,” Robinson said. “Sometimes I think people want to trap you and keep you in a situation where you’re vulnerable and depending on them, and I wasn’t the one.”

While the musician initially had some anxiety about living in her car, she’s been loving her “off-grid” way of life, which makes her feel “free” and like she’s “on a camping trip.”

Robinson, who left En Vogue in 2011, continued, “If you would have said to me while I was in En Vogue, ‘You’re going to be living in your car one day,’ I’d be like, ‘Huh? No, I’m always going to have an apartment. I can’t live in my car. How can I do that?’ We say that we can’t do certain things before we even know we’re capable.”

Even though her lifestyle can be difficult, Robinson says she wouldn’t “trade my experiences and what I’ve gone through for the world.” The “My Lovin’” artist added, “It is not something that I would have chosen, but I’m glad that I put myself out here. … I have no shame. When I succeed again — because I will — when I’m on top again … getting to that point is only up to me. So, from my car into that life is going to be amazing.”