Meet Ania Nelson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ania Nelson.

Ania, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started pursuing music professionally a little over a year ago. But, for my entire life I have been surrounded by music. My grandfather was a musician as well as my father, and my mom always always always played music around the house. When I was younger, I would spend hours in front of the mirror mimicking music videos and using hairbrushes as microphones. Then when I got to grade school, I’d always find myself linking up with other creatives making videos or doing covers or singing whatever way we could. Eventually, I realized this was more than just a hobby and more so a passion and I decided to take it more seriously. Despite being my own biggest critic I’ve been able to just kind of drown out the doubtfulness by staying on my path to greatness. I haven’t by any means reached the kind of success I know I want for myself but I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be at this very moment.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No, not at all. I struggle a lot with doubtfulness. I try to keep myself focused on the bigger picture but man does it seem like mission impossible sometimes. I know I’m not the ~best~ per say but I try to make sure that at least I can be the best me. It’s hard for me sometimes to remember that nobody starts off perfect, everyone has to grow through their own journey. I try not to be so hard on myself because I know there’s only one way to go and that’s up but sometimes I feel extremely uncomfortable and confined. It’s so hard sometimes to get out of my head and not let my own doubt bleed over into what I know God has planned for me. I just take it day by day though and know that eventually I won’t feel so anxious with the process of this all.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
So I go by the name Ania (Uh-Knee-Uh) which is the name I was given at birth it means A Purpose. I make music, I guess the closest genre would be R&B, but I feel like I’m on the road to creating a different genre that combines elements from a multitude of different genres so y’all stay tuned for that lol. I’m super proud of my ability to connect with and understand those who resonate with me on a deeper level. I don’t really do surface shit, I try to make sure I’m asking and understanding those “why’s” cause they are super important. And I also think that’s what sets me apart from others, I’m so intuitive and in tune with people that I understand what it is that people are looking for when they listen to a song. We all want to feel understood and I think with my writing style I do a good job of not only expressing myself but also giving people a space to be like oh damn I felt like this too and couldn’t even really say exactly what it was. When I was younger, I used poetry and writing as a way to speak for myself when I didn’t have the courage to say certain things out loud. So in essence I’m still that kid when it comes to my music and I just let my lyrics speak for me when I feel like I can’t.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I could I would go back in time and get on YouTube lol, I could probably be so much further in my career by now but you live and you learn. I would’ve also started my mornings with affirmations just to reassure myself that I am talented because over the years I’ve kind of lost sight of that. But all in all, I think everything that has happened thus far is preparing me for something so much bigger than me that I think if I were to change anything the butterfly effect might just put me somewhere completely different that I may not have even been prepared for. So I’m grateful for where I am now and thankful for the events that have brought me to this moment.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/aniathirteen
• Twitter: twitter.com/califorania

Image Credit:
Nico Cortez, Dewayne

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