Today we’d like to introduce you to Kia Harper.
Hi Kia, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started singing and writing music at a very young age. I like to say I came out the womb singing! I was in every choir I could be in, church, school, Chicago children’s choir. It wasn’t until 2016 that I started uploading music on digital platforms which would change the game for me. I released my first single, “It is What It Is,” and began shooting visuals and growing my fanbase a song at a time. In 2018, I moved to LA in hopes to take my music to the next level. There, I attended a music program at 1500 Sound Academy where I learned engineering, production and music business. I purchased a home studio set up and began recording myself when I felt inspired. Once we had the lockdown in 2020, I took the extra time inside to upload short videos of songs I wrote and gained a larger fanbase from posting consistent content. At the end of 2021, I posted a song I wrote and recorded at home called “Sucha Vibe,” which went viral within the month of its release and is now my biggest song to date with over 6 million streams across all the music platforms it’s on January 2022, I released my first album entitled “Strangers,” where one of the songs “Lifetime” was Joe Buddens Sleeper’s pick on his podcast. Within one year I’ve grown from 1.7k Spotify listeners monthly to over 66k listeners monthly and those numbers are still growing.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s definitely been hard but a great learning experience. The biggest struggles along the way were trying to fund each drop out of pocket while still surviving in LA, figuring out what made the most sense as an independent artist and getting out of my own way with my releases. As artists, we want everything to be perfect. We want to show up to the world completely ready and polished but I’m learning to not stand in the way of what I have to offer the world just because it’s not perfect. And to be honest, people have received me better with the flaws. I believe the people want to grow with you, so not being perfectly there has worked in my favor. When you put your heart in your art, it has no choice but to resonate with the masses. The heart is what connects us.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I like to think of myself as someone who is all things creative. I’m an artist in all aspects, singer, writer, and painter, all-around creator. Most known for the art I create with music and the art I create with braids. (@kiaharperbraids) I’m most proud of the music though. I love getting messages from strangers about how I was able to put into words exactly what they were going through. It’s something about being heard that makes it all worth it. It’s like, in a world where I often feel misunderstood, SOMEONE somewhere gets me. I think the thing that sets me apart is the ability to say things that most people are embarrassed to talk about. Being shameless in my vulnerability and putting that in every song.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I’ve had some crazy luck! Once I decided to just go for it, put myself out there, use all the resources in my network and not care about the outcome, things started to fall into place. I began using my music as background music in every post I made on my hair instagram page. Because my hair page has a large platform and because I’ve serviced celebrities, I began cross-marketing my music with my hair platform and those clients’ platforms. My music has been shared by Khloe Kardashian, Tamika Harris, and Winnie Harlow just to name a few.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/ITSKIAHARPER
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/itskiaharper?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002455144642
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@KiaHarperTV
Image Credits
Gerson Lopes Keisha Cohill Dimitri Tzoy
