FEATURE: Spotlight: Kiana Ledé — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Kiana Ledé

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MAYBE one of the more…

known and popular names I will include in Spotlight this year, I wanted to spend time with Kiana Ledé, as she is an artist I feel will do incredible things next year. Even if she has a big fanbase and is known to a lot of people, I still feel that she has not reached as many ears as she deserves. Some radio stations in the U.K. unaware of the brilliance of Ledé. I am going to bring together some 2023 interviews with the Arizona-born R&B artist. Someone whose latest album, Grudges, came out in June. A superb release that needs to be heard by everyone, it took her work to the next level (her 2020 debut, Kiki, was released during the pandemic, so it did not get the same attention and touring opportunity that it deserved). That is different now. With a wonderful second album out, Kiana Ledé is touring at the moment. By the time this feature is out, she will be near to wrapping things up. There are a few interviews I am going to drop in before I get to a review for the sensational Grudges. I am going to start off with the interview from FAULT. They spoke with Kiana Ledé in June about a hotly-anticipated album:

“As we gear up for the release of Grudges, what’s the biggest takeaway you want listeners to have from this body of work?

I want listeners to feel like it’s ok to feel emotions – to get them out and let them go. I want listeners to know that healing isn’t linear and to give yourself grace. But most of all… that men are trash.

What would you say was the most emotionally challenging song to write on the album?

I would say the most challenging to write was “Deserve.” I had to go back to the time I got raped and process all of the complexities of the situation. I had to choose to forgive myself for some of the choices I made following my rape. Including keeping in contact with the person who did it to seek some sort of closure since I know I wasn’t in a space to seek justice. I realized that putting the blame on myself was more about having control to protect myself. I had to release the grudge I held against myself and really put the blame on him. This song is the closest to revenge I’m gonna get and I am comfortable with that.

PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Nichoalds

What would you say has been the biggest change you’ve observed this album compared to your other bodies of work?

I think this album is just more grown. I have lived more life and processed my experiences from a more mature perspective. (Even though some shit still be toxic – ha.)

When you look back on your creative journey, both as an actor and musician, what’s been the most challenging hurdle you’ve had to overcome?

The most challenging hurdle I’ve had to overcome is not overthinking everything I write. It’s something I’m still working on because I want my stories that are personal to me to also be relatable to other people so they can feel the same healing I feel when I write the song. I always end up finding the right words at the end of it all.

What do you think the biggest misconception people have of you?

I don’t think I’ve given people an opportunity to have misconceptions about me because I am always just 100% me.

PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Nichoalds

With the music and film industry moving so fast, do you ever find yourself caught up in the rush of it all? How do you stay grounded if so?

I stay grounded by keeping genuine people around me. I love my little community I’ve built and we all are loyal as fuck and hold each other accountable.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

I would tell my younger self that the “no” is not a bad word. I got caught up in a lot of shit I could’ve avoided if I had the courage and the confidence to say no. Now it’s my favorite word.

KIKI was such a massive success, do you feel added pressure to meet and exceed that success with Grudges?

I definitely feel pressure to ATLEAST meet the expectations people will have of me with grudges. I have to remind myself everyday that I do this to hopefully aids in the healing of the fans and myself. The industry shit and the money comes second.

What’s your biggest fear as it pertains to your music?

My biggest fear is being too happy to make good music. Some of my best songs come from heartbreak so I get nervous when I’m happy and have to stop myself from self-sabotaging.

What is your FAULT?

My FAULT is being too vulnerable with the wrong people in my personal life. I am learning how to create boundaries with how much I share right off the bat. I love connecting with people but it should not come before protecting myself and my piece.

If you do not know about the wonderful Kiana Ledé, then do spend some time looking up interviews and listening to her music. This is someone who will grow even stronger and more remarkable in 2024. In a brilliant interview with VIBE from June, Ledé explained how her second album was like a form of therapy. It is definitely a very open and cathartic album. One that will move every listener in some form. The songs throughout Grudges are so compelling and immersive. They deserve to be heard by as many people as is possible:

“Ask Ledé and she’d consider the album to be “one big journal prompt.” Grudges was a means to process pent-up anger and bitterness from her private life, including a romance with a “true Gemini man.” Life had been life-ing over the past few years and recording this project was her way through.

“The album was actually going to be called Closure, which is also one of the songs,” she shared. “And it felt like that song wasn’t true to me at that time. It was more wishful thinking and looking into what I want my future to look like.” She realized she needed to give her problems a name in order to confront them—and did.

Grudges navigates through a series of what Ledè describes as “introspective reflective conversations.” With tracks aptly titled “Bitter B**ch (Introlude),” “Damage,” “Deserve,” and “Magic,” the Phoenix-bred songbird is rising from the ashes and into the light.

We caught up with Ledé to talk about her grudges, rebuilding herself from rock bottom, and the beauty in choosing her own ending.

VIBE: Grudges is a really solid sophomore album. Why this title?

Kiana Ledé: Grudges actually has multiple meanings in this album. Obviously there’s the [literal one]. I’m a bitter b**ch [who] definitely [has] grudges. I hold them very well. I’m working on it. I’m in therapy.

First step.

So grudges towards relationships, also grudges just in my life. It’s something that I feel like we all constantly have to work on, whether it’s relationships or within ourselves, within the world. But the album was actually going to be called Closure, which is also one of the songs. And it felt like that song wasn’t true to me at that time. It was more wishful thinking and looking into what I want my future to look like. I was definitely on my way there, but I didn’t feel complete closure until the album was actually done. I think you have to name what the problems are first before you work through them. This album is basically just me talking about all the grudges, so I can get to that real closure.

With the evolution from Selfless and Myself to Kiki, then Unfinished and Grudges, what was it like learning yourself throughout all of those different musical eras?

I wanted to tell a story with these albums. Selfless was really about my lack of—honestly, self— not knowing who I was and just giving whatever I didn’t have to everybody else, especially in my relationships. And then Myself was very much me doing the pendulum swing all the way to the other side and saying, ‘All I know is myself and I need to make everything about myself, and this is what this is.’ I got diagnosed with bipolar a little later on after that. But at that time, I realized I was in a manic state and I was pendulum swinging, because I am an extreme person. Not only because of my mental health, but also that’s just how I am. So I really wanted that to be true. I really wanted to feel like I was making my life about myself.

I guess me shouting that out to the world was a way to cover up all the things that I was really feeling inside and all the s**t that I was really going through. For Kiki, I needed to find a middle ground in between the two and really take a look at who Kiki is in an honest and authentic way, while also valuing myself. I wanted people to look at me as I was looking at myself and being like, ‘You know what? I don’t f**king know, and that’s okay. We’re just going to start from zero again. Try to get rid of all the fake s**t and go from there.’ The next story I’m telling is just more mature. Gone through a lot more therapy. I can still be my toxic little self, but it’s more about holding myself accountable. I mean, even from the first song, “Bitter B**ch Interlude.” I am calling myself out. Now I have to look at myself and be like, damn.

Do you feel in some ways that you are protecting your vulnerability through what you choose to tell and how you choose to tell it?

I think the easiest way for me to write things is when [I’ve] processed it a little more. One thing that I wrote about in this album, that it took me years to be able to process, was being raped. “Deserve” is about that. The voicemail at the end of the song is a voicemail I had my friend recreate, word for word. That was something that I wouldn’t have been able to talk about before, let alone write it in a song. So there’s definitely some things where I can be vulnerable about and there’s things that are deeper than most. Music is a way for me to be vulnerable, yes, but there’s definitely some things that it takes me a little bit of time”.

I will get a review of Grudges soon. I am going to finish the interviews portion with one from UPROXX. It seems that the title of her album is a way of moving forward. Someone who is a hopeless romantic, Grudges sort of put a full stop there. A new chapter being embarked upon. I am compelled to follow Kiana Ledé and what she delivers next. One of the most fascinating young artists on the scene. Quite big in her native U.S., there is still a large proportion of people in the U.K. and elsewhere maybe not as familiar with her work. Let’s hope that this changes very soon:

“I went through a breakup actually, during COVID I went through two breakups, so I don’t know if I got the world record for modern relationships you can have in quarantine,” Ledé recalls with a laugh. “Was in both of them, and clearly they did not go so great, but it’s okay. It left me with great music.” Though it wasn’t immediately that Ledé knew these songs would become what we now know as Grudges.

“Maybe [after] a year, a year and a half of making the album we were just like, these are grudges,” she says. “It wasn’t just about me having a grudge about my [exes], it really just created this perfect headline of the grudges I hold against the world and everything that it encompasses.”

Kiana Ledé’s growth from her early days helped her reach this point of vulnerable and sheer honesty about herself and others. Even throughout Grudges, there isn’t a point where she is spiteful toward those who contributed to qualms in love. It comes from a level of accountability that exists in these situations, especially ones that the singer herself had a hand in creating.

“I think as I’ve gotten older, no matter how big my role was, in those relationships, and this way, I can acknowledge and accept the part that I played,” she notes. “Too Far” is a perfect example of this as she acknowledges the effects of crossing the friendship barrier to explore the once-forbidden fruit of intimacy.

Though spite and retaliation were absent, a loss of faith in love, people, and trust took its place for some time as she details on the album’s title track. “I went through so much and was put through so much pain by the people that I thought loved me the most,” she remembers. “When that sort of betrayal happens, it’s really hard to think – like if these people were supposed to love me, how will this person that I met on Tuesday that I think is a good person and could be a good friend, how are they not gonna screw me over?” In naming and eventually freeing her grudges, Kiana also found it necessary to do the same to overcome doubts.

“I realized that you can build a good community by just trying,” she says. “I had to accept that with love of any kind, is going to come pain, and we can’t escape loss. That’s just a part of life.” Here, Ledé speaks of having hope, hope that tomorrow will be better, hope that you’ll receive what you prayed would be eventually, and hope that it’ll all be okay. “My friends and my mom are like you just are hopeful,” she says. “I just hope that people are who they say they are. There’s gonna be that one in a million that really is, so there is some hope and love somewhere.”

Despite all that she goes through on Grudges, this hope comes alive to conclude the album with “Magic.” It plays a role similar to that of “No Takebacks” on Kiki, a record that pours out the hopes for a forever romance, and while “Magic” looks to do the same for Grudges, it does so with a new sense of reality.

I label Ledé as a bit of a hopeless romantic, a title she fully accepts and credits for her ability to hold a grudge so well. However, when Grudges comes to a close, we’re left with the feeling that Ledé wants to be more of a hopeful romantic – optimistic about love’s potential while being a bit more practical about its arrival. Look no further than “Where You Go” with Khalid for evidence of this transition Ledé wants to make in the future. Though that record is certainly romantic on the surface, underneath that is the reminder of an unhealthy codependence that Ledé used to have in a previous relationship.

“I do hold a grudge against my younger self that was codependent with people that I was in a relationship with,” she admits. “It feels so good to be able to rely on someone right? But once it gets a little too codependent, like ‘I go where you go,’ it can be a lot.” Simply put, recognizing your faults is the first step in eventually correcting them”.

Grudges is among the finest albums of this year. It got a lot of praise upon its release in the summer. I want to finish this feature off by sourcing one such review. We Plug Good Music did just that in their effusive and deep review of Grudges. A sensational and must-hear release from Kiana Ledé:

“When confined in a creative corner, Kiana creates diamonds. The Grudges album is truly a testament to raw talent. Picking up from where she left off with Selfless EP in 2018, this project strikes into a convivial “Bitter B*tch INTROlude” as presented.

It unloads an unfinished situation with an ex-lover that triggered her offensive side. Although it may seem she is still hung up on the ex, the track is a certifiable closure that sets the record straight about certain things. Like “I really tried to let it go and be bigger / You made a mess and it left me so bitter / You telling everybody lies on Twitter”.

Miss Ledé further clarifies her intent in writing the song: “don’t take it wrong / I can’t have you thinking I’m still in love.” Yes, she’s bitter and still hung up on the wrongs of the ex-partner.

This is her time to be petty and go below the belt. She succeeds in this, with help from breathy singing and lightly composed instrumentals. The pairing adjoins perfectly, making his intro a fitting opening to the album.

Track two titled “Irresponsible” also lead single for this album features reputable producers in the music scene. Kiana joins forces with Cardiak & WU10 – Cardiak who draws an impressive portfolio working with H.E.R, Drake, Kendrick Lamar etc; and WU10 who is Grammy-nominated.

The song narrates a one-sided love for a man who seems to not be ready to settle down. Her mellow register for this track coordinates with her deep thoughts-turned lyrics. She wastes no time admitting jumping blindly into her feelings, “I dove in blind, took a chance on us / Gave my trust (Trust), so in love”. Though she is heartbroken, she manages to call out the recklessness of his ex with perfectly balanced words and vocals.

In “Promise Me” Ledé changes gears to a toxic space, slightly so. Still talking to her ex, only this time pleading repeatedly that even if he finds someone else, “Promise me that you’ll always find me”. So of course, this is a natural back and-forth between a recently broken up couple that can’t fully let go.

And with just two minutes of asking, it’s almost an unintentional genius move. If you really think about it, these moments in real life happen infrequently. Hence the 2-minute filler goodness. I wanted more of this track, It ended too soon.

The album takes us to one of my personal favorites. Bryson Tiller synergizes with Kiana in this follow-up “Gone” track that exhibits the male vs female perspective of a convoluted fallout. And with Tiller offering vocals that don’t overpower the beat assortment, allowed Kiana to meet him in that vocal range.

Their back and forth between Bryson rapping-singing to her clean chanting. The song surprised me a lot, due to how it started, it switched up unexpectedly from the offbase beginning. I have no doubt “Gone” will be a streaming playlist favorite.

Kiana showcases her range on “Jealous”, “Grudges” and “Where You Go.” Duo collabs tend to become repetitive and too recycled, however, Kiana pushed her creativity on these tracks. Her pairing with Ella Mai on “Jealous” made sense sonically and style-wise. They both have similar vocal ranges that blended well.

In “Grudges” featuring Kiki & Friends, the production style almost mimics a ballad mixed with modern beats. I was a tad bit thrown off by the emotion on this one. She managed to take the “Grudges” theme to another level. And at this juncture of the album is when I realize Kiana isn’t on the aggressive delivery she was onto in the first half.

It becomes clearer on “Where You Go” featuring Khalid. Although the song is an unsurprising “Grudges” the album consists of various nuances that stick to the overall theme throughout.banger, you sense her letting go of the grudge she has held onto since track one. Now, she is finally getting closer to her closure.

She sings on the next track, “overcoming all my pain/close to saying I’m okay / A little more and more everyday”. Kiana wraps up the project with an opening to a new chapter. “Magic” is a little window that leaves the listener hanging, yearning for more. As I sit here on my last second, I fail to wrap my mind around it being the closing track.

As a whole, Grudges the album consists of various nuances that stick to the overall theme throughout. She took the listener on a voyage of emotions that led to closure. The project wasn’t rushed, or lazy in overrated instrumentals.

In fact, it is the rawness and the ability to “to call it, name it and work on it” – as she pointed out in her recent interviews that resonated with me while I was unpacking the album. Grudges is a must listen, a self-help artwork and therapy. Get into it”.

You all need to go and spend time with Kiana Ledé. This is an artist putting out music of the highest calibre. Someone, I feel, who will take massive strides next year. With a few dates to go on her current tour, I hope she gets time to unwind and look back on a successful and important year. With Grudges out, it has been a remarkable successful one! Such a strong and essential album, it is going to be exciting seeing where she heads next. If you have not got Kiana Ledé on your music radar, then make sure that this is righted…