Vocalist and songwriter, Kelela, was born on June 4, 1983, in Washington D.C, and grew up in Maryland. Her parents are both from Ethiopia and flew to America to start a new life. Kelela had no clue she would become a singer and paid no interest in singing until she began studying jazz. Growing up, Kelela’s favorite artist was (and still is) Janet Jackson as she draws inspiration from Janet’s soulful r&b sound to her music today. Kelela is best known for combining a euphoric taste of electronic beats and r&b-soul into her projects. The artist’s purpose is for Black women to feel safe and beautiful whilst listening to her sensational music.
Kelela moved to Los Angeles in 2010 where she recorded her first track “EFX” with producer duo, Teenage Fantasy. After making multiple music connections and being featured on different projects, with the release of “EFX”, she released her 2013 mixtape “Cut 4 Me” with Fade to Mind’s label. She soon later released a remix version of “Cut 4 Me” that drew fans crazy as Kelela was producing more and more musical content. Her first work for the U.K label was the infamous EP, “Hallucinogen”. The idea was to focus on the beginning, middle, and end of a relationship in reverse order. Her music emotionally connects to people who have dealt with the grievances of love and the process of letting a loved one go. The passion in her voice is able to bring listeners to tears because of the mass emotion put into not only the lyrics, but the project in its entirity. Going into 2017, Kelela was featured in Solange’s album, “A Seat at the Table”, which brought new attention to the soulful artist. Her latest album, “Take Me Apart”, released in 2017 on Warp Records, is arguably Kelela’s most vulnerable piece. Soon after the release, she gave her audience a remix version of “Take Me Apart” that fans received with absolute glee. The album carries the weight of a emotional break up she had dealt with someone in her life. During one of her interview’s while speaking on this project, she began to cry when explaining the meaning behind each song.
Kelela is one of the rare artists we see today that puts her whole heart into her music and is fearless about sharing her vulnerability to the world. She strays from the stigma (especially in the black community) that sensitivity is “weak”, and teaches her audience that being vulnerable and communicative in your relationships should merely be the simple foundation between two individuals.