Who is Kiana Ledé?: The Story Behind the “Jealous” Singer

From Kidz Bop idol to R&B and pop singer, Kiana Ledé has fully planted herself within the music industry. The release of her latest single “Jealous” featuring Ella Mai adds to her growing achievements. 

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How did Ledé get to where she is today?

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Kiana Ledé’s music career began with Kidz Bop. In 2011, her mother submitted a video of Ledé performing to the Kidz Bop website. Despite 45,000 competing submissions, Ledé came out on top and won the KIDZ Star USA Grand Prize (aka the largest national talent competition for kids ages 15 and under). 

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From there, her career only grew. 

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Ledé’s first recording contract came from being selected in a national talent search by Kris Allen. Along with her RCA Records contract, Ledé earned a starring role in the Kidz Bop 21 music video and commercial.

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In 2012, Ledé released her first single “Hey Chica”. Later she performed the same song on The Today Show and at the 86th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. 

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Age 16 was when she hit a snag in her career.

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Ledé wanted more creative control over her music; however, her recording label was not receptive to the idea. Not long after she brought up her concerns, she was dropped by them. 

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That didn’t stop her, of course. 

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Inspired by the musical duo Rice N’ Peas, Ledé dove headfirst into performing cover songs. Soon, her “Soulfood Sessions” attracted a sizable fanbase. Not only that, but her rendition of Drake’s “Hotline Bling” helped her get attention from her current record label, Republic Records. 

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By 2018, Kiana Ledé had released her debut EP Selfless. With it came her breakout single “Ex,” which was her first song to hit the Billboard Charts (#9 in US R&B Songs and #1 in several other countries). She further promoted her EP by opening on two different tours: first for Ro James on Jessie J’s R.O.S.E. Tour and later for Ella Mai’s The Debut Tour.

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Ledé’s second EP, Myself, was released a year later. Her song “Bouncin” featuring rapper Offset peaked within Billboard’s Top 30 Rhythmic Airplay chart. Unlike last time, Ledé didn’t open for any artists. Instead, she took to the road and went on her first headlining tour. 

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Outside of her EPs, her standalone singles “Title” and “Easy Breezy” were a hit with fans. 

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All of these amazing songs led her to the awaited release of her debut album Kiki in 2020. This 17-track album debuted at number 30 on the Billboard 200.

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Since then, Kiana Ledé has released various singles but no album yet. However, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing in the works. 

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In fact, Ledé is set to release her currently untitled sophomore album later this year in June. 

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Two and a half years of work is finally coming to fruition. 

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In the meantime, we have “Jealous” to tide us over. Ledé praises Chelsea Lena for writing the song for her, along with co-writing her other hit “Ex.”

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Despite not writing “Jealous,” Ledé is no less in love with it:

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“I didn’t even care if I wrote it or not. I just heard it, and I was like, ‘I feel this. You know I feel this. Thank you.’ So I added that to my life, to my album.” (Source)

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Collaboration with other music professionals is nothing new to Ledé. Just look at her latest song. As well, she’s done collabs in the past with artists like Usher, Ari Lennox, and Gary Clark Jr.

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When asked in an interview what she appreciated most about collaborating, Ledé shared the following: 

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“I love that we, as artists, can take the same message but give our own perspectives and stories. I think that only makes the song better because there’s two different perspectives for people to relate to.”

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Without a doubt, Kiana Ledé is not going away anytime soon and we look forward to whatever she comes up with next.

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If you’d like to learn more about Kiana Ledé’s music, check out her “Jealous” lyric video below!

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