Kinky gets to know ALIAH!

Thanks so much for talking to us today! For those who don’t already know you. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

Yes! I’m an artist from Chicago. I’m an alternative R&B singer, but I think my sound can range from more chill, soft, and sultry, to upbeat house vibes as well. I’m 23! I'm a cancer lol.

Your content is so on point! I saw that you got really into it mid pandemic. What was the spark? What’s your favorite part about it? Do you schedule out time or does it just come naturally? 

Thank you! Before the pandemic, I would always think of these ideas that I wanted to execute and then complain that I had no one to help me. I didn’t have the money to pay photographers. I went to college for advertising so I somewhat learned how to use Adobe Suite. But about a year ago I ended up buying a new camera and just setting up a tripod to capture my ideas! What really sparked this was losing my internship in the beginning of the pandemic. After college, I knew my family was expecting me to get a job in my field but I just was not getting hired. After losing my internship I was like, I really just need to be as productive as possible and create as much as possible. I like being able to bring my vision to life on my own, but after a year of filming and editing myself, I’m tired and would love to be able to have a team that helps me in the future. Most of my ideas just come to me naturally and then I’ll schedule out time to film it!

The cocktails for the Flux/Flow EP were brilliant! Seems like an extension of your ‘Sounds n Rounds’? Have you always been into mixology? 

Thank you! I was trying to challenge myself to think of a unique, tangible product that could be my merch that’s not clothes and that made sense with what else I’ve showcased online. What was something that could make people feel? And I thought cocktails! I wanted to make people feel the emotion of each song by creating specific drinks that I thought would invoke that emotion. Sadly, I learned that legally I couldn’t sell them and that the process to start a legal alcohol business is long and expensive. So I ended up giving them away for free. I actually haven’t been into mixology before this. I just thought, what could give you more feels than music and alcohol?

What was little Aliah like? Did she always love music? 

I grew up with my father waking me up to beats he was making in the middle of the night. He taught me rhythm as soon as he could. Before I was born, both of my parents were in a band. So I pretty much grew up in a musical family. Music was always being played in the house. I’ve always known I wanted to be a singer. 

You play piano. Do you play any other instruments? And what was your first?

Omg, what made you say that? I don’t play any instruments. I could maybe figure out how to play a melody on piano but that's about it. I have also tried to learn guitar before, but no luck.

Oh whoops! I totally thought I saw you playing piano in one of your IG videos. Apologies! 

If you could go back to a younger you and tell them something, what age would it be and what would you say? 

I would probably tell my 14 year old self to stay who you are. In high school, it's easy to start to worry about how you’re perceived by other people, but do not cower. If you do, it can become routine and you’ll feel stuck inside of yourself. Stay vibrant.

You recently decided to change your  artist name. Can you talk about that process? 

Yeah, it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while. I came up with my first artist name when I was 16 and wanted something new that could be a bit more ambiguous. I was named after the singer Aaliyah, and of course I would love to be able to use my birth name as my artist name but there can’t be another Aaliyah! So I decided to spell it differently, ALIAH. Short, 5 letters. The process was nerve wracking because I didn’t know if my listeners who don’t also follow me on social media would be able to find my music under the new name. I’m still waiting on some platforms to get all of my music transferred under ALIAH, but so far, I am happy with the change!

What was it like releasing music during the pandemic? 

There really wasn’t much of a difference. More people were at home and on their phones, so it made my chances better of people actually seeing that I released new music. I had more time to focus on what promotional content I wanted to create around my release and tried to come up with interesting visuals and content that could capture people’s attention.

High points of 2020? Low points? 

High points, I would say was turning 23, getting to camp outside with my family to celebrate and also releasing my double EP on my birthday! Being so introverted, I really loved being able to stay to myself and not feel pressured to go out. 

Low points, dealing with anxiety attacks from the possibility of getting covid, my family members getting covid due to working in the health field. Also, all of the music fests being cancelled!

Favorite thing to do besides make music and content? 

I’m sitting here trying to figure out what I do for fun outside of making music and content. I’m always trying to learn new things on youtube, watching videos on DIY projects, sometimes clothing hauls lol. Outside of that, I love binge watching shows. I like dying laughing with my family.

What’s in store for the rest of 2021? 

I’ve been working on another project and have a lot of cool promotional and merch ideas for it! I don’t want to jinx myself so I’ll save the rest for later.

Keep with ALIAH by following her in Instagram @aliahnow