Los Angeles-born singer, songwriter, and actress Kiana Ledé has just dropped her latest album, Grudges, and it’s as cathartic for listeners as it was for Ledé herself.
The Beauty Behind Grudges
At only 26 years old, Kiana Ledé is no stranger to the curveballs that life throws at you. Her 18-track album is testament to this. Grudges depicts the stages of emotions that Ledé has navigated, from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. Aptly named after the grudges she’s been dealing with lately, Ledé takes fans through the landscape of her mind with her album. Starting off with “Bitter Bitch (Interlude),” Ledé throws us right in and owns her flaws. She sets the scene for the raw and vulnerable album right off the bat. And perhaps that transparency is what makes this record shine so bright.
Ledé’s writing process is largely dependent on her emotions and mental health. From her debut album, Selfless, to the latest Grudges, Ledé has been attempting to grasp her identity as an artist and as a woman. And she takes us all along for the ride, translating these experiences to beautiful records. Sometimes, this means confronting the skeletons that have been so deeply hidden in your closet. ‘Deserve’ is one example of this.
“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.”
-Kiana Ledé says during an interview with Vibe
Grudges hosts a plethora of strong components that make it such a standout record for Kiana. Most notably, she enlists talented artists to feature on multiple tracks. The first being “Gone,” where she collaborates with Bryson Tiller. She goes on to sing with Ella Mai in “Jealous.” Lastly, “Where You Go” gradually closes out the album with the help of Khalid.
Artist Profile: Kiana Ledé
As if being a talented singer and songwriter isn’t enough, Kiana may also be familiar to fans of the MTV’s Scream. Ledé played Zoe Vaughn in the show’s second season back in 2016. Two years later, she starred in a Netflix series called All About The Washingtons. The show has since been cancelled after its first season, halting Ledé’s acting career as of late. Instead, she has been focusing on her music. And we can’t say we’re complaining!
Kiana Ledé is a rising R&B pop artist that should definitely be on your radar. And if she isn’t already, consider this your sign. Check out Kiana’s latest album “Grudges” down below! Let us know what you think in the comments.
