Interview with Nia Kay

Beatstars (2m 35s): . 0 (3m 3s): What's going on. It is Adam. Welcome back to bringing it backwards. A podcast where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal stories of how they achieved stardom. On this episode, we chatted with Nia Kay over zoom video. Nia K has been immersed in music since she was in the womb. Her mom was singing all the way up until she gave birth to Nia. Her dad's a rapper. They both have been in the industry for a long time. Nia started playing music at an early age. She started out on violin, I'll split saxophone and piano and sang, and she realized that she could rap like freestyle rap at a very early age as well. She put her first music video out at 10 years old, ended up on the TV show, rap game. 2 (3m 46s): She's on season two and she made it all the way to second place. At 14 years old, prior to rap game and thereafter, she would post little 15 second freestyle clips. So she was essentially doing tick-tock way, way before tick-tock was around. And she started to gain this massive following on Facebook, which then translated over to Instagram. She's got like 8 million people that follow her on all the platforms. So we talk about that and how she has to manage that many people, that many fans keep everybody interested. And we talk all about our new single it's called go best friend. And she's got a very powerful music video that goes with it. She has type one diabetes. 2 (4m 27s): And at the end of the video, it features a clip and an end card of Nia managing her type one diabetes using insulin pen. And just giving you a bunch of information about type one diabetes, powerful music video, go best friend, check that out. And you can check out the interview with Nia K on our Facebook page and YouTube channel at bringing it backwards. We would love it. If you subscribe to our channel like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, tick-tock at bringing back pod. And if you're listening to this on Spotify or apple podcast or Google podcast, it'd be awesome. If you gave us a five star review, follow us there, that would be absolutely amazing 3 (5m 7s): At your support. If you follow and subscribe to our podcasts, wherever you listen to podcasts, 2 (5m 12s): We're bringing it backwards with Nia K, my name's Adam and this podcast about you and your journey and music. And we'll talk all about your new music video for go best friend Co. Cool. I'm doing research on you. I saw that you are originally from 5 (5m 31s): Chicago, 2 (5m 33s): Born and raised in Chicago. What was it like growing up there? 5 (5m 37s): Living in Chicago? I feel like it's definitely built for the strong, the city definitely builds you up. And I feel like we're being in the industry. Chicago is definitely one of the best places to come from because of the way I type with people are and how hard the industry is. Like they say, if you make it out of Chicago, like you, one of the grades to make it out. 2 (5m 59s): Okay. A lot of, a lot of people trying to get out and break out of Chicago when it comes to the music 5 (6m 4s): Industry. 2 (6m 6s): Yeah. Okay. What was it? So I did read also that you have a big music going on in your family, a lot influences there within your household, huh? 5 (6m 19s): Yeah. I'm offline. He was an artist. He was in a group with my uncle and then I had a lot of other artists that are pretty popular around then. They were around me since I was really young. My mom was pregnant with me all the way up into nine months. She was performing. So yeah, I had a lot of music around me, a lot of music influence. 2 (6m 41s): That's so cool. So your dad was a musician and your mom was a musician or as a musician? I she'd say. Yeah. Wow. Okay. And that's what they're doing professionally? 5 (6m 55s): No, it was more just like, well, my mom, she was trying to do a professionally with two of her friends and like they were, they had gas again. What R Kelly and like, they were just loving for sure, for sure. But like, they wanted to do it, but my dad, he was like really a rapper and my uncle really are at first. So yeah. 2 (7m 15s): That's awesome. That is awesome. You re I also saw that you played a bunch of instruments as well. Don't you? 5 (7m 21s): Yeah. As like the violin, the saxophone, the piano. That's pretty much it, but I played the violin the longest. That's what I really being like outside of school and the piano idea outside of school. Also, the saxophone is for me. 2 (7m 36s): Okay. When did you start playing violin? Was that your first instrument? 5 (7m 40s): Yeah, I was like eight. My first music video dropped and I was 10 and I was playing the Wylie and in there. So I had started by him, you know, when I was young, me and my best friend, we get it in school and out of school. And then, yeah. 2 (7m 54s): What's your, to what drew you to violin? Just a fan of how it sounded. 5 (7m 59s): I feel like my mom had put me in so many different things where she was just really letting me figure out what I wanted to do. Like, I'd be at every type of desk, every stop, an active performance, seeing it, everything. So violin was just another one of those things. It wasn't like a thing where I was like, oh, I'm going to be a violin is like this one, say fire. It was something I was doing in school. 2 (8m 20s): . Wow. And then you also did saxophone in school. 5 (8m 24s): Yeah. I'd be a saxophone in the, the, what do you call it? Like a flyer. Like I played it during like the With them, but with the violin, I was in the band too, but I played the violin outside too, because that's the one I took more serious. I, me and my best friend, we, when we sent this, did it, it's like a hobby. We didn't want to be violinist per se. 2 (8m 48s): Sure. Where you guys writing songs in the violin together? 5 (10m 60s): I never wrote a song to the wild. I had never done that. I don't know why I didn't think about that 2 (11m 9s): Would be kind of cool. I mean, 5 (11m 12s): I was just too young and my brain hadn't expanded that fodder. 2 (11m 18s): Sure. You can have over, you should put it in one of your new songs. That'd be rad. When I think of violin, like there's a lot of, you know, you know, very classical music that had violins. And then some of like, there was a couple of pop punk bands that added violin, but there's this EPMD song and it has a violin and it's called I think sympathy 2000 it's so the violin part is so cool. It's like the pres it sets the tone for the whole song. And it just, when I think of a VP, when I think of the violin, yeah, it's got like method, man, and lady luck in the song too. It's like, it's got this rad, like quick violin part. That's like kind of the main beat, right? 2 (11m 59s): The whole song. 5 (12m 1s): It's 2 (12m 2s): So good. You should look it up. That's awesome. So violin into saxophone, piano, and you shoot a music video at 10 years old. So talk to me about that. Like you are like immersed in the industry right away. 5 (12m 16s): Yes. One second. I don't know if that's the plan, the background. I knew my first video at 10 years old, it was my birthday and I had all my family and friends with me. So we started at my birthday party and nobody wants to like a candy store. And then we do like an outside scene and a couple other things, but it was a lot going on in the video for me to be that young. Like I had a real setup and I was working with a very known videographer at the city at that time. And people were pretty shocked that I was up to get a video by him. But my dad of course had a lot of connects from already being in the industry. But I wouldn't say I was scared or anything because this is something that I had asked my parents to do on that I was really eager to do. 5 (13m 2s): So me and my friends who were more excited than anything to be on the cameras, see how he was looking at. 2 (13m 9s): Sure. Did you write in the song that you performed at 10? Is that when you wrote yourself? Yeah. Wow. So how long have you been writing music? That's incredible. Wow. Lyrics. Everything. Oh my gosh. Well, you did go, you were on a television show for rap when you were 14, right? Yeah. I mean that's in itself. Impressive. Not only that you put a song out and you're writing since six, but to put a video at a 10 and then after that video came out, like, what was it, what how'd you get from there to being on, on a television show? 5 (13m 46s): Well, I did the video. I feel like my dad took me more serious and like, it was starting to talk around the neighborhood. Like I was so young. So after that I just started suppose freestyles. My dad was really close with me, Simone, and now she's more on the comedy side. But when, when my dad had introduced me to her, she was the one 16, second freestyle. And he was like, it's this girl who's. I went to the checkout page and look at it and I went to it and I was like, yeah, I can do this. And then I started just looking up all the popular beats, like around my city, people who were local, who I felt like I could get to like 30, 40,000 followers at the time I started off small, I got up locals to repost me where I got my following up to about a hundred K. 5 (14m 33s): And then I started going for bigger artists. It's it had me like, all my followers just spam the comments, like 2000 times tagging the artists and different artists would see it. And when the racket came out, you had to sign up for it. But the first season, no one knew about it in this course. And I was slipping like sick about it. And I was just like, I just keep posting these priests. That's half of my fans, tags, AB things like that. And once they were doing it aside started reposting me. He was like, season it too. And he tagged me and then I was like, okay, I can still have it hit me or nothing. Nobody worried about a season two. Like this is no, I was the first one he ever posted, like just for a season. 5 (15m 12s): So after that, I'm like, okay, I'm just going to keep working hard. So he posted me like two more times. So the third time I was like, okay, it gotta be something because he got everybody's texting me, asking me I'm on the show. And I ain't heard nothing about the show. Like shortly after that, they called and they were like, yeah, we should come out for a week for three months and blah, blah, blah. And literally we didn't, I get a notice to a couple of days before, like what the actual slides activates the location and everything. So everything was like scrambled long and crazy. But I really don't built myself up before the show we're on the show. 5 (15m 52s): I feel like the show was more of a like eye opener, because a lot of the phases we went through, I had already went through with my father. I already had an in train for a lot of things. So it really just opened me up to see him. Like, it's a lot of other artists, I got to go hard more than what you're doing, because it's so many people next to you find them for that same thing. So that's really what, 2 (16m 14s): Wow. Wow. Okay. So w we'll go back to this. This is a great strategy you had back way back then. So you didn't have a big following and you're reaching out to artists that have, you know, 30, 40,000 followers. And just saying like, Hey, check out my stuff. Or like, you're commenting. 5 (16m 32s): I was remiss in their songs. So like in my city, well, you may not know them, but people in my city there were pretty like, no, like not, no, no, but like, no, I was one that song I was having a repost it and I was literally just having, doing everybody because I knew I couldn't get to the Cardi. B's all that yet. So I knew that already. So I was just tagging the people who I was trying to get stones with at that point. So I'm just like, let me just do that beat and see if they mess with it. And it was, everyone loves Their grandma's 15 seconds. Huh? 2 (17m 10s): Oh, wow. So you just take their beat and then do your own freestyle over it. 5 (17m 15s): 15 seconds. Like I literally went back and looked at it. I'm really doing like five lines literally. That's it? It was so short, 2 (17m 24s): But that's what people's attention spans are now doing Tik TOK before it was a thing. It sounds like. 5 (17m 33s): Wow. 2 (17m 34s): Okay. And that just started to gain more and more eyes on you. It sounds like 5 (17m 39s): For sure. Definitely the city, for sure. 2 (17m 43s): Well, as you're falling goes up, imagine then yeah. So then you have people that are in the industry that are kind of like, oh, what's this, what's she doing? Like, what's going on over here. So I feel like it's still similar to that. Now. Obviously you got in very early in OB and you continue to grow your fan base. I mean, your fan base is massive as you know, online and everything else, but it's like, I think that's what people are trying to do now. Like they'll try to gain and record labels are looking for that. Right? They're going to come to you. If you already have a proven product, they're going to be more apt to jump in, throw some money in and support. 5 (18m 19s): Everyone now is just freestyle and trying to make videos and stuff. And I had stepped back, but I've actually been starting back. Like, I've been like three within the last week. Like I've just started back going a bit. It just, it just got me. Cause it was like, none of y'all was the one that's like, I was freestyled for so long from so young. The video's not everywhere. It was actually a guy. He made a compilation of me and it was the first time I went viral, viral and he put it on Facebook and he was like, who is this? I don't know how old I was like 12, 13 or something. He like, who is this 12 year old rapping like this? And he put like, it was only 62nd videos. So it equaled up to a minute. So it's like five videos or something. 5 (18m 60s): And he put it together. He puts the captioning and literally it had over 2 million views. And I hate the enemy and I was like, what the heck? I was like, how did this happen? Like, what's going on? I like, and I was so excited after that. I feel like I just was, everything was just going viral. Like, everything I was supposed to know was, was going by. I would go viral. Like he, that person who posted me really get my, my face known on Facebook. Like my Facebook following is huge. It's it's like everything. 2 (19m 30s): You still post on Facebook. Yeah. Oh yeah. I would. I mean, you have like 6 million followers on there right over 60. That's insane to think about how many people that is. 5 (19m 41s): Yes, I know. It's crazy. Wow. 2 (19m 44s): Wow. Okay. So that started, what was this pre rap game at this time when this person found this videos and kind of made you make the spiral. Okay. So you said 12 or so? Yeah. 5 (19m 56s): Yeah. About 12, 13. It was before the rap game. I just said fuck 13, because I was 14 on the show. So it was a little bit had to be in between 10 or 14 more. 2 (20m 5s): Okay. Okay. Wow. Wow. When did you realize that you can do this just when you told your dad like, Hey, I can, this is something I know I could do. 5 (20m 15s): I started off with singing and I was just like, you know, I w I was doing songs and stuff. My mom used to tell me I could sing. And the one day she told me to listen to myself and I got really offended. And I said like, this is terrible. Like, I sound terrible. Like I have to write. So when I started rap, you know, my dad was more scared because he already knew how the industry was. So it really took me to keep writing, keep making music and keep showing this as what I wanted to do for, you know, him even, and everyone else to believe in me and take me serious. So I felt like, Hey, it snakes. I pretty much knew that I wanted to do something with music, but it's here. When I put that video out, it really like, I'm like, oh my gosh. 5 (20m 57s): Like every 10, I was like, I want to be saying, it's like, I want to be famous so bad. Like, I want to be, I want to be Nikki. Like, I want to be famous. And that's what I was saying back then. Like, but now whenever never say that, cause it was like, I, I, of course I want to be known for my music, but the same. I mean, that, that just comes with it. Like the young, that's what I was saying. I want to be famous. I want to be famous. And I saw, I say, be careful what you wish for. No. 2 (21m 22s): Yeah. I was going to say, well, now you've achieved that. Right. And you achieve that a very young age. I mean, having that virus. 5 (21m 35s): Yeah. 2 (21m 35s): Wow. Well, tell me about your time on the show. Do you, did you, you ended up winning it, right? 5 (23m 40s): No. 2 (23m 43s): Okay. Close enough. Right. 5 (23m 47s): I was totally like read like everyone, everyone said that about my season. Like my senior had a lot of twists to like, no one knows about it. It was plain and simple that we all knew. Like I season was definitely, it was, it was messed up. 2 (24m 6s): Okay. Okay. But to still make it the number two, what was that like? Was it a lot of pressure on you or were you just so used to doing, you know, what you were doing? 5 (24m 16s): That's a lot of pressure because we had really small turnaround times and I was the only one on the shelf to never mess up to never recite a verse. I mean, it's never re recite the same words. And cause every episode we met a new artist that we got to rap for and then we had to do performances. So we will only have Y sometimes 24 hours sometimes, you know, a little bit less for a little bit more. But for it to be that young, everyone was around my age. So we were all super young. So a lot of people, some of the people on the show, they had already had experience like me, but some didn't and it was still hard for them because It was hard for certain people more than me, because I was out, I was always doing freestyle. 5 (25m 4s): So my memorization skills were on point pretty much where everybody used to come to my idea, like how she reminds me, can you tell us what she knew? They would ask me and stuff. And I would explain to them how I do it, but it just, it just has to be in UI. So my experience was overall good, but I felt in a lot of situations, I weren't all the way portrayed correctly. It was definitely an experience. That's what I would say, because when I left the show, I said, I will never do another reality show. Like 2 (25m 39s): You say, it is reality, a reality, right. So they're going to cut up 5 (25m 44s): And then our race is so crazy. Like put the first mile, the last line. It's like, what the hell? You know, that don't say that on. Right? Like, 2 (25m 54s): So that would screw around with what you did. They wouldn't even just take F you were doing the performance piece. They wouldn't even take that all the way through, shop it around. 5 (26m 3s): So they had us like calling each other and stuff because they were putting words. Like they would ask us a question, but then put the answer with, oh, did this person saw? And he like, yeah, we should talking about something else. And then that person, when they watched the episode is calling you like, so you said this about me while I'm like, what? I wasn't even talking about you in that scenario. Like it just so much. 2 (26m 26s): Oh yeah. Right, right. They, they, and they, I'm sure they ask leading questions. And like, I know they used to do that in the real world. And then TV, they'd be like, oh, did you hear, you know, Neil is saying this about you, what do you think about that? What would you think if she said that about you? And then you'd be, oh, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then they're like snippet. Yeah. Oh man. Yeah. That would be a difficult thing. Especially at that young. I mean, 14 to be kind of used in that way. 5 (26m 58s): Y I want that. He wa he wasn't trying to say anything. And he got like most hatred on the show radio, like everyone on the show or not on the show, everyone off the show hates him from the show because of how he was portrayed. But they wanted to kick my dad off the show because he wouldn't do any drama. And he had to, because he was going to get tooken off the show. Like my dad is type of person. He's a very shy, like nationalized person. So when the, when he has to do those green screen interviews, it was like, his answers weren't juicy or enough because that's how my dad is. Like, he not going to say that much. So they would do a lot of things where they're like, okay, now it's time for you to go on there and tell them, how do y'all feel about the hit list when, when they know that everybody pissed off right now, like they would just do little things because they, like, we need more out of you. 5 (27m 47s): And it's like, it was just so messed up. How more out of you portrayed because of things that they wanted to do, 2 (27m 55s): It's like less is more. And he knew that he's like, why am I going to open my mouth too much? And have, 5 (28m 1s): They could have even kicked him off because of the contact while we was literally twice the act of us, like even other consensus, we all started looking at different things. Like, it's a lot of lines they saying to us, because they, it's not, it's not no way they could do that in the middle of the season like this. But we wasn't thinking about that at the time. Like everybody, wow. Like we really, we really could've stood up right. More for what we did if we would've thought about it. But we were so focused on the next day and the next challenge. And they knew that, 2 (28m 32s): Yeah, of course they did. They know that they hold the power in the sense that you're going to want the, you want to be on there because it's the platform. Right. And so how did that, did that benefit your career? I would imagine it did. Right. Having more eyes on you. 5 (28m 47s): Yeah. I was going to season two. So seasonal wanting to probably have the most exposure for sure. Because, you know, it's the beginning. So it's like the season one they want to see, oh my gosh, it's a new show. And this season two, they like, I'm dying to see season two. And they asked me that, you know, it slowly, slowly goes down and it's not off the people at all, but that's just how the show went as season five. I think they stopped because the views were getting so low. Like the following from season one to season five, you can see a tremendous difference in the kids because of the way that the shelves are set up. Season two is a great season. We had the most celebrities. We have the most things going on because season one is a catcher, but season two, you have to catch them, catch them. 5 (29m 32s): So they're trying to do everything on season two. So season three, they can lay back and they get, their viewers already told me, cause they know they love the show, but season two of the season, they had to do the real work on. So we got a great, a great season out of 2 (29m 47s): That's a great point because the first season, if it doesn't do what they want, then it's like, okay, then this isn't going to get renewed. Right. And then I did something and they're like, oh, okay, well, we got new another season, the network, the season. So it's like, we got to hit hard. We got to get them. Yeah. Get the biggest names. And who was the most intimidating person to work with her? Who are you like looked up to the most? And you're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I get that. 5 (30m 15s): It's crazy because she's the one of the executive producers of the show. But again, my season was the only season she showed up once. And that's another point that it was so important that season. I mean, for her to come on there, you know, that was a really legendary moment. I felt like I wasn't, I wasn't nervous really until like I got up to her because I'm like, this is really playing Latifa. Like we had everybody on our season hire. I feel like that was a moment where I'm like, wow, like this is, 2 (30m 46s): Yeah. She's like next level, right. Not only is she huge in the music industry, but she also has this massive acting career. It's like, she's got a lot going on. So from, from, from the show, what was next? Like now you have eyes on you. Are you like, okay, we got to like, I mean, you're still pretty young, right? 14. So it's like, how do you manage all these new eyes on you? Are you putting out music right away? Like, how do you keep the 5 (31m 14s): Definitely put on music right away? I did a tour at 15 off the show. They showed us like two people from each season. And they did like the M 16 cities tour. So I did that. And that was my first like real production production, slow. We were on living on the buses and then at a hotel, it was a real, real production we had meet and greets every day. Like it was back to back, like no time to rest interviews every morning. And it was with all the cast members. But at 16, I did a sweet 16 tour where I get different artists from different cities who were popping and we all just get on a tour. And it was on the case. Sweet 16 tour. It would be in about 10 cities. So that was really nice and really excited. 5 (31m 56s): Cause I was still really young. I was only 16 and I was still doing the freestyles nonstop, my stop. Then I took about a year break and then now I'm 20, but around, I would say 18. And I started like going back close and, and things like that. And then I ended up, you know, getting signed and I got the D got my deal. And every, since then everything has been on the right track. I've been, I just dropped my new single. You heard of go best friend. So it's a huge campaign going behind that. So I'm just super excited to see what the future holds because I definitely feel like it's my time. Yeah. 2 (32m 34s): Yeah. For sure. I mean, at eight you said you're 20 so 18 is when you started there. You got, is that when you signed your deal? Is that what you said? Or is it more recently? Okay. So are you, did you sign it? You must have signed it like in the midst of COVID. I would imagine. Right? 9 (32m 51s): Hi, I'm Flo from progressive being a baseball fanatic, like me can be stressful. It's not all sports points and touchdowns. So progressive is going to help you take your mind off your team for a moment, instead of thinking about how they miss that gold point score. Think about the name, your price tool from progressive letting you choose coverage options based on your budget, unlike your team that missed the end zone net area. Well, anyway, hope this distraction about Progressive's name, your price tool was helpful. It's short kept me from thinking about all those penalty balls. Yeah. He's boards potential, the insurance company and affiliates, price interpret metal in a device, new law. 5 (33m 21s): Yeah, it was, it was, 2 (33m 23s): Well, how did that work? Like how did that affect you? I mean, you have momentum going. You're like, okay, we're going to do this. And then the world shuts down to that, stop you at all. Or 5 (33m 33s): Right when COVID this was recent. It was right when COVID was just like Indian, like Colton, it was still going, going, but it was just like dying down. Like it wasn't, as 2 (33m 44s): You could go out and see people as okay. 5 (33m 50s): Us when we were in the meeting, like it was just us three. 2 (33m 54s): Did you work, were you able to work over COVID did you just write a bunch of songs? 5 (33m 58s): No, I wasn't able to work and so I a month after and I'd be like blocks out in the studio and stuff and get a lot of work done. Like recently I've been getting a lot done and I haven't even show to everyone yet. 2 (34m 12s): Wow. That's exciting. That is really exciting. And you've done some acting as well. You'll enjoy that. 5 (34m 18s): Yes. I was in a movie every day, but Christmas and then I did an episode empire. 2 (34m 26s): Yes. 5 (34m 27s): And I, I love acting like, first of all, the money from acting is great. I still get checks for empire for like two years ago. The different level of like the, and I have full undoing there. Like, I feel like I love, I just love seeing myself on TV. Like that's really me out when he could do that. 2 (34m 47s): That is cool. And then you've obviously kept up with the social media. Is that hard to manage all the time? I mean, that's gotta be a full-time job for you. 5 (34m 55s): Yeah. Social media is definitely a full-time job because you have to Davey keep your followers intrigued and interested or you lose the following. So I would say social media plays a huge part in artists' lives and a huge time consuming part as well. 2 (35m 12s): Yeah. I mean, do you, I can't, I can't imagine having that many followers and that big a fan base that you have to like appeal to on a daily basis. Do you have to like plan for that? Like, okay. Tomorrow I'm going to post this video. Like how, how do you even map 5 (35m 27s): He like tomorrow or record this? So this day I'm a post that I have a couple of posts ready for this day, this day and this day, like I definitely do have to plan for it and lay it out a certain because it will get, you know, a lot. 2 (35m 41s): Yeah. Well, you've been doing it for so long, right. With the 15, second clips was that I'm sure that was pretty easily, easily translated over to like when you, when you started doing tick-tock. Cause I know you have a tick-tock page, but like 5 (35m 53s): Just started to, into tech talk. I haven't really been lying to Intuit that much. 2 (35m 58s): Okay. Oh really? Well, I'm just curious. Cause you did it early on. I mean, you were pioneering the 15 second video. 5 (36m 6s): Yeah. It's like, I like, I can't even do a 15 second rap. Like I want to give them more Tik. TOK is so small where like the mini videos don't do what they do on Instagram. So I will suddenly have to do 15 second videos for 2 (36m 20s): Yeah. You're I mean, yeah. Your Instagram was, it was very, very well like everything you post. Is that something that you have to, like, I would imagine your notifications are off. Cause the view. Yeah. You turn, you do one thing and it's like, your funnel would probably explode. 5 (36m 35s): Yeah. It's a lot. I never even see who's 2 (36m 40s): Oh yeah. You can't, you can't keep up with that. That's crazy. Oh my goodness. Well, so you have a new song out it's called go best friend or in a new video and there's a big powerful message at the end of the video and kind of throughout, right? Yes. So talk to me about yeah. About the message and everything with the video. 5 (37m 0s): It's just that I really want to give out, go best friend is just empowerment for women, empower each other, grab a friend, have fun and curse the next person on the field, as comfortable as you do crab the best feet. And in the video at the end, it's a poster of me and JDRF. Cause I have collapsed with them. I have type one diabetes and there are diabetes organization who strongly believe in their people and want to see them do good. And that was like an automatic for me because I loved the members there and how much they want to see everyone gets tested and help them. So when I got a collapsed partner with them, I was super excited because now I'm not only tapping into like the music world, I'm tapping into something that I have as well. 5 (37m 44s): And all those people are going to get to hear me web the same thing now. 2 (37m 48s): Sure. I mean talk about another way that your fans can connect with you. Especially, you know, ones that have type one diabetes and it's like, well, she's getting through it and she's, you know, got this big following and she's doing what she loves. I can, I can do that. I could do that. Wow. Wow. That must be hard in itself, like touring and I bet you, I mean, I don't know, is, is that another, that's gotta be another hurdle, right? Like just in general, like having to worry about, you know, blood sugar levels and eating and you're on TV and all this stuff, there's not probably a set schedule to, 5 (38m 25s): So it's kind of easy. Cement is, cause I've had this for so long, but it's definitely more difficult when I'm traveling because I'm on the move. So it's, it's kind of like, ah, I gotta go through this, go do that while I'm doing this. But I feel like I handle it pretty well. Yeah. 2 (38m 42s): That's great. That's great. And did, is Ben on a newer song then go best friend or no? 5 (38m 49s): No. Ben, I had dropped a while ago, but 2 (38m 53s): The newest that's what I thought. Okay. I just wanted to double check my, my, my information here. So go best friends, the newest one. And you've got a bunch of songs. It sounds like, right? 5 (39m 4s): I'm sorry. No 2 (39m 6s): Worries. A bunch more songs coming out. 5 (39m 9s): I have a lot. I'm actually dropping the EAP so I don't have the exact date, but phone's on there. 2 (39m 24s): You're back. Oh, it's okay. It's okay. 5 (39m 28s): I have about seven. Some of them, the EAP. So my AP will be dropping songs with a lot of music. 2 (39m 35s): Very, very cool. Are you teasing any of it on your Instagram at all yet? Or is it just, 5 (39m 40s): I have tracking snippets for sure. To see what people I can have their soul about it. 2 (39m 45s): That's cool. You get that instant feedback, right? I mean you have your own, like a tests platform essentially. It's like a little focus group. 5 (39m 57s): Yeah. 2 (39m 59s): That's really cool. So yeah. EAP coming out. What about live performances? Are you doing anything like that coming up? 5 (40m 6s): I don't have any plan right now. 2 (40m 8s): Okay. Just, just getting the records out and, and doing your thing. Yeah. I love it. I love it. And I appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Nick had been great. Yes, I do have one more quick, quick question. I want to know if you have any advice for aspiring artists. 5 (40m 28s): Yes. I would definitely say it's a focus on you. Don't follow the trend. Don't try to deal with the next person is doing. Don't focus on what the next person is doing. Follow your path. Like at the end of the day, you're going to find your lane will following your heart and your path. God has a different lane for each person. So if you try to rack like the next person that says do it because the next person is doing it, it's not going to work. You got to do it because you want to do it and find your niche and what your lane is. So I would say, just be here strong and don't trust anyone in the music industry because it's a cold day.