Kia Rose - To Be Famous and not lose yourself trying

Kia Rose is a 21-year-old musician who composes, produces, sings, and plays multiple instruments. Her music is a blend of contemporary pop and R&B with a jazzy guitar flair. Her soft, sweet vocals add a unique flavor to the pop world. Her 2021 debut album, Phases, and her other singles have been streamed over 200,000 times on Spotify. Though a multi-instrumentalist, Kia's strongest suit is probably her skill with the guitar, which impressed the producers of the Tony Award-winning musical "SIX," which will premiere in September 2023 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, Canada.

Starting late last year, Kia started releasing a string of songs all correlated by themes of addiction and fixation. Her newest song is set to close the cycle, and it's titled "I Wanna Be Famous", a song all about chasing glory and recognition, while simultaneously trying to protect your identity from the double-edged sword that fame and popularity truly are.

"I Wanna Be Famous" is pure pop goodness, starting in a floaty, ethereal sound space that opens up to a downright savage percussion that hints at the dangerous situation that we find ourselves in. The entertainment industry is wild and full of voracious predators of all kinds, and the jungle-like beat prepared by Kia communicates all of that edgy excitement to perfection.

“As someone who struggles with gender identity and racial identity, the only part of myself I am sure about is that I am, and always will be a musician. The hard part isn’t the creative side. The real battle is everyone telling you to write songs you don’t want to write, sing in a way that’s not natural, or pose for the camera in something that makes you crawl in your skin. It’s hard not to give in to what everyone else wants because that’s the easy way to find success. I tell myself constantly that it’s not worth it if I stop recognizing myself and end up being sure about nothing.”- Kia Rose.

The song is about a paradox. On the one hand, every artist desires fame and recognition for their talent and their work, but the idea of fame in itself can sequester the mind and make people do things they normally wouldn't for the sake of "making it". On the other hand, the song can also be seen as a celebration of fame, embracing the power it has to make someone feel powerful and validated.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Samuel Aponte is Venezuelan-born raised and based. 

I joined Rival Magazine after a few years of doing PR work for independent musicians of all stripes; understanding their struggles to be heard in a sea of constant  ADHD noise and paywalled access to platforms, I now bring a willingness to always appreciate and encourage the effort and creativity that artists put into their work . Can also find some of my writings on LADYGUNN and We Found New Music.