Photo Credit: Andrew Fennell
Download / Stream Karma HERE
Breakout artist Queen Naija returns with Karma. Moving on from the post break-up revenge fantasies of her first single, Medicine, Queen takes comfort in the concept of karma and examines her own insecurities, emerging with newfound strength in a soulful track that artfully fuses elements of jazz and hip hop. Karma is available for download and streaming HERE.
“Be confident, but not prideful,” says Queen Naija. “We all fall, and if you are too high up, chances are you may never recover from the fall.”
The 22-year-old Detroit native began singing in church at age three and writing her own songs in third grade, but her focus shifted when she and her former husband found fame online with their popular YouTube channel. When their marriage fell apart last year, Queen returned to her lifelong passion and penned a powerfully unapologetic song detailing her side of the story.
Premiering just hours before midnight on New Year’s Eve, Medicine was an instant smash. Within three weeks, it debuted at No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 a remarkable accomplishment for an unsigned artist. Its success took Queen by surprise.
“I wasn’t even thinking about trying to get the song on the radio or anything,” Queen recalls. “I mostly did it because I knew people wanted to know what was going on with me and my ex, and I wanted to tell them myself why I wasn’t with him anymore.”
“With its hip-hop infused beat, silky, lip-glossed vocals and Instagram caption-ready lyrics, the song checked all the boxes for chart success,” observed Billboard. Over a simmering R&B groove, Queen flips the narrative From putting you on [do not] disturb, to FaceTiming a Tinder feed of other dudes, Queen imagines the actions of a bolder, empowered alter ego, a 2018 variation on Beyonce’s If I Were A Boy.
Spotify streams of Medicine have surpassed 13 million, radio spins on Pandora are nearing 20 million and views of the official video now exceed 40 million. Queen has been greeted by throngs of fans, screaming and singing along to Medicine, at in-person appearances.
She says, “To me, Medicine felt like a typical song from my own experience, but it turns out that a lot of other people have had this kind of experience as well. Girls tell me they play it in their car when they’re trying to get over a breakup, or they got done wrong by their man.“
As she gears up for the release of her debut EP, Queen is channeling more of that real-life emotion into each song. “For me, it’s about changing people’s perspectives and letting them know they’re not alone in whatever they’re going through,” she explains. “I want to make music that captures people, that gets into your soul, the kind of songs you need to keep playing over and over.”
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