Kiana Ledé

Kiana Ledé Brown (born April 3, 1997) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress and pianist currently based in Los Angeles, California. She starred as Zoe Vaughn on the second season of MTV's horror series Scream. Ledé also starred as Veronica Washington on Netflix's original series All About the Washingtons. Kiana's debut album, Kiki, was released on April 3, 2020, debuting at number 30 on the Billboard 200.

Kiana Ledé
Background information
Birth nameKiana Ledé Brown
Born (1997-04-03) April 3, 1997
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
  • actress
Instruments
Years active2011–present
Labels
Websitekianalede.com

Early life and education

Kiana Ledé Brown was born on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. She is of African, Mexican, Native American and Swedish descent. As an infant, Ledé began to sing the alphabet immediately after learning it and began performing at the age of 3 upon receiving her first karaoke machine. As a child, Ledé began to regularly perform in school plays and beauty pageants while taking voice lessons and piano study.[3]She would regularly get kicked out of class for singing, prompting her mother to enroll her in a performing arts school so she could put her talent to good use.[4] She attended Mountain Pointe High School.[3] She would spend her teenage years refining her craft and would later relocate to Los Angeles to further her music career.

Career

In 2011, Ledé's mother discovered Kidz Bop, a website for kids to upload and share videos of themselves performing. She uploaded a video of Ledé performing an original number on the piano which was selected as a finalist. After performing Adele's "Someone Like You" to earn her a place in the Top 4, Ledé won the 2011 KIDZ Star USA Grand Prize out of 45,000 submissions, the largest national talent competition for kids ages 15 and under.[3]

At a school assembly, Ledé was told that she won the national talent search by American Idol winner Kris Allen. The prize included a RCA Records recording contract and a starring role in the Kidz Bop 21 music video and commercial. Allen said after seeing her live, "she went from 'She's good' to 'She is no doubt gonna win this thing.'"[5]

Ledé said she had the opportunity to listen to and select from her top three song choices. After considering and listening to the songs, she said she chose her first single "Hey Chica" because of the upbeat tempo. The song was released June 19, 2012.[6] Brown has performed the song on The Today Show and at the 86th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. She also performed "Do The Mermaid" from Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2.

In 2012, Ledé was named cover girl for Miss Moxie's Holiday 2012 issue.[7] The site praised "Hey Chica" for promoting a "clear message of self-empowerment and encourages young women to feel beautiful in their own skin."

At the age of 16, Ledé moved to North Hollywood. She worked at a gymnastics center and a jazz club due to her receiving no advance from RCA Records. As artists do, she wanted more creative control of her music, so she showed the label what she was working on. They did not see potential in her work, and dropped her a month later. She was later motivated by Grammy award-winning production duo Rice N' Peas to perform cover songs. The series was dubbed "Soulfood Sessions" and helped her gain a following.[8]

In 2016, Ledé was cast in the series regular role as Zoe Vaughn on the second season of MTV's Scream.[9]In 2018, she also accepted a lead role alongside Joseph Simmons of Run-DMC in the Netflix original series All About The Washingtons. The series was cancelled after only one season.

Following her departure from RCA Records, Ledé signed with Republic Records[1][10] after her rendition of Drake's "Hotline Bling" helped gain their attention. She would later release her debut EP Selfless in July 2018.[10] The EP includes her breakout single "Ex", which became her first entry to the Billboard charts, peaking at number 9 on the US R&B Songs charts and at number 1 in several countries.[11] It has earned platinum status from the RIAA as of June 2020. To promote Selfess, she served as opening act with Ro James on Jessie J's R.O.S.E. Tour.

Ledé's second studio EP, Myself, was released in June 2019, and included the single "Bouncin" featuring rapper Offset, which peaked within the top 30 of Billboard's rhythmic airplay chart. She would also embark on her first headlining tour that same year.

Stand-alone singles "Title" and "Easy Breezy" would build momentum for her debut album, which Ledé had been working on for some time. Her highly anticipated 17-track debut album, titled Kiki was released on April 3, 2020, which debuted at number 30 on the Billboard 200[10] to positive reviews. The album features guest appearances from R&B stars Ari Lennox, 6LACK and more. The lead single "Mad at Me" interpolates Outkast's 2000 hit song "So Fresh, So Clean".

A tour was planned starting in Europe, but it was eventually postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She is currently scheduled to perform across Europe on May 23.

Ledé would later make a few guest appearances on tracks with Usher, Queen Naija and others. She released the deluxe edition of Kiki on October 23, including seven bonus tracks.

Filmography
Film roles of Kiana Ledé
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Deadlands: The Rising Evacuee / Zombie
2018 Next Gen Greenwood (voice)
TV roles of Kiana Ledé
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Temporary Dreams Herself Evelyn Worku
2015 Guidance Riley Episodes: "The Pictures", "The Secrets"
2015–2016 Betch Various characters / Herself 3 episodes
2016 Scream Zoe Vaughn Main role (season 2); 11 episodes
2018 All About the Washingtons Veronica Washington Main role; 10 episodes

Discography

Studio albums
List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
US
[12]
Kiki[13] 30

Extended plays
List of extended plays, with details
Title Details
Soulfood Sessions
  • Released: December 15, 2015
  • Label: Orange Factory Music
  • Format: Digital download
Christmas by Ledé
  • Released: December 12, 2016
  • Label: Orange Factory Music
  • Format: Digital download
Selfless
  • Released: July 12, 2018
  • Label: Republic
  • Format: Digital download
Myself
  • Released: June 7, 2019
  • Label: The Heavy Group/Republic
  • Format: Digital download

As lead artist
List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
US
Bub.
[14]		 US
R&B
/HH
[15]		 US
R&B
[16]		 NZ
Hot
[17]
"Hey Chica" 2012 — — — — Non-album singles
"Home for Christmas" 2016 — — — —
"I Choose You"
(featuring Pell)		 2017 — — — —
"One of Them Days" — — — —
"Fairplay"
(solo or featuring ASAP Ferg)		 — — — — Selfless
"Ex"[18] 2018 6 44 9 — Selfless and Myself
"Can I" 2019 — — — — Myself
"Bouncin"
(featuring Offset)		 — — — —
"Title"[20] — — — — Non-album singles
"Easy Breezy"[21] — — — —
"Mad at Me" 2020 — — — 18 Kiki
"Forfeit"
(featuring Lucky Daye)		 — — — —
"Chocolate"
(featuring Ari Lennox)		 — — — 28
"Only Fan"
(with Jacquees)		 — — — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
List of singles as featured artist, showing year released and album name
Title Year Album
"Bruised Not Broken"[22]
(Matoma featuring MNEK and Kiana Ledé)		 2019 Non-album single
"Mama"
(Ella Eyre and Banx & Ranx featuring Kiana Ledé)		 Non-album single
"I'm Her"
(Queen Naija featuring Kiana Ledé)		 2020 missunderstood

Promotional singles
List of promotional singles, showing year released and album name
Title Year Album
"Do the Mermaid" 2012 Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2
"Big Spender"
(featuring Prince Charlez)		 2018 Fifty Shades Freed: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Other charted songs
List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
NZ
Hot
[23]
"All to You"
(Russ featuring Kiana Ledé)		 2020 38 Shake the Snow Globe

Other appearances
List of promotional singles, showing year released and album name
Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"Touch Me" 2015 VenessaMichaels Non-album single
"Running to the Sky" 2018 Daveed Diggs Blindspotting: The Collin EP
"Undercover" 2018 Ljay Currie Free (EP)
"Clutch" 2020 Col3trane Non-album single
"In Too Deep" 2020 Jacob Collier Djesse Vol. 3
"This Day" 2020 Usher Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey - Soundtrack
"Stuck in the Middle, Pt. II" 2020 Tai Verdes Non-album single

References
  1. Zellner, Xander (March 20, 2019). "R&B Singers Nicole Bus, The Bonfyre & Kiana Ledé Debut on Emerging Artists Chart". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  2. "Kiana Ledé on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  3. Burnsilver, Glenn (August 9, 2012). "Kiana Brown Wants to Be a "Normal" Star" Phoenix New Times.
  4. "Kiana Ledé Sings Ex And Talks About Her Acting Career And Upbringing With Mina SayWhat". YouTube. November 6, 2018.
  5. Masley, Ed (October 22, 2011). "Phoenix teen Kiana Brown wins 'KIDZ Bop' talent search" The Arizona Republic.
  6. Roemhild, Travis (June 10, 2012). "MP student works hard to make a name in the music industry" Ahwatukee Foothills News.
  7. Miss Moxie (November 22, 2012). "Kiana Brown Announced as Next Miss Moxie Cover Girl Archived December 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine" Miss Moxie.
  8. Zaynab (December 17, 2018). "Kiana Ledé Reveals How She Bounced Back After Being Dropped From Her Label". HotNewHipHop.
  9. Goldberg, Lesley (March 10, 2016). "MTV's 'Scream' Sets New Cast, Season 2 Premiere Date". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  10. Ginsberg, Gab (March 22, 2019). "Emerging Artists Spotlight: Kiana Ledé". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  11. "Emerging Hip-Hop: NLE Choppa, Kiana Lede & Luh Kel Make Noise With Latest Chart Moves". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  12. "Billboard 200: April 18, 2020". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  13. @KianaLede (March 13, 2020). "My debut album #Kiki is coming April 3rd Red heartShout out to all my beautiful friends who shared their gifts and love with me on this album. I can finally let you all SEE who I made magic with! Pre-order it here: KianaLede.lnk.to/Kiki" (Tweet). Retrieved March 14, 2020 – via Twitter.
  14. "Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100: May 4, 2019". Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  15. "Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: May 4, 2019". Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  16. "Billboard R&B Songs Chart – April 27, 2019". Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  17. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. April 13, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  18. Goldman, Tatiana (November 2, 2018). "R&B Siren Kiana Ledé Opens Up About Second Chances, Her Love for Leon Bridges, & Making People Cry [Q&A]". Ones to Watch. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  19. https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=Kiana+Lede#search_section
  20. "Title by Kiana Ledé". Apple Music. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  21. "Easy Breezy – Single by Kiana Ledé". Apple Music. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  22. Ju, Shirley (June 14, 2019). "Matoma enlists MNEK and Kiana Lede for 'Bruised Not Broken'". EDM.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  23. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. February 10, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
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