Bia (rapper)

Bia was initially discovered by her former manager, rapper Fam-Lay through YouTube[7] and later introduced to Pharrell. In 2014, she signed to the i Am Other music label as part of a collaboration with RCA Records. Bia starred on the first two seasons of the Oxygen reality television show Sisterhood of Hip Hop. Later that year, Bia released a mixtape entitled #CHOLASEASON. Bia has worked with the likes of rapper T.I as well as singers Jennifer Hudson and Usher. In an interview with radio station Hot 97's morning show Ebro in the Morning in September 2015, she revealed that she will not be back for season 3 of Sisterhood of Hip Hop.[4]

Bia was featured on J Balvin's song "Safari", released as a single in May 2016. The track topped the charts in Mexico and Spain[8][9] as well as peaking at #3 on the US Latin Charts.[10]

Bia has performed at A3C, Art Basel, Revolt Music Festival, SXSW and Pusha-T's Darkest Before the Dawn Tour. Bia, alongside Victoria Monét, were the main support acts for the European leg of Ariana Grande's Dangerous Woman Tour. Bia also opened for select dates during the North American leg.[11]

In 2016, Bia released the singles “Whip It” and “Gucci Comin’ Home”. These singles would be followed by “Badside” and “Fungshway” which were both released in 2017. All four singles were intended to be included on Bia’s then upcoming project titled "Trap Vogue". Bia stated that the project would not be her debut album but rather an EP to come before it and would be released in the same year. In an interview with Hypebae, Bia described the project as "high energy with Latin elements mixed in".[12] Bia also revealed that the song "Esta Noche" featuring Ariana Grande, which was performed during Bia's opening set for the Dangerous Woman Tour,[13] would be included on the project. The entire project would eventually be scrapped in favour of new material.[14]

Bia was featured on the track "Miami" from Kali Uchis' debut album Isolation, which was released on April 6, 2018. A remix of "Freak" by Victoria Monét featuring Bia was released on July 10, 2018. A visual was released including a shortened version of the track just containing Bia's verse and a chorus,[15] while the full version of the song appeared on streaming platforms.[16]

On September 21st, 2018, Bia released "Nice Girls Finish Last: Cuidado", an EP which included the single "Hollywood" as well as collaborations with Kali Uchis and Kodak Black.[17]

On August 16th, 2019, Bia relaunched herself with the independent release[18] of the song "One Minute Warning".[19] The stand-alone single was appropriately just over a minute long with a video being released the same day.[20]

"Best on Earth", a collaboration with rapper and singer Russ, was released on October 17th, 2019. The single mentioned pop icon Rihanna in the lyrics, which garnered her attention.[21] Rihanna posted a short video with the song playing in the background on her Instagram page with the caption, "Thank you Bia and Russ for my new fav song "Best on Earth." The post gained over 19,000,000 views.[22] The song eventually peaked at number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming Bia's highest peaking song on the chart and was certified Platinum by the RIAA for selling over one million units in the United States.[23][24]

On March 27th, 2020, Bia released her first single under Epic Records, "Free BIA (1st Day Out)" with the music video being uploaded on the same day. [25][26] A week later, on April 3rd, Bia released the single "Cover Girl" from her upcoming project titled "Rich Tiers"[27]. A "quarantine music video" was released along with the song, consisting of Bia dancing in front of a wall in multiple outfits.[28] The song was serviced to Urban and Rhythmic radios on April 14th.[29][30]

Notes