Wikipedia

Kaiit

Kaiit (/ˌkɑːˈiːt/ kah-EET) is the performance name of Kaiit Bellamia Waup (born 29 October 1997, Papua New Guinea), who is a neo soul singer-songwriter based in Australia. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, they won the inaugural Best Soul/R&B Release category for the single, "Miss Shiney" (2019).

Kaiit
Kaiit performing at Laneway 2020
Background information
Birth nameKaiit Bellamia Waup
Born (1997-10-29) 29 October 1997 (age 26)
Papua New Guinea
OriginMelbourne, Australia
GenresNeo soul
Occupation(s)Singer

Biography edit

Kaiit was born as Kaiit Bellamia Waup,[1][2] in 1997 in Papua New Guinea (PNG)[3][4] to a Papua New Guinean father and Indigenous Australian mother of Gunditjmara and Torres Strait Islander heritage.[4] The artist grew up in both PNG and Australia.[4] Initially pursuing a career as a make-up artist, Kaiit turned to performing as a singer based in Melbourne.[4][5]

Kaiit's first single, "Natural Woman", was issued in mid-2017.[3] It is co-written by Kaiit with Michael Chan, Jack Hewitt, Michael Cooper and Mohamed Komba.[6] Sonny Thomas of Purple Sneakers praised the song, "Jam-packed with soul and seemingly effortless cool, she shines on her new single and film clip."[7] It is included on their five-track debut extended play, Live from Her Room, which was issued in September 2018.[4][8] Gloria Brancatisano of Beat rated it at 8.5 out-of 10, "Kaiit paints a picture of a woman who understands her worth, appreciating those who come into her life to improve it while carefully removing those who are toxic."[8]

Another single, "OG Luv Kush Pt 2", from the EP had been issued in 2018, which is "an essay of reasons to leave a relationship and in spite of the listed problems, Kaiit shows her strength in character."[8] The track was shared on social media by American singer, Jill Scott.[4] At the APRA Music Awards of 2019 "OG Luv Kush Pt 2" was short-listed for Song of the Year.[9] In that year the singer-songwriter undertook a European tour including a performance at England's The Great Escape Festival.[4] In May 2019 the single, "Miss Shiney", was released.[10] It won the inaugural Best Soul/R&B Release category at the ARIA Music Awards of 2019.[11][12][13]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the artist turned to crowdfunding to maintain their independence from major record labels.[4] In August 2021 they launched a GoFundMe page to "recover [her] independence as an artist" and continue releasing new music.[14] They performed new material in February 2023 at Nocturnal x Midsumma held at Melbourne Museum.[15] In March 2024 the singer supported Zambian-born Sampa the Great at Supreme Court Gardens, Melbourne.[16] Kaiit performed new songs, "2000 n Somethin'" and "Dumb Sis Juice", by "Combining fluid jazz sounds with wavy, celestial vocals, Kaiit delivered a quirky, intimate performance that left listeners feeling giddy and euphoric."[16]

Personal life edit

Kaiit is non-binary,[17] and uses she/her, he/him, and they/them pronouns.[18] Her partner in life is fellow singer Adrian Eagle,[4][19] who was also nominated for Best Soul/R&B Release in 2019 for his single "AOK".[13]


Discography edit

Extended plays edit

List of extended plays released, with selected details about release date and label
Title Details
Live from Her Room
  • Released: 14 September 2018[20]
  • Label: Alt Music Group
  • Formats: digital download, streaming

Singles edit

List of singles as lead artist
Title Year Album
"Natural Woman"[21] 2017 Live from Her Room
"2000 N Somethin"[22] non-album single
"OG Luv Kush p2"[23] 2018 Live from Her Room
"Miss Shiney"[24] 2019 to be confirmed

As featured artist edit

List of singles as featured artist
Title Year Album
"Warning" (with Cookin' on 3 Burners)[25][26] 2018 Lab Experiments Vol. 2

Awards and nominations edit

APRA Awards edit

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters".[27]

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2019 "OG Luv Kush Pt 2" by Kaiit (Kaiit Waup / Michael Chan / Anthony Douglas / Mohamed Komba / Jaydean Miranda / Damian Smith) Song of the Year Shortlisted [9]
2020 "Miss Shiney" by Kaiit (Kaiit Waup / Vincent Goodyer / Nicholas Martin) Song of the Year Shortlisted [28]

ARIA Music Awards edit

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2019 "Miss Shiney" Best Soul/R&B Release Won

Music Victoria Awards edit

The Music Victoria Awards, are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005.[29][30]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2018 herself Best Hip Hop Act Nominated
herself Breakthrough Act Nominated
herself Archie Roach Award for Emerging Talent Won
2019 herself Best Hip Hop Act Nominated

Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition edit

The Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition is an annual competition that "acknowledges great songwriting whilst supporting and raising money for Nordoff-Robbins" and is coordinated by Albert Music and APRA AMCOS. It commenced in 2009.[31]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2019[32] "Miss Shiney" Unpublished prize Won

References edit

  1. ^ Kim, Soey (2 October 2018), "Kaiit Is Australia's 'Homegirl' You Need to Know Right Now", Vogue
  2. ^ "Kaiit on Speaking What She Wants into Existence". YouTube. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b Mantesso, Sean (3 November 2017). "PNG-Born Singer Kaiit Making Waves on Australian Music Scene". ABC Radio Australia. Retrieved 15 April 2024. n.b. Associated audio file is no longer available
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wehner, Cyclone (10 February 2023). "Kaiit: 'We Continue to Keep Pushing, Despite not Getting the Recognition'". MusicFeeds. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  5. ^ Campbell, Amy (16 August 2019), "Soul Music Is Having A Global Renaissance & Kaiit Is Flying Australia's Flag", GQ
  6. ^ "Song Catalogue Search Results for 'Natural Woman'". APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society). Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  7. ^ Thomas, Sonny. "Watch Kaiit's Effortless Cool on 'Natural Woman'". Purple Sneakers. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ a b c Brancatisano, Gloria (21 April 2018). "Kaiit: Live From Her Room". Beat. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ a b "2019 APRA Awards nominees announced". noise11. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  10. ^ Weily, Evie (May 2019), "Neo-Soul Queen Kaiit returns with new single, 'Miss Shiney'", Purple Sneakers
  11. ^ "2019 ARIA Award Winners Announced". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 27 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  12. ^ "ARIA Awards 2019: Tones and I Wins Big & Human Nature Hall of Fame". MediaWeek. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  13. ^ a b Brandle, Lars (10 October 2019), "Tones and I Leads 2019 ARIA Awards Nominations", Billboard
  14. ^ "Kaiit is fundraising to regain her "independence", continue releasing music". NME Australia. 27 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  15. ^ Curran, Libby (9 February 2023). "Nocturnal x Midsumma 2023, Melbourne". concreteplayground.com. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  16. ^ a b Horak, Emma (28 March 2024). "A Review of Sampa the Great: A Spectacle in the Supreme Court Gardens". Pelican. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  17. ^ Subvrtmag (25 January 2022). "Return to Me: An Ode to Gender Non-Conforming Musicians". Subvrt Mag. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Kaiit (@kaiit_isshe) • Instagram photos and videos".
  19. ^ Smith, Matthew (30 November 2019). "From housing trust homes to the ARIAs, Adrian Eagle's career is soaring to new heights". Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  20. ^ "Live from Her Room – EP by Kaiit on Apple Music". Apple Music. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  21. ^ "Father Said – Single by Kaiit". Apple Music. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  22. ^ "2000 N Somethin – Single by Kaiit". Apple Music. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  23. ^ "OG Luv Kush P2 – Single by Kaiit". Apple Music. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  24. ^ "Miss Shiney – Single by Kaiit". Apple Music. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  25. ^ "Warning – Single by Cookin' on 3 Burners & Kaiit". Apple Music. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  26. ^ Cookin' on 3 Burners (2018), Lab experiments. Vol. 2, Origin Music, retrieved 16 April 2024{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ "APRA History". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  28. ^ "APRA Has Revealed The 2020 Song Of The Year Finalists". The Music. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  29. ^ "Previous Nominess". Music Victoria. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  30. ^ "Previous Winners". Music Victoria. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  31. ^ "About the Vanda Young Global Song Writing Competition". APRA AMCOS. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  32. ^ "Past Winners". APRA AMCOS. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
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