Supply: Courtesy of Tiera Kennedy / Courtesy of Tiera Kennedy
Since childhood, Tiera Kennedy has lived and breathed nation music.
Now, her goals of being a rustic music artist have manifested by her contributions on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and her debut challenge, Rooted. Seeing a lot illustration across the artwork kind is huge for the Montgomery, Alabama, native who garnered a love for singing at an early age due to her mom.
“I’ve all the time had a ardour for music,” Kennedy advised MadameNoire. “I obtained singing from my mother, and I keep in mind all the time singing round the home and in class, and my dad and mom inspired that inside me. My dad and mom had been like, ‘We don’t care what you get into, we’re going to help you all the way in which.’ And so, , I attempted dancing, appearing, all of these issues after I was youthful, however music was all the time one thing I fell again into. Round elementary faculty, I began singing in entrance of individuals aside from my household. The fervour in my coronary heart grew, and I’ve beloved it ever since.”
In 2022, Kennedy’s dream got here true when she signed with Large Machine Music Group. To her shock, after two years of engaged on her debut album, she was dropped from the label. Little did she know, the expertise would catapult her into the chance of a lifetime – collaborating with Beyoncé for the Grammy-winning album, Cowboy Carter, lending her abilities to tracks like “Blackbiird” and “Tyrant.”
“I by no means thought I might have the chance to collaborate with Beyoncé and expertise all of those accomplishments due to her,” mentioned Kennedy. “It’s actually lovely to expertise. It has been a journey to get to the place I’m as we speak. I feel that being a part of the Cowboy Carter challenge has modified my coronary heart as a human and as an artist. Nonetheless, I feel, most significantly, it’s so lovely to see the affect it’s had on the world, and the way not even simply artists, however I really feel like so many people really feel extra assured simply to be ourselves. Cowboy Carter unveiled the historical past behind nation music that we’re part of, and it’s lovely to see that celebrated in our group.”
RELATED CONTENT: Rising Stars Shine: Beyoncé Elevates Black Voices In Nation Music
She added, “Daily I’m attempting to wrap my mind round the truth that I get to be a little bit half on this large cultural motion that’s taking place. There’s a lot happening on the planet, so many people are going by a lot. However, I additionally see this lovely celebration of our tradition and who we’re as a individuals.”
Not solely did this second catapult Kennedy to success, but it surely additionally helped her return to her roots. No stranger to the business’s woes, the “Can’t Assist My Nation” crooner remembers shedding her love for music as a result of she has certainly one of her horror tales about signing to a significant label.
“I’d heard so many tales from different artists of, , signing, after which they utterly change who you might be as an artist and I skilled that,” Kennedy defined. “I misplaced a love for music, which is basically powerful as a result of it’s not simply my job, it’s my remedy, it’s how I specific myself, and to not have the ability to specific myself in the way in which that I wish to and to not be celebrated in that, it was actually powerful.”
Supply: Courtesy of Tiera Kennedy / Courtesy of Tiera Kennedy
“I feel again to that point, and I feel I sort of disassociated a bit, to be trustworthy with you, as a result of it was a scenario that I couldn’t get out of,” she continued. “And after I obtained dropped from the deal, it was a mixture of being glad to be out of that scenario, however I used to be additionally so confused as a result of I felt like that was the place I used to be imagined to be. Like, signing a document deal was the objective as an artist and for that to be taken away, I used to be similar to, ‘Lord, what is occurring?’”
The scenario was a mild reminder that God’s timing trumps all the pieces.
“I feel I needed to undergo that powerful time to take a seat in and rejoice the place I’m now, as a result of I really feel essentially the most glad I’ve ever felt to create music, and I really feel essentially the most myself I’ve ever felt, and I do really feel celebrated in that,” mentioned Kennedy.
After leaving her deal, Kennedy’s debut album took on an entire new title and which means. She notes that regardless of recording tracks beneath a giant imprint, the singer nonetheless didn’t really feel that the songs she created totally mirrored who she was as an individual and an artist.
Songs like “I’d Look Good In That Truck” and “I Ain’t A Cowgirl,” are tracks from Rooted that Kennedy says had been fulfilling and releasing to jot down.
“After I left my deal, it took on this entire new which means of the literal definition of rooted, which is to face agency and to be assured in who I’m” mentioned Kennedy. “And so I went again, and we took some songs from earlier than signing my deal that I had all the time beloved and all the time felt like had been actually me, and we put them on this challenge. It was therapeutic for me, however now, I see so many individuals taking maintain of it and discovering peace on this album. It’s what you dream of as an artist. I wrote it for me, however so many individuals are taking maintain of it. I really feel much more rooted than I did after I put the album out and I feel that’s the wonder in creating something.”
As she appears forward to the longer term, Kennedy goals to proceed dwelling her goal and pursuing her ardour for singing. She makes music that heals herself and those that encounter it.
“I really feel a lot extra impressed to be extra genuine, extra susceptible by my music,” she concluded. “We’ve got plans to place out extra music that shares the place I’m at this season, which is, I’m rooted as heck. I’m very excited to get out on the highway this yr. We’ve got some dates to announce, enjoying the challenge, and attending to rejoice and sing together with all people I like. I’m excited for that this yr.”
RELATED CONTENT: Rihanna Teases New Album No person ‘Expects,’ Guarantees It Will Match Her ‘Evolution’
