About
KAINA’s music can feel like a bridge to others or a reflection of yourself. With lyrics that balance comforting warmth and sharp interrogation of her thoughts and the world around her, the 25-year-old singer-songwriter knows exactly how and when to pluck at listeners’ heartstrings. Born and raised in Chicago to Venezuelan and Guatemalan parents, KAINA always carries her lineage with her, often singing about healing generational trauma and expressing what it means to grow up as a first generation kid. The raw authenticity and care for community instilled in her are inseparable from KAINA’s approach to music and life as a whole. Her commitment to these ideals cemented her place in the vibrant fabric of Chicago’s musical impact on a global scale with her collaborations with artists like Saba and The O’My’s or shared bills with NNAMDÏ and Jamila Woods.
“I describe myself more in feelings than genre,” she confesses, listing softness, honesty, and sincerity as the main sources driving her creativity. Equally inspired by the intricate band arrangements of salsa and Motown, the calculated songwriting of 2000s pop, and the exploratory R&B/hip hop of Chicago's rich music scene, KAINA sees music as an opportunity to express her creativity without boundaries. Her upcoming album, It Was a Home, with its profound commitment to openness, inspires an emotional high of certainty by directing the lens inward. KAINA flourishes as a skilled producer and writer while she experiments with dreamy soul and lush sonic universes that push past the discomfort that comes with such intense vulnerability. The album also features striking collaborations with devoted supporters of KAINA such as Sleater-Kinney, Helado Negro and co-executive producer Sen Morimoto.
