Alina Baraz (russian: Алина Бараз; born September 24, 1993) is an American singer from

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. In 2015, Baraz and

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

producer

Galimatias Galimatias (born Matias Saabye Køedt) is an electronic music artist from the small town of Fredericia in rural Denmark. He currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Galimatias is most known for his 2015 EP ''Urban Flora'' with American singer-son ...

released a collaborative EP together titled ''Urban Flora'' through

Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...

after discovering each other's work online. The EP was met with positive reception and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

success. Baraz released her first solo EP, ''The Color of You'' in 2018. In April 2020, Baraz released her debut studio album, ''It Was Divine''.

Early life

Alina Baraz was born on September 24, 1993, in

, to

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

parents. She was the first child in her family born in United States. Growing up, her parents raised her on classical music, and on her own, she became interested in '90s music and singers such as

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

and

Corinne Bailey Rae Corinne Jacqueline Bailey Rae (; born 26 February 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single "Put Your Records On". Bailey Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC po ...

. She began singing at a young age in her

gospel choir Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

. At age 19, she decided to move to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to pursue singing as a professional career. She developed a passion for songwriting and wrote her first song titled "Roses Dipped in Gold", released on April 15, 2013, in the "Lounge Masters Vibes" collection series.

Career

2013–2016: ''Urban Flora''

After moving to Los Angeles, Baraz discovered Danish electronic producer

' music online. She wrote lyrics for one of his instrumentals and released it on SoundCloud as a song titled "Drift" in 2013. Galimatias heard the track and decided to create more music with her. The two created an EP titled ''Urban Flora'' by sending each other music through Facebook and did not meet in person until February 2015, when the project was already finished. Alongside "Drift", the songs "Pretty Thoughts", "Make You Feel" and "Fantasy" were released individually preceding ''Urban Flora''. The EP was originally released on SoundCloud but on May 19, 2015, it received a commercial digital release through

. Upon release ''Urban Flora'' was met with positive critical reception and it peaked at number 111 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number 2 on the US ''Billboard'' Top Dance/Electronic Albums Chart. On September 9, 2015, a remix EP for ''Urban Flora'' was released, and later that month Baraz and Galimatias embarked on a brief co-headlining North American concert tour in support of the EP. In August 2016, Baraz signed a record deal with independent label

Mom + Pop Music Mom + Pop Music is a New York City-based independent record label whose current roster includes Courtney Barnett, Madeon, Tom Morello, Porter Robinson, Tycho, Tash Sultana, Sunflower Bean, Beach Bunny, Caamp, Del Water Gap and more. Founder an ...

and released a vinyl edition of ''Urban Flora''.

2016–2020: ''The Color of You'' and ''It Was Divine''

In spring and summer of 2016, Baraz made her first solo live appearances by performing at North American music festivals such as

Lightning in a Bottle Lightning in a Bottle (LIB) is an annual music festival in the Central Valley region of California first held in 2006. It is presented by The Do LaB, which seeks to promote sustainability, social cohesion, and creative expression. The Do LaB ...

Sasquatch! Music Festival Sasquatch! Music Festival was an annual music festival held at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, United States. It took place on Memorial Day weekend, running for three to four days. In 2018, it was announced that the festival was ...

Electric Forest Festival Electric Forest is a multi-genre music festival produced by Madison House Presents and Insomniac Events with a focus on electronic music and jam band genres. Original named Rothbury Festival in 2008, it is held in Rothbury, Michigan, Rothbu ...

and

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

. Also in summer of 2016, Baraz shared that she was working on her debut solo studio album. Baraz's first solo single, "Electric" featuring R&B singer

Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal", and it also appears as a surname.

, was released on January 20, 2017 through

, the single later appeared on her second EP ''The Color of You'' in 2018. Following the release of the single, Baraz announced her first solo concert tour, entitled the 'Let's Get Lost Tour'. The tour took place from March to April 2017 and visited various cities across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In September and October 2017, Baraz supported British rock band

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

for the final 8 North American shows on their

A Head Full of Dreams Tour The A Head Full of Dreams Tour was the seventh concert tour undertaken by British rock band Coldplay. It was announced on 27 November 2015 in support of their seventh studio album, ''A Head Full of Dreams'', and marked a return to live performi ...

. On September 29, 2017, Baraz released two singles titled "Lavender and Velvet" and "Buzzin" in anticipation of her upcoming debut studio album. "Buzzin" peaked at number 10 on the US ''Billboard'' Dance/Electronic Digital Songs Chart and the music video for the song, Baraz's first music video, was released exclusively through

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

on December 22, 2017. It was announced that Baraz will be part of the

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

2018 lineup. On April 6, 2018, Baraz released her first solo EP ''The Color of You'' and released a music video for the track "I Don't Even Know Why Though". In September 2019 Baraz released the single, "To Me". In January 2020, Baraz released the standalone single "Trust", which was followed by the singles "Morocco" and "More Than Enough" in February and March respectively. In March 2020, Baraz announced the release her debut studio album, ''It Was Divine'', which was released on April 24, 2020. The album was supported by the singles; "To Me", "Morocco" featuring

6lack Ricardo Archibald Valentine Jr. (born June 24, 1992), known professionally as 6lack (stylized as 6LACK, pronounced "black"), is an American singer and rapper. He initially gained notable recognition following the release of his single, "Prblms" ...

, "More Than Enough" and "Off The Grid" featuring

Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal", and it also appears as a surname.

. ''It Was Divine'' also features guest appearances from

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

and

Smino Christopher Smith Jr. (born October 2, 1991), better known by his stage name Smino, is an American rapper and singer. Smino is the founder of the musical collective Zero Fatigue with Bari, Monte Booker, Jay2, and Ravyn Lenae. He is a member of t ...

and charted at #43 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

2021–present: Independent music and touring

On July 23, 2021, Alina Baraz released the single "Alone With You". The song would mark her first release as an independent artist, following her departure from her previous record label, Mom+Pop. Alongside the song's release, Baraz announced a tour of the same name, set to start in late 2021. On September 24, Baraz released the EP ''Sunbeam''. The EP serves as part one of a two part EP series. The second EP, ''Moongate'', was released on October 29, 2021.

Tours

Headlining * Urban Flora Tour (with

) (2015) * Let's Get Lost Tour (2017) * Alina Baraz: The Tour (2018) * Alone With You Tour (2021) Supporting *

–

(2017)

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Guest appearances

Promotional singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baraz, Alina 1993 births 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers American women singer-songwriters American people of Russian descent American people of Ukrainian descent Living people Singer-songwriters from Ohio Musicians from Cleveland Ultra Records artists American contemporary R&B singers Downtempo musicians Electronica musicians Mom + Pop Music artists