Dreamer Isioma (born 2000/2001) is an American singer-songwriter and multiple-genre artist from Chicago. After Isioma's breakout song "Sensitive" went

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

in 2020, they released a debut album titled ''Goodnight Dreamer'' in 2022. Their sophomore album ''Princess Forever'' was released in 2023 by

AWAL AWAL (an initialism of Artists Without a Label) is a British music distribution company owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The company serves as an alternative to the traditional music label deal, offering deal structures to artists and independ ...

Early life

Dreamer Isioma grew up in a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

household. They are from a Nigerian-American family. Their family moved often, and they spent their childhood in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, London, and Chicago. In Chicago they began learning

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

at age three, and later studied

classical piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and violin. They attended a Catholic school, where they experimented with

gender expression Gender expression, or gender presentation, is a person's behavior, mannerisms, interests, and appearance that are associated with gender, specifically with the categories of femininity or masculinity. This also includes gender roles. These cat ...

within the confines of the

school uniform A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution.They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries. An example of a uniform would be requiring button-down shir ...

. At 12 years old, they

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

, and later as

nonbinary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

after a

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

experience in their late teenage years. Their eclectic fashion which mixes traditionally masculine and feminine components was profiled in ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

''. In high school, Isioma attempted to switch from playing music to being an athlete, which was more socially acceptable. However, this change was prevented because they broke their wrist. When they were 16 years old, they began making music, with influences including

Chief Keef Keith Farrelle Cozart (born August 15, 1995), better known by his stage name Chief Keef, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. His music first became popular during his teen years in the early 2010s among high school s ...

and

Paramore Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...

. Producing music became a serious passion while Isioma was still in high school; they routinely spent hours working on songs each day. After high school, Isioma began attending college in Chicago; they initially planned to study marketing but switched to

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

to avoid required math classes. In November 2021, they underwent a masculinizing chest surgery and expressed

gender dysphoria Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder (GID) was used until ...

on social media.

Career

Dreamer Isioma began making music professionally in 2018. In 2020, their song "Sensitive" went

, becoming their breakout hit. The song, which mixes R&B, hip hop, and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

influences, was later described in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' as "a sonically playful wonder". It was featured in the final season of ''Insecure''. As a result of the success of "Sensitive", Isioma was able to access additional resources to create an album, working with a

distributor A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plugs ...

and creative team and having a

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...

for the first time. Work began on the album in March 2020. They released two

EPs EPS, EPs or Eps may refer to: Commerce and finance * Earnings per share * Electronic Payment Services, in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, China * Express Payment System, in the Philippines Education * Edmonton Public Schools, in Edmonton, Al ...

in 2020, titled ''Sensitive'' and ''The Leo Sun Rises''. In 2021, Isioma made their debut

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...

, which included appearances at

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 ...

and

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show t ...

. Isioma released their debut album ''Goodnight Dreamer'' on February 23, 2022, after the release of a

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

and accompanying music video titled "Bad Ting". The album was distributed by

. ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' described the album as a blend of various influences including

Afrobeats Afrobeats (not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing), or Afro-pop or Afro-fusion (or Afropop or Afrofusion), is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, Ghana, and ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

, and modern

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 ...

and pop music, and praised it as feeling "genuinely fresh, newly discovered". ''

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

'' stated that the album is made up of "various soundscapes and themes of being one’s authentic self".

WRBB WRBB (104.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a variety format, run by the students of Northeastern University. Licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it serves the Greater Boston area. The station is owned by Northeastern and trans ...

gave the album four stars out of five, praising it as "an intriguingly beautiful commentary on love and sexuality" with "fresh androgynous musical style". Asked in February 2022 by ''PAPER'' how they would describe their profession because of their output of visual music videos in addition to music, Isioma self-described as a "creative director" rather than specifically a "performer, songwriter or vocalist". They noted that while all their music is created in collaboration with friends, they "take a lot of pride in being the mastermind". In April 2023, Isioma released a second album titled ''Princess Forever''. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' included the album, which was distributed by

, in a weekly list of new albums to listen to.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isioma, Dreamer Year of birth missing (living people) American musicians of Nigerian descent American singer-songwriters Non-binary singers Non-binary songwriters Musicians from Chicago Living people American non-binary musicians American LGBT singers American LGBT songwriters Nigerian non-binary people Nigerian LGBT singers Nigerian LGBT songwriters

Early life

Career

See also

Notes

References