Kirby Lauryen Dockery, also known by the stage names Kirby (stylized as KIRBY) and Kirby Lauryen, is an American singer-songwriter. She has written pop songs such as "

FourFiveSeconds "FourFiveSeconds" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna, American rapper Kanye West, and English musician Paul McCartney. It was written and produced by McCartney, Kanye West, Mike Dean, Dave Longstreth and Noah Goldstein with additio ...

" performed by Rihanna,

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

, and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

. Kirby is an independent artist and released her first album, ''Sis'', in 2020.

Life and career

Dockery was born October 24 in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, Tennessee and raised in Southaven, Mississippi. She studied music at

Stax Music Academy Stax Music Academy is an after school and summer music school in South Memphis, Tennessee. The program has included instruction from many prominent musicians. Alumni include Kris Thomas, a top ten contender on The Voice and Kirby Lauryen, a Roc Na ...

, and enrolled at Berklee College of Music after high school but left in 2012 to pursue music full-time. She was influenced by

's ''

The College Dropout ''The College Dropout'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on February 10, 2004, by Def Jam Recordings and Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. In the years leading up to release, West had received pr ...

''. She began a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

challenge where she posted videos of herself singing a new original song for 275 days. She was contacted by Joy Brown of

Roc Nation Roc Nation is an entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008. The company is headquartered in Manhattan and has additional offices in Los Angeles and London. Roc Nation comprises a comprehensive talent agency, sports agency, record label, mana ...

on day 302 of the challenge and signed to the label. She has worked with artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Brandy, and

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

. Kirby co-wrote the track "

", which went through several rounds of edits as directed by Kanye West. She also wrote the song "

Die with You "Die with You" is a song by American recording artist Beyoncé. She originally released the song in 2015, for her seventh wedding anniversary, along with a music video of her performing at a piano and wearing a baseball cap. On April 4, 2017, she r ...

" performed by Beyoncé and " Break Your Heart Right Back" by Ariana Grande. She released her first album, ''Sis'', in February 2020. Robyn Mowatt of Okayplayer referred to it as "a mashup of refreshing deep cuts." Two singles from the album were featured on the soundtrack for the fourth season of '' Insecure''. In June 2020, Kirby posted a viral

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 o ...

video about the racist origins of the pancake brand

Aunt Jemima Pearl Milling Company (formerly known as Aunt Jemima from 1889 to 2021) is an American breakfast brand for Baking mix, pancake mix, syrup, and other breakfast food products. The original version of the pancake mix for the brand was developed i ...

, and amid other online critiques taking place, the brand announced that they would retire the racist imagery.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Sis.'' (2020)

Singles

Songwriting credits

indicates a credited vocal/featured artist contribution

References

External links

Official profile
on Roc Nation
Kirby
on Allmusic
Kirby
on Discogs {{DEFAULTSORT:Dockery, Kirby Lauryen Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Mississippi Singer-songwriters from Tennessee African-American women singer-songwriters American soul singers American rhythm and blues singers 21st-century African-American women Songs written by Kirby Lauryen