Alessia De Gasperis (born 17 March 1990), formerly known as Kai (also stylized as kai), is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

singer-songwriter from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario. Best known for her collaborations, she co-wrote and was featured on Flume's

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated " Never Be like You",

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...

's "Revolution", and "Mind" from by Jack Ü's Grammy award-winning 2015 album.

Early life and education

Alessia De Gasperis-Brigante attended

Bishop Strachan School The Bishop Strachan School (BSS; Strachan pronounced "Strawn") is an Anglican day and boarding school for girls in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school has approximately 900 students, including 80 boarding students, ranging from Junior Kindergar ...

, notable for its various alumni, including actress

Laurie Holden Heather Laurie Holden (born December 17, 1969) is a Canadian-American actress, producer, and human rights activist, known for her roles as Marita Covarrubias in ''The X-Files'' (1996–2002), Adele Stanton in ''The Majestic (film), The Majestic' ...

. She is the granddaughter of deceased Italian-Canadian billionaire

Alfredo De Gasperis Alfredo "Fred" De Gasperis (; January 28, 1934 – March 27, 2013) was an Italian-Canadian billionaire developer, and contractor. He was the founder of Condrain, a sewer and watermain contractor based in Concord, Ontario, Canada, and Metrus De ...

. Kai derives her name from the Japanese word ''kai'', which means 'change'. She claims to be something new in music and she only wants "to relate ndshare her stories with her fans and anyone who will lend their ear." On 2 April 2021, she said the following on social media: "Kai was part of me I felt safe in sharing. An aspect of me. But I'm ready to be all of me now. Change is good when it's coming from truth. Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Alessia De Gasperis and I look forward to our friendship and journey together and I'm grateful for your love and support always and forever, ADG (Alessia De Gasperis)"

Career

Early career

In 2011, Kai released her debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, ''11:11'', which included her debut single "I Choose Me", which is frequently used in campaigns for First Choice Haircutters. The EP received minimal promotion and did not chart. In 2012, Kai collaborated with

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

group

Adventure Club Adventure Club is a Canadian electronic dance music duo composed of Christian Srigley and Leighton James, based out of Montreal, Quebec. The duo began as a hardcore pop-punk band before venturing into electronic dance music in 2011. They ar ...

on the track "Need Your Heart", which features Kai's vocals and writing. The song has been remixed by several artists, including Minnesota, Crywolf, and Candyland. The track peaked at number 2 on the iTunes Electronic music chart.

Breakthrough

Kai collaborated with

on his EP ''Revolution'', co-writing and appearing on the title track "Revolution". She lent her vocals to the track "

Crawl Crawl, The Crawl, or crawling may refer to: Biology * Crawling (human), any of several types of human quadrupedal gait * Limbless locomotion, the movement of limbless animals over the ground * Undulatory locomotion, a type of motion characteriz ...

" by

Childish Gambino Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glove ...

for his second studio album, ''

Because the Internet ''Because the Internet'' is the second studio album by American recording artist Donald Glover, under the stage name Childish Gambino. It was released on December 10, 2013, by Glassnote Records. The recording process began in 2012 and ended in O ...

''. In 2014, Kai wrote "Sweet Talker", which was produced by Diplo, the title track from Jessie J's third studio album of the same name which was released in October 2014. She stated that she wrote the song with

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

in mind. She wrote and was featured on the track "Mind" on the 2015 debut album of

Jack Ü Jack Ü was an American DJ duo consisting of electronic music producers Skrillex and Diplo, formed in 2013. They released their first official single, "Take Ü There", featuring vocals from Kiesza, on September 17, 2014. On February 3, 2015, the ...

, a collaborative project of

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ and music producer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead si ...

and Diplo. In 2016, Kai wrote and was featured on the track " Never Be Like You" by Australian electronic musician

Flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to t ...

. It reached number one in Australia and the top 20 in the United States, as well as becoming an international hit and her first song to top the iTunes Electronic music chart.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

As featured artist

Other featured in * 2013: "Revolution" (Diplo feat. Faustix, ImanoS & Kai) * 2015: "Mind" (Jack Ü feat. Kai), RIAA: Gold * 2015: "Let Me Love You Right" (Hunter Siegel feat. Kai)

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kai 1990 births APRA Award winners ARIA Award winners Living people Canadian women pop singers Musicians from Toronto 21st-century Canadian women singers Canadian people of Italian descent