Naia Kete (born December 22, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter and musician whose music spans numerous influences ranging from pop,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

. Naia was born in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

and currently lives in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

where she built a street following singing at the Third Street Promenade in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

. She currently fronts her pop reggae group SayReal on bass and lead vocals, alongside her brother Imani Elijah on keys and Lee John on drums. In early 2012, she was a contestant on the second season of the NBC television show, ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' as a member of Team Blake making it into the Top 24. Responding to her performance on the show, Naia earned accolades from the press with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s review of her as "an earthy soulstress...

ho has Ho (or the transliterations He or Heo) may refer to: People Language and ethnicity * Ho people, an ethnic group of India ** Ho language, a tribal language in India * Hani people, or Ho people, an ethnic group in China, Laos and Vietnam * Hiri Mo ...

a dynamic sound, and her smile is magic." In March 2012 ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' picked Naia Kete as one of their Top 10 to win The Voice. SayReal's latest independent EP ''Heavy on the Down'' features a latest single written by Naia "All My Sisters" both streaming everywhere and on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. In April 2012 Naia Kete attended the premier and walked the red carpet at the premiere of the film '' Marley''.

References

African-American women singer-songwriters American women pop singers People from Northampton, Massachusetts Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts The Voice (franchise) contestants 1989 births Living people 21st-century African-American women singers {{US-music-bio-stub