Nailah Thorbourne (Born 27 November 1983), better known by her stage name Nyla, is a Jamaican singer and songwriter from Kingston,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. Nyla was a member of the R&B and reggae duo

Brick & Lace Brick & Lace are a Jamaican-American dancehall/R&B (or reggae fusion) musical duo consisting of sisters Nyanda and Nailah Thorbourne. According to '' Billboard'', their name reflects the tough and the soft sides of femininity. Brick & Lace ...

whose debut album, ''

Love Is Wicked ''Love Is Wicked'' is the only studio album by Brick & Lace. It had an initial release date of August 21, 2007, then it got moved to December 4, 2007, but then was pushed back further to 2008. It was eventually released in the United Kingdom, UK ...

'', was released by Geffen and KonLive in 2007 and featured the chart topping single "

". She is best known for being featured on

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after t ...

's " Light It Up". Today she writes and performs as a solo artist and is currently recording and releasing music with some of the biggest chart topping artists and producers.

Early life

Nyla Thorbourne was born to a Jamaican father and an African American mother in Kingston, Jamaica. She has 3 sisters, Tasha,

Nyanda Nyanda Janelle Thorbourne, better known by her stage name/mononym Nyanda, is a Jamaican-American recording artist and songwriter from Kingston, Jamaica. Nyanda is a member of the R&B/reggae duo Brick & Lace whose debut album, ''Love Is Wick ...

and Candace Thorbourne. Nyla went to Campion College High School during which time her group

was formed. After graduating high school Nyla studied

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

Miami Dade College Miami Dade College (Miami Dade, MDC or Dade) is a public college in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1959, it has a total of eight campuses and twenty-one outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County. It is the largest college in the Florida College ...

Career

2006–2012: Brick & Lace and Bloodline

Nyla's career in music began as a member of the pop / reggae group

. In 2006 the group signed a record deal with

Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P) ...

Konvict Muzik Konvict Muzik is a record label founded by R&B singer Akon.Melvin Brown: Konvict Business ...

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

and released their debut album, ''

'' in 2007. The album spawned four charting singles... "Never Never", "Get That Clear", "Bad to di Bone" and their biggest hit to date, "

", which was listed for 97 weeks in 7 different charts worldwide. In 2010, Nyla and her sisters formed a songwriting team called: Bloodline. They have written songs for

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl ...

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

Leah Labelle Leah LaBelle Vladowski (September 8, 1986 – January 31, 2018) was an American singer. She rose to prominence in 2004 as a contestant on the third season of ''American Idol'', placing twelfth in the season finals. In 2007, LaBelle b ...

and

Arash Arash the Archer ( fa, آرش کمانگیر ''Āraš-e Kamāngīr'') is a heroic archer-figure of Iranian mythology. According to Iranian folklore, the boundary between Iran and Turan was set by an arrow launched by Arash, after he put his own ...

. In 2012, she co-wrote the gold-certified, chart topping single " Follow the Leader", performed by

Wisin & Yandel Wisin & Yandel is a Puerto Rican reggaeton duo consisting of Wisin and Yandel. They started their career in the late 1990s and have been together since, winning several awards including a Grammy Award in 2009. They became the first and the only ...

featuring

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

. "Follow the Leader" made strides all over the Latin charts and was one of the major releases in the Latin market the year it released.

2014–present: Solo debut

In 2015, Nyla was featured on the song " Light It Up" by

, a track from their album ''

Peace Is the Mission ''Peace Is the Mission'' is the third studio album by American electronic dance music project Major Lazer. It was released on June 1, 2015. The album was preceded by the international hit single "Lean On" featuring DJ Snake and MØ. The single r ...

''. Later, a remix of the song featuring

Fuse ODG Nana Richard Abiona (born 2 December 1988), better known by his stage name Fuse ODG, is a British singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for his singles "Antenna" and " Dangerous Love", and for featuring on Major Lazer's " Light It Up ...

was released as a single, which received highly positive reviews and charted top 10 and reached the #1 spot in many countries throughout Europe. The song also topped many digital formats (i.e.

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...

and Shazam). In 2016 Nyla also featured on the song "Good Vibe" alongside Warner Bros Recording artist Strobe. The record was well received with over 1 million streams to date on Spotify. In 2017 Nyla picked up right where she left off with the release of the

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

"Shape Of You" (Major Lazer Remix) feat. Nyla & Kranium.

Discography

Singles

As lead artist

* 2013: ''Stand up'' * 2014: ''Body Calling'' * 2019: ''Faith'' * 2019: ''We Can Believe In (with Paul Secondi & Monarques)'' * 2020: ''Mad Out (with Mr. Vegas and Topo La Maskara)'' * 2020: ''Fuego (with Topo La Maskara)'' * 2020: ''Bam Bam (with Freezy & Topo La Maskara)'' * 2020: ''Shake It (with Topo La Maskara and Deewunn)'' * 2020: ''Hard & Done (with Jugglerz and Charly Black)'' * 2020: ''One Love (with Maor Levi)''

As featured artist

References

External links

* {{authority control 1983 births Living people Jamaican rappers Jamaican people of English descent Reggae fusion artists Ragga musicians Jamaican reggae singers 21st-century Jamaican women singers Jamaican dancehall musicians Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica American women singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers Jamaican people of American descent