Queen Naija Bulls (; born October 17, 1995) is an American R&B singer and media personality. Born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, though she was raised majorly in Detroit, Michigan, she started out her career as a vlogger on YouTube and then participated in season 13 of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

''. Her self-released song "Medicine" (2017) reached the top 50 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 2018, and she was signed to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. Queen Naija's self-titled EP was released in 2018 and debuted at number 26 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Three singles from the album were

certified platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the RIAA. In 2020, Queen Naija released her debut album '' Missunderstood'', which debuted and peaked at number 9 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Early life

Queen Naija was born on October 17, 1995, in Ypsilanti, Michigan. She has described her background as a mix of "Arab, Black and Italian", but has also mentioned having Indian ancestry, though she was not sure how much. Her father is from Yemen. Her birth name, Queen Naija, was given to her by her mother. "Queen" was inspired by her grandmother, who had the same first name, and "Naija" represented her father's name.

Career

2014–2017: ''American Idol'' and YouTube

Queen Naija first gained prominence as a contestant on the thirteenth season of ''

''. She had auditioned two years earlier but had failed to advance into the next round. In the thirteenth season, she advanced into the Hollywood round, but was cut when the top 30 were chosen. Afterwards, Queen Naija went back to working as a security guard. She then continued on building her YouTube career.

2017–2019: Musical career beginnings and ''Queen Naija'' EP

Queen Naija released her song "Medicine" in December 2017 and "Karma", her second single, in June 2018. Queen Naija did a video interview for the song "Medicine" with Genius in January 2018. Queen documented on her YouTube channel a few meetings with record labels that she attended with her team/management. By March 2018, Queen's initial song post of "Medicine" had more than 10 million views. An official music video was released later that month. The video acquired 4.5 million views on the day of its release, and has over 150+ million views as of December 2019. In July 2018, Queen Naija created a new collaborative YouTube channel, "Royal Family", alongside her new boyfriend, Clarence White. The channel has 2.79 million subscribers as of March 2021. On April 25, 2018, Queen Naija signed to

. On June 28, she released her second single, "Karma". She wrote and recorded the song in January 2018. On the same day, the song reached number one overall on the

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 mu ...

charts. "Karma" debuted at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Digital Songs sales chart, and at number 63 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The audio for the song has over 116 million views as of March 2021. Queen Naija released her self-titled

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.

on July 27, 2018. It consists of five songs: "Medicine", "Karma", "Mama's Hand", "Butterflies", and "Bad Boy". The project includes production from No I.D., El Jefe, Rob Grimaldi, 30 Hertz Beats, and ClickNPress. Queen described the EP as an emotional journey in which each song describes either an experience or emotion she has gone through. The songs reference topics including heartbreak and betrayal, motherhood, and finding new love again. "Medicine" deals with her heartbreak and emotions toward her ex-partner, and "Karma" explains overcoming the heartbreak while sending a message that she will be fine. "Mama's Hand" is dedicated to her son; she promises to give him everything and encourages him to have optimistic thoughts about the future. "Butterflies" reveals that she is beginning to fall in love again with someone new. "Bad Boy" describes her connection with a new lover, and how her goodness may cause him to change for the better. The EP debuted at number 26 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and reached number one on the

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple Mu ...

R&B charts.

2020–present: ''Missunderstood''

On July 24, 2020, Queen Naija released "Pack Lite", the first single for her debut album. A video for the song was released on July 31. Queen released the single "Lie to Me" featuring

Lil Durk Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper and singer. He is the lead member and founder of the collective and record label Only the Family (OTF). Durk garnered a cult following with the ...

on October 2. On October 5, Queen released a visual for the song. The song samples DeBarge's "A Dream". On October 30, Queen Naija released her debut album, '' Missunderstood''. The album is 18 tracks long and features artists such as

Jacquees Rodriquez Jacquees Broadnax (born April 15, 1994), better known as Jacquees (pronounced jah-kwees), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper from Decatur, Georgia. In 2015, he signed a recording and management contract with Cash Money Reco ...

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, Mulatto, Pretty Vee,

Russ Russ is a masculine given name, often a short form of Russell, and also a surname. People Given name or nickname * Russ Abbot (born 1947), British musician, comedian and actor * Russ Adams (born 1980), American retired baseball player * Russ B ...

Lucky Daye David Debrandon Brown (born September 25, 1985), professionally known as Lucky Daye, is an American singer- songwriter from New Orleans. He is signed to Keep Cool Records and RCA Records. He released his first EP, ''I'' on November 9, 2018 and h ...

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, and more. Three singles from the album were

Certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the RIAA. The deluxe edition of the album titled ''Missunderstood...Still'' featuring J.I the Prince of N.Y and

Ari Lennox Courtney Shanade Salter (born March 26, 1991), known professionally as Ari Lennox, is an American R&B singer from Washington, D.C. She is the first female artist to be signed to J. Cole's record label, Dreamville Records. She began gaining re ...

was released on April 16, 2021. On October 28, 2021, ''Missunderstood'' was nominated at the 2021 American Music Awards. On October 17, 2021, on Queen's 26th birthday, she started the mini Butterfly Tour, her second tour, across 19 US cities, with special guest Tink.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naija, Queen 1995 births Living people 21st-century African-American women singers American people of Yemeni descent People from Ypsilanti, Michigan African-American women singer-songwriters Singers from Detroit American contemporary R&B singers Singer-songwriters from Michigan