Tessa Violet Williams, previously known as Meekakitty, is a singer-songwriter,

video blogger Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems ...

, actress, music video director, and former model. Originally a

vlogger A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded i ...

, over the years Tessa Violet's online content became devoted to her musical career with Violet having released two studio albums, '' Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled'' in 2014 and '' Bad Ideas'' in 2019.

Early life and career

Violet grew up in

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 ...

and performed in theatre productions while in high school. She began her YouTube channel in July 2006 and started daily vlogging in 2007 for a school project under the username Meekakitty when working in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

as a fashion model. After moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 2009, Violet gained attention after winning $100,000 in a YouTube competition by receiving the most comments on her video entry. In 2011, Violet was featured in fellow YouTube creator Nanalew's music video for the song "

Sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails ma ...

" by

Awolnation Awolnation (stylized in all caps) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed and fronted by Aaron Bruno, formerly of Under the Influence of Giants, Home Town Hero, and Insurgence. The band is signed to Better Noise Music, formerly bei ...

. The video went viral and has since amassed over 370 million views. On September 24, 2012, Violet appeared in the music video for

Family Force 5 FF5 (formerly known as Family Force 5, The Phamily, Ground Noise and The Brothers) is an American Christian rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. The band formed in 2005 by brothers Solomon "Soul Glow Activatur" Olds, Joshua "Fatty" Olds, and Jaco ...

's "Cray Button" ft.

Lecrae Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979), mononymously known as Lecrae, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record and film producer, record executive, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the president, co-owner and co-founder of the ...

Music

Violet released her first album '' Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled'' on March 18, 2014. The album was produced by Seth Earnest at Maker Studios, with John Zappin as A&R. Despite the lack of attention from traditional media sources, the record debuted at number 10 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and sold 5,000 copies in the first three months. Violet released the lead single "Dream" from her EP '' Halloway'' on September 16, 2016. The full EP was released October 14, 2016. She released videos for all songs on the project. In 2018, Violet revealed she was working on her second album, '' Bad Ideas''. "Crush," the first single from the record, was released June 15, 2018. An accompanying music video directed by Big Forest was released on YouTube on the same day. As of May 2021, the music video has reached over 82 million views on YouTube. The single led to Violet being featured on YouTube's Artist On The Rise. The entire album was set to release on August 3, 2018 before an alteration in the album's release plan. The album's title track, "Bad Ideas," was released as a single on November 30, 2018. "I Like (the idea of) You" came out in May 2019. She released ''Bad Ideas (Act One)'' in July 2019, featuring remixes of the first three singles of the project. On October 25 2019, Violet released her second album '' Bad Ideas.'' The album contains 11 tracks, 4 of which have been released as singles (''Crush'', ''Bad'' ''Ideas'', ''I Like (the idea of) You'', and ''Games''). The song was released via the label ''T∆G MUSIC''. Violet was also featured on a remix of the

I Dont Know How But They Found Me I Dont Know How But They Found Me (stylized in all caps), often shortened to IDKHow (stylized as iDKHOW), is an American musical duo based in Salt Lake City, Utah and formed in 2016. The band consists of lead vocalist and bassist Dallon Weekes a ...

song "New Invention." Violet cites artists such as

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...

Bleachers Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a row ...

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...

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, and Julia Michaels among her influences.

Discography

Studio albums

Collaborative albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other appearances

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Violet, Tessa 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers American bloggers American child models American comedy musicians American women pop singers American women singer-songwriters American folk guitarists American indie pop musicians American music video directors American women bloggers American women comedians American women guitarists American YouTubers Living people Maker Studios people Music YouTubers YouTube channels launched in 2006 Patreon creators People from Ashland, Oregon Singers from Chicago Singer-songwriters from Oregon Women video bloggers Singer-songwriters from Illinois Year of birth missing (living people)