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Artist
Kelela
12+ albums
electronicrnbambienttrip-hopbreakbeat
about
Kelela Mizanekristos (Amharic: ከለላ ሚዛነክርስቶስ, käläla mizanäkərəsətosə; born June 4, 1983) is an American singer. A second-generation Ethiopian American and an only child, Mizanekristos was born in Washington, D.C., on June 4, 1983. Growing up in Gaithersburg, Maryland, she learned to play the violin in fourth grade and sang in her school's choir. In 2001, she graduated from Magruder High School. After transferring from Montgomery College to the American University, Mizanekristos began singing jazz standards at cafés. In 2008, she joined an indie band called Dizzy Spells and sang progressive metal after meeting Tosin Abasi, whom she later dated. In 2010, she moved to Los Angeles, where she currently lives, in addition to London. In November 2012, she began work on her debut mixtape with already two recorded songs. She later quit her job as a telemarketer to fully pursue her career as a musician. Having moved to Los Angeles, Mizanekristos connected with Teengirl Fantasy and contributed to the group's 2013 album Tracer on the song "EFX", which led her to meet Prince William from the label Fade to Mind. He introduced her to the sound of the record label and its sister imprint from London, Night Slugs. In May 2013, she appeared on Kingdom's "Bank Head", and five months later released her mixtape Cut 4 Me for free. Harriet Gisbone of The Guardian described the mixtape as "an experiment for the production team, the first time the production crew had used vocals on their club track
