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Artist
Tuimi
12+ albums
hip hopHip-Hopgermanyfemale vocalistsvietnamese
about
When Tuimi, a Vietnamese singer-songwriter based in Ho Chi Minh City and Berlin, was three years old, she sang karaoke at family gatherings. Some time after, while being raised in Dresden, Germany, she was classically trained for piano. But it wasn't until Alicia Keys came out with "Fallin'" that music really clicked for her. "She was a confident, beautiful woman who made piano look and sound cool," she says. "I knew I wanted to be like her." Fast forward to age 19, and the singer got a lucky break after posting a video of herself singing on Facebook. An A&R rep from Universal reached out and she entered the world of songwriting camps. That boot-camp industry training only further informed her artistic vision, and helped her make international connections that would strengthen her music. Now, at 25, Tuimi is ready for her closeup. Her debut single, "Purpose," has received over a half-million streams and a Brazilian fanbase — not bad for an independent artist on her own label who manages her image, sound, and marketing. The rising singer premieres the "Menina" video today on PAPER, a coming-out statement of sorts that places her in a canon of global queer pop musicians from Hayley Kiyoko to Troye Sivan, who have built wildly engaged fanbases on their truth and identities. Tuimi, a trilingual woman who speaks Vietnamese, German, and English, decided to use "menina," a Portuguese word referring to a mysterious "girl" or "woman" in a romantic context, as the hook and title for
