This article may have been created or edited in return for undisclosed payments, a violation of Wikipedia's terms of use. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. (January 2021) |
Lu Kala | |
---|---|
![]() Kala performing in 2024 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Lusamba Vanessa Kalala |
Born | Kinshasa, Zaire | 21 July 1991
Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Genres | Pop |
Occupations |
|
Labels | AWAL |
Website | igobylu |
Lusamba Vanessa Kalala (born 21 July 1995), better known by her stage name Lu Kala (stylized in all caps), is a Congolese-Canadian singer. She is best known for her guest appearance on American rapper Latto's 2023 single "Lottery", which entered the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100. [1]
Kala emigrated to Canada at the age of three. She first grew up in the Regent Park neighbourhood and later lived in Ajax, Ontario. [2]
Kala began her career with songwriting, as she is credited as a writer on Jennifer Hudson's track "Dangerous" from her 2014 studio album JHUD . [3] [4]
Kala performed at the Canadian Music Week in 2019 [5] where she performed her debut single, "DCMO (Don't Count Me Out)". [6] She also won the grand prize at Royal Bank of Canada's Emerging Musician Program, [7] earning $10,000 worth of studio time among other prizes. [8]
In February 2023, Latto released "Lottery" which featured Kala, marking Kala's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 [9] and Billboard Canadian Hot 100. [10] On 1 March, Latto and Kala performed the song at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music event. [11] In April, her 2022 single "Pretty Girl Era" entered the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, [12] marking her first solo entry on the chart. On 24 September 2023, Kala received the Emerging Artist Award at the Legacy Awards. [13] On 10 December, she performed at TikTok's inaugural In the Mix festival in Mesa, Arizona. [14]
Kala was nominated for two Juno Awards in 2024, [15] and she performed at the opening night of the show. [16] In March, Kala received two No. 1 Song Awards from SOCAN for her singles "Hotter Now" and "Nothing but Love". [17] Following this, "Hotter Now" became her highest peaking song on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100. [18] In April, it was revealed that Kala had written a song with Katy Perry (later revealed to be "OK" from the deluxe edition of Perry's 2024 studio album 143 ). [19] On 4 July, Kala won the inaugural Billboard Canada Women in Music Rising Star Award. [20] In the same month, her single "Who's Gonna" the entered Canadian Contemporary hit radio chart. [21] In September 2024, Kala released her single "Criminal" after performing it at the Billboard Canada Women in Music event. [22] In October 2024, Kala joined Cyndi Lauper as an opener for two dates on the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour. On 21 November 2024, Kala appeared as a guest judge on the season premiere of the fifth season of Canada's Drag Race . [23] Two days later, she announced her single "Cry Baby". [24]
On 25 April 2025, Kala released her second EP, No Tears on This Ride . She also announced the No Tears on This Ride Tour to accompany the project. [25]
Title | Details |
---|---|
Worthy [26] |
|
No Tears on This Ride |
|
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CAN [27] | CAN AC [28] | CAN CHR [29] | CAN HAC [30] | RUS [31] | |||
"DCMO (Don't Count Me Out)" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | Worthy |
"Body Knew" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | |
"Want You" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"No Smoke" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Love Like" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Pretty Girl Era" | 2022 | 49 | 6 | 9 | 23 | — | No Tears on This Ride |
"Hotter Now" | 2023 | 40 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 13 | |
"Nothing But Love" | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
"Who's Gonna" | — | 49 | 10 | 30 | — | No Tears on This Ride | |
"Criminal" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Cry Baby" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CAN [32] | US [33] | US R&B/HH [34] | US Rap [35] | NZ [36] | ||||||||
"Today" (Polun featuring Lu Kala) | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |||||
"Lottery" (Latto featuring Lu Kala) | 2023 | 51 | 83 | 29 | 17 | — [A] | ||||||
"—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Co-writers | Artist | Album |
---|---|---|---|---|
"Dangerous" | 2014 | Jennifer Hudson | JHUD | |
"OK" | 2024 | Katy Perry | 143 | |
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite magazine}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)