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Lu Kala | |
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![]() LU KALA performing in 2024 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Lusamba Vanessa Kalala |
Born | Kinshasa, Zaire | July 21, 1995
Occupation(s) |
|
Labels | AWAL |
Website | igobylu |
Lusamba Vanessa Kalala (born July 21, 1995), better known by her stage name Lu Kala (stylized as LU KALA), 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 began her career with songwriting, as she is credited as a writer on Jennifer Hudson's track "Dangerous" from her 2014 studio album JHUD . [2] [3]
Kala performed at the Canadian Music Week in 2019 [4] where she performed her debut single, "DCMO (Don't Count Me Out)". [5] She also won the grand prize at Royal Bank of Canada's Emerging Musician Program, [6] earning $10,000 worth of studio time among other prizes. [7]
"DCMO (Don't Count Me Out)" was described as "powerful" by Complex. [8] Kala's second single, "Body Knew", was praised by Unheard Gems [9] and Sidedoor. [10] Her third single, "Want You" also received good reviews from critics. [11] [12] Sidedoor described her 2020 single "No Smoke" as "upbeat, catchy, and empowering". [13]
In February 2023, Latto released "Lottery" which featured Kala, marking Kala’s first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 [14] and Billboard Canadian Hot 100. [15] On March 1, Latto and Kala performed the song at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music event. [16] In April, her 2022 single “Pretty Girl Era” entered the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, [17] marking her first solo entry on the chart. On September 24, 2023, Kala received the Emerging Artist Award at the Legacy Awards. [18] On December 10, she performed at TikTok's inaugural In the Mix festival in Mesa, Arizona. [19]
Kala was nominated for two Juno Awards in 2024, [20] and she performed at the opening night of the show. [21] In March, Kala received two No. 1 Song Awards from SOCAN for her singles "Hotter Now" and "Nothing but Love". [22] Following this, “Hotter Now” became her highest peaking song on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100. [23] In April, it was revealed that Kala had written a song with Katy Perry. [24] On July 4, Kala won the Billboard Canada Women In Music Rising Star Award. [25] In the same month, her single “Who’s Gonna” the entered Canadian Contemporary hit radio chart. [26]
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CAN [28] | CAN AC [29] | CAN CHR [30] | CAN HAC [31] | RUS [32] | |||
"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 | — | Non-album singles |
"Hotter Now" | 2023 | 40 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 13 | |
"Nothing but Love" | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | |
"Who's Gonna" | — | — | 30 | — | — | ||
"—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CAN [33] | US [34] | US R&B/HH [35] | US Rap [36] | NZ [37] | ||||||||
"Today" (Polun featuring Lu Kala) | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |||||
"Lottery" (Latto featuring Lu Kala) | 2023 | 51 | 83 | 29 | 17 | — [upper-alpha 1] | ||||||
"—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. |
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