Milck

Last updated
Milck
MILCK closing out the Women In The World Summit at Lincoln Center, NYC (cropped).jpg
Milck performing at the Women in the World in 2017
Born
Connie Kimberly Lim

(1986-05-29) May 29, 1986 (age 38)
Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Musical career
Origin California, United States
Genres Pop [1]
Labels

Connie Kimberly Lim (born May 29, 1986), [3] [4] professionally known as Milck (stylized as MILCK), is an American singer. A child of immigrants from Hong Kong, she initially performed as an independent artist for several years, and rose to widespread attention after a video of a performance of her song "Quiet" at the 2017 Women's March became popular, and became embraced as a feminist anthem for the movement. She was eventually signed to Atlantic Records, and released her debut EP This Is Not The End in 2018.

Contents

Milck's second EP, Into Gold, was released in early 2020, preceded by the lead single "If I Ruled the World". She released another protest song later that year, "Somebody's Beloved", in collaboration with British songwriter Bipolar Sunshine.

Early life

Lim was raised in Palos Verdes near Los Angeles, California. She enrolled as a child in classical piano and opera class, and composed her first work "Healthy People" at age seven. [2] [5] [6] She was the child of immigrants from Hong Kong, with one sister and one brother. Her father paid his way through medical school by "flipping burgers". She was successful at school and was homecoming queen, but struggled with anorexia. [2]

She attended UC Berkeley studying pre-medicine, where she joined the a cappella group Golden Overtones, and started a band. [7] [8] She eventually dropped out of college and continued to perform as an independent artist for eight years. [7] [9] She signed to a record label and appeared on the first season of the television show The Voice . [2] She was however eventually dropped by her management. [10]

Lim assumed the stage name Milck, based on her first two initials and her last name backwards. [9]

Career

Milck's career largely got its start at the 2017 Women's March in Washington D.C. She had written the song "Quiet" in 2015 along with Adrianne Gonzalez, as a way of coping with sexual assault and abuse as a teenager. [11] [12] Prior to the march she put out requests for female a cappella groups to help perform the song at the event, a call that was answered by groups Capital Blend and GW Sirens from George Washington University. Milck separately recorded each vocal part, and sent them individually to the participants, due to the logistical difficulties involved in rehearsing in-person. [13] Along with 26 other singers, she performed seven times throughout the march among the crowd, where it was recorded by film maker Alma Ha'rel, who uploaded the video to social media where it had 8 million views in two days, and shared by a number of well-known celebrities. [11] [13] [lower-alpha 1] The group was then invited to perform on the television show Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. [11] The song was named the number one protest song of 2017 by Billboard , [14] and was widely embraced as an anthem for the movement. [15] The same year she performed the song with Choir! Choir! Choir! at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto, with proceed from the event donated to the American Civil Liberties Union. [16]

In 2018, Milck returned to the Women's March to perform "Quiet". She also released her debut EP This Is Not The End EP, which she promoted with a performance on The Today Show . [17] The same year she was invited to perform at the Save the Children's Illumination Gala, at the American Museum of Natural History. [18] She recorded a cover of the Five Stairsteps song "O-o-h Child", which was used in an ad campaign by Procter & Gamble related to the 2018 Winter Olympics. [19]

In 2019, Milck released the song "If I Ruled the World", positioned as the lead single of her upcoming EP Into Gold. The song is about fixing global problems; Milck said, "it’s far more empowering and energizing when we encourage people to imagine the world they want, rather than when we focus on cursing the parts of the world we don’t want to see." [20] Into Gold was released on February 21, 2020. Milck said that the album shows the process of grief and rebirth after the end of a five-year relationship—"the man I thought I was going to marry"—to turn "pain into power". [21]

Milck responded to the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor, the murder of George Floyd, and other indications of rising police brutality by writing another protest song: "Somebody's Beloved". She collaborated with UK musician Bipolar Sunshine who added the lyric, "Blood on leaves falling like autumn, her story's been told a thousand times. Why doesn't everybody scream?" Sunshine aimed to have "Somebody's Beloved" recall the 1937 song "Strange Fruit", made famous by Billie Holiday. Tom Shadyac directed a video for the song. [22]

Discography

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ In their review of the song's impact two years later, National Public Radio high listed shares of the video on social media by Emma Watson, Debra Messing and Tom Morello. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gladys Knight</span> American singer (born 1944)

Gladys Maria Knight, known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer. A ten-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten.

Jahmila Adderley, known professionally as Mila Jam, is an American transgender singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and LGBTQ activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Alaina</span> American singer and songwriter

Lauren Alaina Kristine Suddeth is an American singer and songwriter from Rossville, Georgia. She was the runner-up on the tenth season of American Idol. Her debut studio album, Wildflower, was released on October 11, 2011. Her second album, Road Less Traveled, was released January 27, 2017. Alaina later achieved her first number one on the Country Airplay chart with the album's title track. Her second number one came later that year when she simultaneously topped five Billboard charts with her friend and former classmate Kane Brown on their duet "What Ifs". In addition to this song with Brown, Alaina became an in-demand duet vocalist throughout the next few years, appearing on number one collaborations with Hardy, Devin Dawson, and Dustin Lynch. Her third studio album, Sitting Pretty on Top of the World, was released on September 3, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Sanchez</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1995)

Jessica Elizabeth Sanchez is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to prominence following her finish as the runner-up on the eleventh season of American Idol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Jauregui</span> American singer and songwriter

Lauren Michelle Jauregui Morgado is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which became one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. Jauregui began experimenting with different sounds and exploring solo songwriting, collaborating on songs with Marian Hill, Steve Aoki and Halsey. She signed to Columbia Records to release her debut solo single "Expectations" in October 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hozier</span> Irish musician

Andrew John Hozier-Byrne, known professionally as Hozier, is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. His music primarily draws from folk, soul and blues, often using religious and literary themes and taking political or social justice stances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bipolar Sunshine</span> British musician

Adio Marchant, known professionally as Bipolar Sunshine, is an English singer and songwriter from Manchester, England. Previously the co-vocalist with the band Kid British, he embarked on a solo career in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Daigle</span> American singer and songwriter (born 1991)

Lauren Ashley Daigle is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter. After being signed to the label Centricity Music, she released her debut album, How Can It Be, in 2015. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart, has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and produced three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Christian Airplay chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tink (musician)</span> American rapper and singer

Trinity Laure'Ale Home , better known by her stage name Tink, is an American rapper and R&B singer from the Chicago area in Illinois. She is best known for the single "Treat Me Like Somebody" and for the collaboration with singer and producer Jeremih on "Don't Tell Nobody". Since 2012, she has released seven mixtapes and has gone independent due to label issues regarding the release of her debut album. Her 2014 mixtape, Winter's Diary 2: Forever Yours, was featured as a top 10 R&B album in both Rolling Stone and Billboard magazines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Michaels</span> American singer (born 1993)

Julia Carin Michaels is an American singer and songwriter. She has received five Grammy Award nominations, including twice for Song of the Year and Best New Artist, as well as nominations from MTV Video Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and American Music Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vérité</span> American singer-songwriter

Kelsey Regina Byrne, known professionally as Vérité, is an American singer and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York City. Her first single "Strange Enough" was self-released in July 2014, reaching number one on Hype Machine and becoming the #1 Most Viral Twitter Artist the week of release. Described variously as indie pop, electropop or alternative pop, Liza Darwin of Noisey wrote that her 2014 Echo EP is "packed with crisp, delicate vocals, soaring melodies, and glistening production." Her second EP, Sentiment, was self-released on June 8, 2015. The EP was praised by Time, who called her vocals "rich and ethereal". She has toured internationally and performed at events such as Neon Gold Popshop, South by Southwest, The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn Bowl, the Firefly Festival and Lollapalooza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Formation (song)</span> 2016 single by Beyoncé

"Formation" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Beyoncé for her sixth studio album Lemonade (2016). It was written by Beyoncé, Mike Will Made It, Swae Lee, and Pluss, and produced by the former two. It served as the album's lead single, surprise-released on February 6, 2016, through Parkwood Entertainment. "Formation" is an R&B song with trap and bounce influences, in which Beyoncé celebrates her culture, identity and success as a black woman from the Southern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace VanderWaal</span> American singer-songwriter (born 2004)

Grace Avery VanderWaal is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is known for her distinctive vocals and has often accompanied herself on the ukulele.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinah Jane</span> American singer (born 1997)

Dinah Jane Milika Ilaisaane Hansen is an American singer. She auditioned as a solo artist for the second season of The X Factor and a later became a member of Fifth Harmony, which went on to become one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. In October 2017, she featured in RedOne's single "Boom Boom" with Daddy Yankee and French Montana. After the group's hiatus announcement in 2018, Jane signed as a solo artist with L.A. Reid's HitCo Entertainment. Her debut solo single, "Bottled Up" featuring Ty Dolla Sign and Marc E. Bassy, was released in September 2018. This was followed by the release of her extended play, Dinah Jane 1, in April 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H.E.R.</span> American singer (born 1997)

Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, known professionally as H.E.R., is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She has won an Academy Award, a Children's and Family Emmy Award, and five Grammy Awards, along with nominations for a Golden Globe Award, three American Music Awards, and four Billboard Music Awards.

"Quiet" is a feminist anthem co-written, co-produced, and performed by Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter MILCK. It received national attention after she organized a capella performances of the song at the 2017 Women's March in Washington D.C., after which she made the sheet music publicly available and organized further activity around the song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clairo</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1998)

Claire Elizabeth Cottrill, known professionally as Clairo, is an American singer-songwriter. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Carlisle, Massachusetts, she began posting music on the internet at age 13.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taina Asili</span> Musical artist

Taína Asili is an American musician, singer, songwriter, poet, artist and activist. Born in Binghamton, New York to Puerto Rican parents, she first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the singer for the punk band Anti-Product, and later for her social justice themed music with the band Taina Asili y la Banda Rebelde. Asili’s musical career has spanned genres as diverse as Afro-Caribbean music, flamenco, hardcore punk and opera, and her art is driven by her work on prisoner justice, climate justice and food justice.

Evie Irie is an Australian pop singer and songwriter from the Sydney. She released her debut extended play 5 Weeks in LA in 2019 through Republic Records, after travelling to the United States to pursue becoming a singer. In 2020, she released the EPs The Optimist and The Pessimist, she also collaborated with producer Dillon Francis on the song "Be Somebody", and Her most recent single "Danny DeVito "

References

  1. ↑ "Milck". KCET . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Barlow, Eve (May 17, 2017). "How Milck's Women's March Anthem "Quiet" Went Viral and Changed Her Life". LA Weekly . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  3. ↑ "Connie Kimberly Lim, Born 05/29/1986 in California | CaliforniaBirthIndex.org". www.californiabirthindex.org. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
  4. ↑ Chan, Natasha (2018-08-23). "MILCK on breaking her silence and starting a movement". Asian American News | Pacific Islander News | The Baton. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
  5. ↑ "Milck: Official biography" (PDF). Atlantic Records . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  6. ↑ Schiller, Rebecca (March 5, 2018). "Get to Know 'Quiet' Singer-Songwriter Milck". Billboard . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  7. 1 2 Hilton, Robin (January 22, 2018). "Milck: 'Women Are Viral'". NPR . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  8. ↑ Krauser, Emily (January 27, 2017). "Exclusive: Meet Milck, the Songwriter Who Unintentionally Penned the Powerful Anthem of the Women's March". Entertainment Tonight . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  9. 1 2 Alleyne, Robert (February 27, 2018). "Meet Milck, the Berkeley alum making space for herself in pop music". The Bay Bridged. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  10. ↑ "Who is Milck and how is she Inspiring Millions Around the World to Make a Stand?". Warner Music Group . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Blair, Elizabeth (January 14, 2019). "A Song Called 'Quiet' Struck A Chord With Women. Two Years Later, It's Still Ringing". NPR . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  12. ↑ "Milck Proves This Is Not The End for Women's Empowerment". Out . January 19, 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  13. 1 2 Balingit, Moriah (January 24, 2017). "'I can't keep quiet': Watch this stirring performance of what some call the Women's March anthem". The Washington Post . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  14. ↑ George, Rachel (January 4, 2018). "Milck Releases Empowering New Song 'This Is Not the End'". Billboard . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  15. ↑ Haplerin, Shirley (November 3, 2017). "Milck Puts #MeToo Movement to Music With 'Quiet,' Featuring Assault Survivors". Variety . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  16. ↑ "atch a 1,300-voice choir sing an anti-Trump protest song with Milck in Toronto". Toronto Life . February 17, 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  17. ↑ McDermott, Maeve (January 19, 2018). "How Milck's Women's March anthem 'Quiet' found its purpose in #MeToo". USA Today . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  18. ↑ "Jennifer Garner Hosts 6th Annual Save the Children Illumination Gala". looktothestars.org. November 19, 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  19. ↑ Brendish, Lynda (November 6, 2017). "Milck Explains 'Joyous' Message Behind New 'Quiet' Music Video (Exclusive)". KFMB-TV . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  20. ↑ Wong, Curtis M. (February 7, 2020). "Singer Milck Is Ready To 'Turn Tears Into Gold' Again After Viral Women's March Anthem". HuffPo . Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  21. ↑ Rowley, Glenn (February 21, 2020). "Milck Urges Us All to Renew Our 'Faith in Humanity' With Sophomore EP 'Into Gold': Exclusive". Billboard . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  22. ↑ Alvarez, Lauren (October 22, 2020). "Milck Talks New Protest Song 'Somebody's Beloved' & The Importance Of Protest Music". Forbes . Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  23. ↑ Anastas, Katie (January 15, 2018). "Review: Milck, 'This Is Not The End'". NPR . Retrieved 15 January 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.