Upcoming artist Lorine Chia, is one to watch. I had the pleasure of meeting Lorine in the East Village last week. I was full of stress and energy, and Lorine’s energy instantly took me from 10 to 1 and I instantly relaxed. HER VIBES are magnetic and it was so fun speaking to her. She’s a talented one, having already collaborated with the like of MGK & Chance the Rapper, she is on the upward. She spoke to me about being classed as trippy musician, her love for Drake, being compared to Nina Simone & black girl problems.
You’re from ohio, correct?
Yes from Cleveland but I was born in Cameroon.
Do you still live there?
No I’m staying in Germantown Maryland for a little bit before I head out to L.A. Really excited for that.
Why did you chose this cafe for us to meet?
I’ve actually never been to this Cafe, my wonderful publicist Nathalie
chose it and I guess I’m loving it so far. It’s like very sexy in here, lol, lights dimmed and all.
What do you like to eat?
I love to eat the African dish called Water Fufu and Eru. My mom makes it the best!
I started listening to your music recently, and its so so good. It
sounds trippyish, is that at all what you were going for? Or am I just
tripping?
Lol thank you! And yea I go for the trippyish type of vibe I guess. I think people find it trippy because they can’t really define what genre it is. My music kind of takes you to so many different places in your mind and it’s so new and different that when you hear it it’ll feel like you’re trippin in a good way though.
How would you describe it to people who’ve never heard it?
I would say it’s a bit of everything. It’s soul, acid jazz, R&B, funk, pop, trap, alternative. It’s like an explosions of different sounds with unique vocals and very strong lyrics. It’s a breath of fresh air and nothing like what’s out now. It’s just real and it’s love. I believe that’s why a lot of people gravitate towards it. People love to feel love.
You’ve probabky had this before, but some of your sounds bare similarities to Kendrick, and even Jhene Aiko, which is an awesome musical direction. What do you think of this comparison?
I think it’s awesome. I’m like the only female that’s being compared to
Kendrick right now so that’s super dope. Another comparison I love is the Nina Simone one. A lot of people like to say I sound like Amy Winehouse, Erykah Badu, Adele, Lauryn Hill, Macy Gray and more but when listening to Nina Simone I really hear it.
Who are people you’ve collaborated with and who would you like to collaborate with?
So far I’ve collaborated with Lili K, Anthony Jones, King Chip, Retro
Sushi, Chance The Rapper, WiseGuy, MGK, The Cool Kids, and Asher Roth. They are all amazing musicians. I would love love love to make a song with Drake. Hopefully he reads this lol. I would also love to work with Travis Scott, Kid Cudi, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, and Lauryn Hill.
Honestly, I can imagine smoking weed to your music, is that something you had in mind? I mean, “fly so high”…and if you could pick anyone to fly high with who would it be?
Lol it wasn’t the purpose of the song but it definitely gives off that
vibe. Very free, very chill, very high. My music just makes people feel
good. It would definitely be Wiz Khaliafa. That would be the greatest
flight lol.
OK race question: how have you found the industry so far as a young black female?
It’s hard. I don’t see many African women in this country doing what I’m
doing. People look at me and automatically assume that I’ll just be an R&B artist or just another soul singer. It’s annoying. People don’t understand I face the most challenges in this industry especially since I don’t wear revealing things or look super sexy all the time. Society makes me sick. I just want to rock out on stage and make good music but it’s hard to achieve that goal because of what I look like and what I am. A young dark skinned African female who doesn’t expose her body. I take the challenge though. I’ll win this.
What’s coming up next for?
I’m going to take over the world. They’re going to be playing my music
everywhere soon lol. But in the mean time I have some videos in the works. I just shot the shot the official video for Strange Fruit with
Tony Bennett’s granddaughter Kelsey Bennett. She’s amazing and I think that video will really catch people’s attention. Look out for me in L.A. this summer as well.
@FrankieFatGold
Photographs by Dylan Kelly