Rahema Shifa Alameda, known mononymously as Alemeda, is a Sudanese-Ethiopian

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...

. She is signed to

Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label. Specializing in hip hop and R&B artists, TDE is based in Carson, California. The label was founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who is the chief exec ...

and

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

Early life

Alameda was born in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and raised in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. Her stage name stems from her last name, Alameda, which she elaborated is a "common name in the

Gurage Gurage (, Gurage: ጉራጌ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia.G. W. E. Huntingford, "William A. Shack: The Gurage: a people of the ensete culture" They inhabit the Gurage Zone and East Gurage Zone, a fertile, semi-mounta ...

tribe in Ethiopia," of which her grandfather was a part. She changed the spelling to "Alemeda" to be more easily found online. Growing up in a strict household, she was "alienated from music until the age of 10." Describing herself as a "heavy Disney pop-punk kid" growing up, she was inspired to make music by ''

High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American Musical film, musical television film produced by and aired on Disney Channel as part of the network's List of Disney Channel original films, slate of original television films. The first installmen ...

''.

Career

Her music blends "hyper-contemporary aesthetics with nostalgic R&B vibes" and explores themes of love and relationships. In 2020, she appeared on "Slow Down", a song from the 2020 album '' New Beginnings'' by American rapper

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...

. She independently released a

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

song called "Gonna Bleach My Eyebrows" as her debut single in 2021. She garnered popularity with it on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, but stated it would probably be her only drum and bass song, as she later began adopting more of a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

, and

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

sound in her music. In 2022, she released "Post Nut Clarity". Also in 2022, she made guest appearances on ''Capacity to Love'' and ''

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, Northern Territor ...

'', albums by

Ibrahim Maalouf Maalouf (, ; born 5 November 1980) is a French-Lebanese trumpeter, producer, arranger, and composer. In 2022, he became the first Lebanese instrumentalist nominated at the Grammy Awards for his album ''Queen of Sheba'' in collaboration with Ang� ...

and

Ab-Soul Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where he eventually formed We ...

, respectively. In May 2023, she released "Ur So Full of It". In July, she released "First Love Song". She was spotlighted in a ''World Cafe'' playlist for

Black History Month Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the Af ...

in 2024. In February 2024, she released "Don't Call Me", of which ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

'' writer Mary Siroky stated that "the air of riot and revolution ..feels authentically cathartic". On September 20, Alemeda was announced as the new signee to the

(TDE) label, being signed in collaboration with

. Her debut EP '' FK IT'' was released the same day. On June 6 2025, she released the song "Chameleon" with fellow singer

Rachel Chinouriri Rachel Chinouriri (born 1 November 1998; pronounced , ) is an English singer-songwriter. After posting numerous songs on SoundCloud, she began releasing music on major streaming platforms in 2018. She released her debut extended play (EP), ''Ma ...

, and produced by

Stint A stint is one of several very small waders in the paraphyletic ''"Calidris"'' assemblage – often separated in ''Erolia'' – which in North America are known as peeps. They are Scolopacidae, scolopacid waders much similar in ecomor ...

, as her debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

.https://music.apple.com/pe/album/chameleon-single/1815699880

Discography

Extended plays

* '' FK IT'' (2024)

References

{{reflist, 30em 1990s births Living people 21st-century Ethiopian women singers 21st-century singer-songwriters Alternative rock singers American people of Ethiopian descent American people of Sudanese descent Ethiopian emigrants to the United States Ethiopian people of Sudanese descent Ethiopian singer-songwriters Indie musicians Pop singers Singer-songwriters from Arizona Top Dawg Entertainment artists Warner Records artists