Bianca Miquela Landrau (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Bia, is an American rapper who debuted on the

Oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

reality television series '' Sisterhood of Hip Hop''. She signed to

Pharrell Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

's I Am Other record label, in partnership with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

in 2014. Her first EP, ''Nice Girls Finish Last: Cuidado'', was released in 2018. She is best recognized for featuring on the 2016 single "

Safari A safari (; originally ) is an overland journey to observe wildlife, wild animals, especially in East Africa. The so-called big five game, "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, African leopard, leopard, rhinoceros, African elephant, elep ...

" by

J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer. He is one of the best-selling Latin artists, with 35 million records sold worldwide. Balvin was born in Medellín. At age 17, he moved to th ...

and " Best on Earth" by Russ in 2019. In early 2020, Bia signed a new record deal with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

, releasing her second EP, '' For Certain'', on December 11, 2020. The EP spawned the single " Whole Lotta Money", which later was released as a remix featuring

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

and reached the top 20 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Early life

Landrau was born in Medford, Massachusetts. She is of Puerto Rican and Italian descent. In an interview with

's website, she spoke about wanting to become a rapper at a young age after attending studio sessions with rappers and helping them record. Landrau attended college briefly, but after realizing it did not suit her, she dropped out and began bartending to pay for studio time. She moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, full time in 2017.

Career

2014–2015: Career beginnings and ''#CholaSeason''

Bia was initially discovered by rapper Fam-Lay through

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and who later introduced her to

. Bia starred on the first two seasons of the

reality television series '' Sisterhood of Hip Hop''. In 2014, she signed to the I Am Other music label as part of a collaboration with

and began working with T.I as well as singers Jennifer Hudson and Usher. Later that year, Bia released a mixtape entitled ''#CholaSeason''. In an interview with radio station Hot 97's morning show '' Ebro in the Morning'' in September 2015, she revealed that she would not return for season 3 of ''Sisterhood of Hip Hop''.

2016–2018: Touring and ''Nice Girls Finish Last: Cuidado''

Bia served as the opening act for

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as one half of the Virginia-based hip hop duo Clipse, which he formed with his older brother No Malice, Malice. M ...

's ''Darkest Before the Dawn Tour'' in March and April 2016. The next month, Bia alongside Victoria Monét, were the main support acts for the European leg of

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

's Dangerous Woman Tour. Bia also opened for select dates during the North American leg. Bia was featured on

's song "

", released as a single in May 2016. The track topped the charts in Mexico and Spain as well as peaking at No. 3 on the US Latin Charts. In 2016, Bia released the singles "Whip It" and "Gucci Comin' Home". These singles were followed by "Badside" and "Fungshway", which were both released in 2017. All four singles were intended to be included on Bia's then-upcoming debut EP titled ''Trap Vogue'', to be followed by her debut album. Bia described the project as "high energy with Latin elements mixed in". She also revealed that the song "Esta Noche" featuring Grande, which was performed during Bia's opening set for the Dangerous Woman Tour, would be included on the project. Bia eventually scrapped the project in favor of new material. Bia was featured on the track "Miami", from Kali Uchis' debut album '' Isolation'', which was released on April 6, 2018. Victoria Monét released a remix of her song "Freak", featuring Bia on July 10, 2018. A visual was released including a shortened version of the track just containing Bia's verse and a chorus, while the full version of the song appeared on streaming platforms. On September 21, 2018, Bia released her debut EP ''Nice Girls Finish Last: Cuidado'', which included the single "Hollywood", as well as collaborations with Uchis and Kodak Black.

2019–present: Departure from RCA and ''For Certain''

In 2019, Bia split from RCA Records, citing the label was preventing her from releasing music. She released her first independent song "One Minute Warning" in August. " Best on Earth", a collaboration with rapper and singer Russ, was released on October 17, 2019. Singer

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

posted on her social media that it was her new favorite song, which led to an internet trend #BestOnEarthChallenge and a spike in popularity to the song. The song eventually peaked at number 46 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Bia's first entry on the chart and was certified

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for selling over one million units in the United States. On September 29, the song garnered Bia her first BET Hip Hop Awards nomination for Sweet 16: Best Featured Verse. In early 2020, Bia resigned with Sony under

and released two singles, "Free BIA (1st Day Out)" and "Cover Girl". "Cover Girl" was serviced to Urban and Rhythmic radio stations on April 14. In September 2020, Bia released the single "Same Hands" featuring American rapper

Lil Durk Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...

. Another single, "Skate", was released in November 2020, alongside a music video. A reworked version of the song, entitled the "NHL Mix", was later used as the theme song for the 2021

Stanley Cup playoffs The Stanley Cup playoffs () is the annual elimination tournament to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, and the league champion of the National Hockey League (NHL). The four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held after the NHL's regular s ...

. All songs are included on Bia's second EP, titled '' For Certain'', which was released on December 11, 2020, through

. A music video for the song " Whole Lotta Money" was released on April 8, 2021. Following viral success on the social media platform

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 ...

, the song was serviced to Rhythmic radio on May 18, 2021, becoming the fifth single from the EP. A remix featuring

was released on July 9, 2021, and caused the song to reach a peak of number 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Bia's highest-charting song. On September 24, she released the single "Besito" featuring G Herbo. Alongside the release, Bia announced the deluxe edition of ''For Certain'' which will be released on October 22, 2021. Also in 2021, Bia appeared as feature on Iggy Azalea's song "Is That Right" from her final album '' The End of an Era''. In an interview with Ladygunn, Bia revealed she is working on an R&B project titled ''R&BIA.'' On February 5, 2022, Bia launched her own make-up line Beauty for Certain. On April 8, 2022, Bia released a song with rapper J. Cole entitled "

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

". On September 9, 2022, Bia featured on the remix to

's song "Super Freaky Girl" entitled the "Queen Mix" alongside JT from City Girls, Katie Got Bandz, Akbar V, and Maliibu Miitch. In September 2022, Bia also featured on German rapper Luciano's track "Bamba". On March 3, 2023, Bia released a song titled "Sixteen". On March 24, 2023, Bia released a song featuring American record producer

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

titled "I'm That Bitch". In an interview on Bootleg Kev, Bia announced that she has completed her debut album. She revealed that she has decided the name of her upcoming album and the cover art is ready while also further revealing that "I'm That Bitch" and "

" will be on the tracklist of her upcoming album. On June 1, 2024, following what appeared to be a diss aimed at Bia in the remix to GloRilla and

Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Megan initially gained recognition when videos of her freestyling began to circulate widely on social me ...

’s " Wanna Be", Bia had previewed a new

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (an abbreviation of ''disrespect'' or ''disparage'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feu ...

targeting

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Cephus (; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper. Noted for her unfiltered public image and lyrics, Cardi B is one of the most successful female rappers. From 2015 to early 2017, she ga ...

Artistry

Bia has cited American rapper

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

, Puerto Rican rapper Ivy Queen, American singer

Selena Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter. Known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Tejano Music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most cel ...

, and fellow rappers Bankroll Fresh, 21 Savage,

, Foxy Brown, M.I.A., and

Blac Youngsta Sammie Marquez Benson (born April 8, 1990), known professionally as Blac Youngsta, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He signed a recording contract with fellow Memphis-based rapper Yo Gotti's record label, Collective Music Group (CMG ...

as her biggest influences, as well as

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton ( ; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the " Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, p ...

and

as her personal muses. Bia stated that she has never connected with an artist the way she has connected with Rihanna.

Filmography

Television

Awards and nominations

Tours

Appearances

— Pink Friday 2 World Tour (2024)

Supporting

– Darkest Before the Dawn Tour (2016) *

– Dangerous Woman Tour (2017) * Don Toliver – Life of a Don Tour (2021)

Discography

EPs

Mixtapes

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Promotional singles

Guest appearances

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bia 1990 births Living people 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers Alternative hip-hop musicians Rappers from Boston American trap musicians American musicians of Puerto Rican descent American people of Italian descent 21st-century Puerto Rican women rappers 21st-century Puerto Rican rappers People from Medford, Massachusetts 21st-century American women rappers