Aminata Kabba (born 13 December 1994), also known by her stage name Kabba (stylised as KABBA), formerly A*M*E, is a British singer and songwriter. KABBA was born in

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

, Sierra Leone, on 13 December 1994. In 2011, A*M*E was scouted and signed by

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

frontman

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having writ ...

to his label,

Future Records Future Records was a music imprint, based in London, England. It was founded in 2009. The label was closed in 2012. History In 2009, it was announced that Gary Barlow had been given his own music label, Future, by Universal as a reward for ma ...

. On 9 December 2012, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

announced that KABBA – then A*M*E – had been nominated for the Sound of 2013 poll. In January 2013, A*M*E signed to Sony Music's Epic Records after Barlow closed

to focus on his own career commitments. The

Duke Dumont Adam George Dyment (born 27 August 1981), better known by his stage name Duke Dumont, is an English DJ and music producer. He is best known for his hit singles "Need U (100%)", "I Got U", "Won't Look Back (song), Won't Look Back" and "Ocean Dr ...

single "

Need U (100%) "Need U (100%)" is a song by British musician and DJ Duke Dumont. It features the vocals from British singer A*M*E. It was released as a digital download in the United Kingdom on 31 March 2013, and entered at number one on the UK Singles Chart ...

", featuring A*M*E and

MNEK Uzoechi Osisioma "Uzo" Emenike (; born 9 November 1994), professionally known by his stage name MNEK ( ; a gramogram of Emenike), is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He has been nominated for a Grammy and a Brit Award, and ha ...

, topped the UK Singles Chart on 7 April 2013.

Biography

1994–2011: Early life

At the age of eight, A*M*E moved to England after her mother's hair salon was burned to the ground and life in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

became too dangerous. Growing up in the

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivi ...

area of south-east London, A*M*E was introduced to fellow teenage prodigy

. The pair bonded over a mutual love of '90s pop music and started collaborating, quickly creating a handful of songs including "City Lights". The track was enough to pique the interest of

frontman

, who proceeded to sign her to his

Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ex ...

record label.

2012–2018: Career beginnings: AME

In 2012, A*M*E released a string of promotional singles called "City Lights" (featuring Bartoven), "Ride or Die" and "Find a Boy", which she co-wrote alongside

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé ( ; previously Gouraguine; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a British singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Sandé rose t ...

and producer

Naughty Boy Shahid Khan (; born 1 January 1981), known professionally as Naughty Boy, is an English DJ, record producer, music programmer and songwriter. In 2012, Khan signed a three-year publishing deal with Sony ATV, as well as a recording contract wit ...

. It was announced by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in September 2012 that A*M*E would release her first commercial single, "Play The Game Boy", in November 2012. Produced by Electric, the track attained positive reviews, with ''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

'' listing the song as one of its 'Top 10 tracks You Need to Hear'; commenting on " tsinsanely addictive choruses and K-pop inspired melodies" and that "it feels fresher than anything else on this week's chart." On 9 December 2012, the

announced that A*M*E had been nominated for the Sound of 2013 poll alongside the likes of Angel Haze and

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

. Her collaboration with

, "

" was released in March 2013. It became both acts' most successful single at the time, debuting at number one and remaining there for two weeks, and earned her a nomination in the

Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

category at the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid co ...

. On 14 July 2014, A*M*E released her second official single, "Heartless", produced by Carl Falk and

Rami Yacoub Rami Yacoub (born 17 January 1975), also known by the mononym Rami, is a Palestinian-Swedish record producer and songwriter and former member of the songwriting/production houses Cheiron Studios and Maratone. Yacoub collaborated extensively wi ...

. She also featured on Monsieur Adi's single "What's Going On?",

CamelPhat CamelPhat are an English DJ and production duo, consisting of Dave Whelan and Mike Di Scala, formed in Liverpool in 2006. Initially they released music under various names but found success with their 2017 single "Cola (CamelPhat and Elderbro ...

's "Paradigm", MK's "My Love 4 U",

Tough Love Tough love is the act of treating a person sternly or harshly with the intent to help them in the long run. People exhibit and act upon tough love when attempting to address someone else's undesirable behaviour. Tough love can be used in many sce ...

's "Closer to Love", Shift K3Y's "Entirety", as well as appearing on

M-22 M-22 are a British-German DJ and producer duo consisting of Matt James and Frank Sanders. On March 22, the duo met, through a joint production, which is the reason for their stage name. History On March 22, 2015, the duo met during a joint ...

's "White Lies".

2019–present: KABBA and debut EP

Through an Instagram post on 8 July 2019, A*M*E announced that she would rebrand as KABBA. KABBA announced the first single from her self titled debut EP on 12 July 2019. It is titled "Glue" and features Bartoven, who previously appeared on her song "City Lights". The song was first premiered on

COMPLEX Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

on 24 July 2019. In the article, KABBA explained the reasons behind her rebrand, stating: "KABBA is a Sierra Leonean name and part of my identity that is so precious to me. Now that I'm entering a new phase in my career, I'm free to fully embrace KABBA."Emerging R&B Singer KABBA Shares Booming, Bass-Heavy "Glue": Her debut EP ''KABBA'' was released on 14 February 2020.

Artistry

Influences

KABBA has been heavily influenced by

K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

, saying "I love my K-pop, but I haven't really done anything with that sound yet. There's influences from it in my music – I've got some fat, solid, six-part melodies which are very K-poppy." KABBA cites

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/ pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with var ...

and

Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...

as her influences, she also cites

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

as a major influence calling Jackson her idol.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Promotional singles

Guest appearances

Songwriting credits

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:KABBA 1994 births Living people Sierra Leonean women singers 21st-century Black British women singers 21st-century British women singers Sierra Leonean emigrants to the United Kingdom Singers from London English house musicians English women pop singers People from Catford People from Freetown