Michele Andrea Sherman (born March 23, 1987), better known by her stage name Siya, is an American rapper. In 2012, she signed with

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

's R&B Money label imprint. She starred in the Oxygen

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...

series '' Sisterhood of Hip Hop''. Siya has collaborated with artists such as

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

Sage the Gemini Dominic Wynn Woods (born June 20, 1992), better known by his stage name Sage the Gemini (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer from Fairfield, California. He is best known for his 2013 singles "Gas Pedal" (featuring I ...

and Kirko Bangz. Siya has performed alongside artists such as

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...

at the world famous B.B. Kings, as well as opened up for

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

and

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), known professionally as Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition for his ability upon performing live on DJ Clue's WQHT, Hot 97 radio show. Jackson then signed ...

during a concert at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York. Currently starring in the BET Plus show Angel.

Early life

Siya was born in Barstow, California to an African American father and a Puerto Rican mother, and has three sisters. Due to her mother's drug abuse and her incarcerated father, Siya was sent to live with her grandmother who raised her in the Eleanor Roosevelt housing projects in

Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Bedford–Stuyvesant ( ), colloquially known as Bed–Stuy, is a neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Bedford–Stuyvesant is bordered by Flushing Avenue to the north (bordering Williamsburg), Classon ...

. Siya began rapping at the age of seven and entered into the music industry at the age of 12. Siya's childhood influence was the rap group called

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (formerly known as B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e and also referred to as simply Bone Thugs or Bone) is an American hip hop group formed in 1991 in Cleveland, Ohio. Consisting of rappers Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone, Layzie Bone, Krayzie ...

. She states: "What I loved about them was how melodic their music was and that they tried different shit."

Musical career

Music became an outlet for Siya to comprehend her experiences and feelings. After moving to Atlanta to pursue her music career in her mid 20s she built a reputation and fan base for herself and caught the attention of well known artists and major labels. While some in the industry were afraid of how an openly gay female rapper would fit into the genre, Siya remained determined and refused to compromise her identity and stayed true to her style. R&B legend

soon found her and from there she was signed to

's label R&B Money LLC. Siya released her singles "I'm Gone", "Smoke Drink", and

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

''Elevator Dreams'' in 2011. Siya released her singles "One Hunnid" and "Real MVP" in 2014. She released a

titled ''Better Late Than Never,'' and ''What Never Happened'' in 2015. She went on to release her debut studio album ''SIYAvsSIYA,'' on December 9, 2016. The album included collaborations with artists such as Ashley Rose, Jake&Papa, Lyric Wright and

Kreesha Turner Kreesha Turner (born June 10, 1985) is a Canadian recording artist and songwriter, born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Raised in both Canada and Jamaica, she began her musical career after a successful audition with Virgin Records. She signed a r ...

with the debut single being "New York." On February 6, 2017, Siya released a song titled "Front Door", in promotion for her six song

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, ''Commitment.'' The EP was released on February 10, 2017, under

's label imprint, R&B Money LLC. The EP features the single "Don't You (Say Yes)" featuring Tank. In 2017 she released "Houston Girls" ft

Kirko Bangz Kirk Jerel Randle (born August 20, 1989), better known by his stage name Kirko Bangz, is an American rapper, known for his 2011 single " Drank in My Cup", which peaked at number 28 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and received platinum certific ...

& "Hot Girl" with her EP ''383- For Roosevelt''. In 2018 she released "No Race" and "Circle Watching" as a preview for her next EP ''Mad Energy'' expected to drop fall 2018.

Discography

Albums

*''SIYAvsSIYA'' (2016) *383 – for Roosevelt (2017) *Mad Energy (2018)

Mixtapes

*''Elevator Music'' (2011) *''Better Late Than Never'' (2015) *''What Never Happened'' (2015) *''Commitment'' (2017)

Filmography

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1987 births Living people People from Barstow, California African-American women rappers East Coast hip-hop musicians American lesbian musicians African-American LGBTQ people American LGBTQ rappers LGBTQ people from New York (state) Rappers from Brooklyn Puerto Rican women rappers 21st-century Puerto Rican rappers LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American women 21st-century American women rappers