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Kaiit
Kaiit performing at Laneway 2020
Background information
Birth name	Kaiit Bellamia Waup
Born	(1997-10-29) 29 October 1997 (age 27) Papua New Guinea
Origin	Melbourne, Australia
Genres	Neo soul
Occupation	Singer

Kaiit (/ˌkɑːˈiːt/ kah-EET) is the performance name of Kaiit Bellamia Waup (born 29 October 1997, Papua New Guinea), who is a neo soul singer-songwriter based in Australia. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, they won the inaugural Best Soul/R&B Release category for the single, "Miss Shiney" (2019).

Biography

Kaiit was born as Kaiit Bellamia Waup, in 1997 in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to a Papua New Guinean father and Indigenous Australian mother of Gunditjmara and Torres Strait Islander heritage. The artist grew up in both PNG and Australia. Initially pursuing a career as a make-up artist, Kaiit turned to performing as a singer based in Melbourne.

Kaiit's first single, "Natural Woman", was issued in mid-2017. It is co-written by Kaiit with Michael Chan, Jack Hewitt, Michael Cooper and Mohamed Komba. Sonny Thomas of Purple Sneakers praised the song, "Jam-packed with soul and seemingly effortless cool, she shines on her new single and film clip." It is included on their five-track debut extended play, Live from Her Room, which was issued in September 2018. Gloria Brancatisano of Beat rated it at 8.5 out-of 10, "Kaiit paints a picture of a woman who understands her worth, appreciating those who come into her life to improve it while carefully removing those who are toxic."

Another single, "OG Luv Kush Pt 2", from the EP had been issued in 2018, which is "an essay of reasons to leave a relationship and in spite of the listed problems, Kaiit shows her strength in character." The track was shared on social media by American singer, Jill Scott. At the APRA Music Awards of 2019 "OG Luv Kush Pt 2" was short-listed for Song of the Year. In that year the singer-songwriter undertook a European tour including a performance at England's The Great Escape Festival. In May 2019 the single, "Miss Shiney", was released. It won the inaugural Best Soul/R&B Release category at the ARIA Music Awards of 2019.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the artist turned to crowdfunding to maintain their independence from major record labels. In August 2021 they launched a GoFundMe page to "recover independence as an artist" and continue releasing new music. They performed new material in February 2023 at Nocturnal x Midsumma held at Melbourne Museum. In March 2024 the singer supported Zambian-born Sampa the Great at Supreme Court Gardens, Melbourne. Kaiit performed new songs, "2000 n Somethin'" and "Dumb Sis Juice", by "Combining fluid jazz sounds with wavy, celestial vocals, Kaiit delivered a quirky, intimate performance that left listeners feeling giddy and euphoric."

Personal life

Kaiit is non-binary, and uses she/her, he/him, and they/them pronouns. Her partner in life is fellow singer Adrian Eagle, who was also nominated for Best Soul/R&B Release in 2019 for his single "AOK".

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters".

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.

Music Victoria Awards

The Music Victoria Awards, are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005.

Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition

The Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition is an annual competition that "acknowledges great songwriting whilst supporting and raising money for Nordoff-Robbins" and is coordinated by Albert Music and APRA AMCOS. It commenced in 2009.

References

1. Kim, Soey (2 October 2018), "Kaiit Is Australia's 'Homegirl' You Need to Know Right Now", Vogue
2. "Kaiit on Speaking What She Wants into Existence". YouTube. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
3. ^ Mantesso, Sean (3 November 2017). "PNG-Born Singer Kaiit Making Waves on Australian Music Scene". ABC Radio Australia. Retrieved 15 April 2024. n.b. Associated audio file is no longer available
4. ^ Wehner, Cyclone (10 February 2023). "Kaiit: 'We Continue to Keep Pushing, Despite not Getting the Recognition'". MusicFeeds. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
5. Campbell, Amy (16 August 2019), "Soul Music Is Having A Global Renaissance & Kaiit Is Flying Australia's Flag", GQ
6. "Song Catalogue Search Results for 'Natural Woman'". APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society). Retrieved 16 April 2024.
7. Thomas, Sonny. "Watch Kaiit's Effortless Cool on 'Natural Woman'". Purple Sneakers. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
8. ^ Brancatisano, Gloria (21 April 2018). "Kaiit: Live From Her Room". Beat. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
9. ^ "2019 APRA Awards nominees announced". noise11. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
10. Weily, Evie (May 2019), "Neo-Soul Queen Kaiit returns with new single, 'Miss Shiney'", Purple Sneakers
11. "2019 ARIA Award Winners Announced". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 27 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
12. "ARIA Awards 2019: Tones and I Wins Big & Human Nature Hall of Fame". MediaWeek. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
13. ^ Brandle, Lars (10 October 2019), "Tones and I Leads 2019 ARIA Awards Nominations", Billboard
14. "Kaiit is fundraising to regain her "independence", continue releasing music". NME Australia. 27 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
15. Curran, Libby (9 February 2023). "Nocturnal x Midsumma 2023, Melbourne". concreteplayground.com. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
16. ^ Horak, Emma (28 March 2024). "A Review of Sampa the Great: A Spectacle in the Supreme Court Gardens". Pelican. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
17. Subvrtmag (25 January 2022). "Return to Me: An Ode to Gender Non-Conforming Musicians". Subvrt Mag. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
18. "Kaiit (@kaiit_isshe) • Instagram photos and videos".
19. Smith, Matthew (30 November 2019). "From housing trust homes to the ARIAs, Adrian Eagle's career is soaring to new heights". Retrieved 30 November 2019.
20. "Live from Her Room – EP by Kaiit on Apple Music". Apple Music. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
21. "Father Said – Single by Kaiit". Apple Music. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
22. "2000 N Somethin – Single by Kaiit". Apple Music. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
23. "OG Luv Kush P2 – Single by Kaiit". Apple Music. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
24. "Miss Shiney – Single by Kaiit". Apple Music. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
25. "Kaiit shares tongue-in-cheek new neo-soul single and music video, 'Lil Mama Theme Song'". Sniffers. 22 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
26. "Warning – Single by Cookin' on 3 Burners & Kaiit". Apple Music. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
27. Cookin' on 3 Burners (2018), Lab experiments. Vol. 2, Origin Music, retrieved 16 April 2024{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
28. "APRA History". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Retrieved 25 April 2022.
29. "APRA Has Revealed The 2020 Song Of The Year Finalists". The Music. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
30. "Previous Nominess". Music Victoria. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
31. "Previous Winners". Music Victoria. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
32. "G Flip, Hiatus Kaiyote, Ninajirachi Dominate Music Victoria Awards Nominations". The Music. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
33. "About the Vanda Young Global Song Writing Competition". APRA AMCOS. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
34. "Past Winners". APRA AMCOS. Retrieved 13 March 2021.

• 1997 births
• Papua New Guinean singers
• Living people
• 21st-century Australian singers
• ARIA Award winners
• Musicians from Melbourne
• Australian non-binary musicians
• Non-binary singers
• Australian LGBTQ singers