Lu Kala

**Lusamba Vanessa Kalala**, better known as **LU KALA** (stylized in all caps), is a Congolese-Canadian singer and songwriter.

## Early life

KALA was born on July 21, 1991 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. She is the second youngest of eight children. At the age of three, her family immigrated to Canada. She first lived at Toronto’s Regent Park, and later moved to Ajax, where she attended Pickering High School.

KALA grew up in a "big traditional Congolese family", but being raised in Toronto shaped her as a person. Her first language was French, but she became bilingual so she could speak English at school. KALA says that her mother was supportive of her choice to be a musician, bringing her to auditions. She says her father took a bit longer and often asked her to return to school, but he eventually came around.

KALA wrote songs from an early age, initially believing that everyone wrote songs. She still remembers the songs that she wrote when she was young, specifically a song she wrote when she was eleven years old.

## Career

### 2010-2011: Peradise

KALA originally started her career under the name Peradise, releasing a song called "Done With You (La La La)".

### 2012-2017: Vanessa Lu

In the early part of her songwriting career, KALA wrote for local artists. Eventually, she gained a writing credit on Jennifer Hudson's song "Dangerous" from her 2014 album "JHUD". Kala also provided background vocals for the song.

In 2016, KALA released covers under the name Vanessa Lu, including "Lean On" and "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off".

In 2017, KALA auditioned for the Honey Jam Mentorship Program. This led her to perform a lot and develop herself as an artist. She eventually left the spotlight and took a break until around the time she released her debut single.

### 2018-2021: *Worthy*

On September 5, 2018, KALA released her debut single, "DCMO (Don't Count Me Out)". She performed the single at the Canadian Music Week in 2019. She also won the grand prize at Royal Bank of Canada's Emerging Musician Program, earning $10,000 worth of studio time among other prizes. "DCMO (Don't Count Me Out)" was described as "powerful" by *Complex*.

KALA's second single, "Body Knew", was released on February 26, 2020. It was praised by *Unheard Gems* and *Sidedoor*. Her third single, "Want You", was released on April 29, 2020. The song also received good reviews from critics. *Sidedoor* described her 2020 single "No Smoke" as "upbeat, catchy, and empowering". On August 26, 2020, she released the single "Love Like".

On October 21, 2020, KALA released her debut EP, *Worthy*. The EP has eight tracks. On October 23, 2020, KALA released the EP's sixth and final single "Love Shit".

On November 12, 2021, KALA released the single "Today", a collaboration with Canadian producer POLUN.

### 2022-present: Singles and newfound success

Throughout 2022, KALA promoted her unreleased songs "Nothing But Love" and "Back on my Bad Bitch" on TikTok. On December 2, 2022, KALA released the single "Pretty Girl Era" after months of TikTok promotion. It was added to multiple weekly release playlists on Spotify and soon became one of her most streamed songs. The song also entered the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.

On February 17, 2023, KALA released the song "Lottery" alongside American rapper Latto. The song became her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100. On March 1, 2023, Kala and Latto performed the song together at the Billboard Women in Music event. On June 13, 2023, KALA released the "Pretty Girl Pack" EP, featuring four new versions of "Pretty Girl Era".

On August 13, 2023 KALA began teasing the single "Hotter Now" which was released on September 22, 2023. The song eventually became her highest peaking song on the Canadian Hot 100. It was announced that LU was supposed to release an EP in 2023, but this didn't happen.

KALA released her song "Nothing But Love" on January 19, 2024, years after it had been initially teased on TikTok.

## Trivia

* Kala sites Rihanna, P!nk, and Drake as some of her influences
* She knew she wanted to be a singer since she was in sixth grade

## References list

1. ↑ Popsugar
2. ↑ Rayday
3. ↑ Flaunt
4. ↑ Exclaim
5. ↑ YouTube - Interview
6. ↑ BlackPlastic
7. ↑ Instagram - Vanessa Lu
8. ↑ Exclaim
9. ↑ DurhamRegion
10. ↑ Billboard Canadian Hot 100
11. ↑ Billboard
12. ↑ YouTube - Performance
13. ↑ Canadian Hot 100
14. ↑ Galore