Kacy Hill
Hill in 2016
Background information
Birth nameKacy Anne Hill
Born (1994-05-01) May 1, 1994
OriginPhoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • producer
  • model
Labels
Websitewww.kacyhill.com

Kacy Anne Hill (born May 1, 1994)[1] is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and former model.

She was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona and had previously worked as a model for American Apparel. She released "Experience", her first non-album single independently in 2014.[2] She additionally worked as a backup dancer on The Yeezus Tour for American rapper Kanye West, where he discovered her music and signed her to his GOOD Music label "immediately".[3]

Hill released "Foreign Fields", in 2015,[4] which was later included on the Bloo EP, via GOOD Music. Hill was also #6 on Dazed and Confused's Readers' 100 list and #29 on the Dazed 100 list in 2014.[5] In 2015, she was featured on Travis Scott song "90210" from his debut studio album Rodeo.[6] She released her debut album Like a Woman in 2017.[7]

Hill announced that she had left GOOD Music in 2019,[8] and independently released her second and third studio albums, Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again in 2020,[9] and Simple, Sweet, and Smiling in 2021.[10]

Early life

Hill was raised in Phoenix, Arizona and attended Arizona School for the Arts.[11] Hill has a younger sister, Emma. At an early age, she was influenced by music, playing the oboe and saxophone and singing in choir.[11]

Hill began modelling at the age of 16 after being discovered by a wedding photographer.[12] She moved to Los Angeles after high school to pursue a modelling career, which led to her becoming the face for American Apparel.[11] She got into music when she met a director named Stephen Garnett, who later directed the video for her first non-album single release, Experience.[11][13] Regarding her modelling career, Hill stated that she never felt passionate about it. In an interview with NY Mag, she was quoted as saying, "It wasn't something I really wanted to do; it was something that was there, so I went after it."[12]

Career

2013–2019: Debut and GOOD Music

Hill was a backup dancer for Kanye West during his 2013–2014 The Yeezus Tour.[14] She had released Experience, a non-album single at the beginning of the tour. The song was produced by Jaylien Wesley, also known as JAYLIEN. The video for the song was shot in ten minutes between her getting off a plane and going to a tour rehearsal. During the tour, West was provided with a copy of the song[15] and he immediately signed Hill to his GOOD Music label after his show in Atlantic City.[12]

Her song "Experience" received international media attention, with Digital Spy naming it a "track you need to hear"[16] as well as The BoomBox naming Hill an artist to watch in 2015.[17] Hill was also #6 on Dazed and Confused's Readers' 100 list and #29 on the Dazed 100 list in 2014.[5] After the release of "Experience", Hill wrote songs that became part of her debut EP with GOOD Music. Entitled Bloo, the songs were said to be a collection of what Hill wanted to accomplish musically.[18] The Express Tribune named her one of 10 new music artists you are bound to have on repeat.[19] Additional accolades came from GQ who stated "Hill's barrelling towards the big time" and NY Magazine who stated she was "ethereal yet catchy" and "one to watch."[20] Her first major feature was on the song "90210" on Travis Scott's Rodeo.

Hill finished recording her debut album in December 2016. In early May 2017, she released two singles, entitled "Hard to Love", produced by Stuart Price and Oskar Sikow, and "Like a Woman", produced by DJ Mustard, Terrace Martin and DJ Dodger Stadium (DJDS). Both singles were announced as the lead cuts from Hill's debut studio album, Like a Woman, released on 30 June 2017.[7]

In August 2018, Hill independently released the single entitled, "Dinner". In May 2019, Hill announced that she had left GOOD Music on Twitter.[8]

2020–2022: Independent releases

In July 2020, Hill released her second album Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again independently,[9] featuring co-production from Hill herself, Francis and the Lights, and BJ Burton, as well as Cashmere Cat, and Hill's now-partner, Jim-E Stack, who inspired a lot of the album's tracks. According to Hill, the album was "Turned down by every label but it means the world to me."[21] The album was met with favourable reviews from critics with music publication Pitchfork describing it as "Bright and open, built with sounds that move and breathe with the artist".[22] The album has surpassed 15 million streams as of January 2022.[23] She released a remix EP for the album in December 2020.[24] Hill also contributed to Japanese-Australian singer-songwriter Joji's Nectar album in September 2020, co-writing "Like You Do".

Hill began teasing her third album via social media, working on the record alongside Jim-E Stack and John Carroll Kirby. She finished production on the album in July 2021.[25] She released the lead single, "Seasons Bloom", on 27 August 2021, featuring production from Ariel Rechtshaid, Jim-E Stack, and Hill.[26] Another single, titled "Easy Going" with production from Ethan Gruska, Jim-E Stack, and Hill was released on the 24th September. The album, titled Simple, Sweet, and Smiling, was announced for release on 15 October 2021 the same day.[10] The album was met with positive reviews from critics, with Pitchfork describing it as "charming" and "imbued with a sense of lightness".[27] Hill will also embark on her first headlining tour, the Simple, Sweet and Selfish Tour, in promotion of the album, as well as her previous album.

Hill supported Coldplay for their show at State Farm Stadium in May 2022, and also released her first self-produced track "If I Could Say" in June 2022, via web3-based music platform Sound.[28] She also supported Conan Gray on his tour throughout September 2022.

2023–present: Upcoming album

Hill supported Suki Waterhouse for the Florida and Texas dates of her tour in October 2023. Hill signed with Nettwerk for the release of her upcoming album, led by the release of the lead single "No One" in November 2023.[29]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details
Like a Woman
Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again
  • Released: July 10, 2020[31]
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: LP, digital download, streaming
Simple, Sweet, and Smiling
  • Released: October 15, 2021[32]
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: LP, digital download, streaming

Extended plays

Title Details
Bloo
  • Released: October 9, 2015[33]
  • Label: GOOD Music, Def Jam, PMR
  • Format: Digital download, streaming

Singles

List of singles as lead artist, showing year released and album name
Title Year Album
"Experience" 2014 non-album single
"Foreign Fields" 2015 Bloo
"Lion" 2016 Like a Woman
"Like a Woman" 2017
"Hard to Love"
"Keep Me Sane"
"Dinner" 2018 Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again
"To Someone Else" 2019
"Much Higher"
"I Believe in You"
(featuring Francis and the Lights)		 2020
"Porsche"
"Unkind"
"Everybody's Mother"
"Seasons Bloom" 2021 Simple, Sweet, and Smiling
"Easy Going"
"No One" 2023 TBA
"Frog Rinse"

Guest appearances

List of guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name
Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"90210" 2015 Travis Scott Rodeo
"Releaser" 2016 Kid Cudi Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin'
"Europa Pools" 2017 Cashmere Cat 9
"Fall Through" RKCB RKCB-Sides
"I Heard (Part 2)" 2018 DJDS Big Wave More Fire
"PDLIF" 2020 Bon Iver TBA
"Can We" Jim-E Stack EPHEMERA
"Jesus" 2021 Jimi Somewhere Nothing Gold Can Stay
"Wake Up Tomorrow" Helado Negro Far In
"Luz Mala" 2022 John Carroll Kirby Cryptozoo (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
"Savage Cryptids"
"Cryptozoo End Credits Theme"
"Free Slime" IDK Non-album single
"I Used To" isomonstrosity (Ellen Reid, Johan Lenox & Yuga Cohler) isomonstrosity
"Close Enough" 2023 OTR Be Quiet, They're Listening

References

  1. ↑ "Kacy Hill - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News". BBC Music. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  2. ↑ R, Kaya (31 July 2015). "Kacy Hill is Feeling "Bloo" With New EP". Next2Shine. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Leight, Elias (17 December 2014). "G.O.O.D. Music Signs Former Kanye West Backup Dancer Kacy Hill". Billboard. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  4. ↑ "Single Review: Kacy Hill's Foreign Fields". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  5. 1 2 "The Dazed 100". Dazed. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  6. ↑ Travis Scott - 90210 ft. Kacy Hill, retrieved 2023-02-23
  7. 1 2 "Listen To Kacy Hill's Debut Album Like A Woman". The FADER. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  8. 1 2 "Kacy Hill Has Left Kanye West's G.O.O.D Music Label". HotNewHipHop. 2019-05-22. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  9. 1 2 Howard, Lindsay (10 July 2020). "Listen to Kacy Hill's incredible new album 'Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again'". Variance Magazine. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  10. 1 2 "Sacks & Co. /// Kacy Hill". sacksco.com. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Uncovering The Hidden Past of Kacy Hill, Kanye's New G.O.O.D. Protege". DJ Booth. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 Kaplan, Ilana (April 2015). "Kacy Hill's Kanye approved pop". New York Magazine. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  13. ↑ Walker, Lily (22 May 2015). "Homecoming Queen". Wonderland Magazine. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  14. ↑ Foster, Alistair (24 August 2015). "Kanye West's been great, says new star Kacy Hill - he told me to be myself". Evening Standard. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  15. ↑ "Kanye West Signs Kacy Hill to G.O.O.D. Music After Pusha T Suggests Lil Wayne Join the Label". Music Times. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  16. ↑ Corner, Lewis; Davidson, Amy (7 October 2014). "Playlist: 10 tracks you need to hear-Olly Murs, Cheryl, Clean Bandit". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  17. ↑ Josephs, Brian (16 January 2015). "10 Singers You Need to Pay Attention to in 2015". The BoomBox. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  18. ↑ Golden, Zara (28 July 2015). "Kacy Hill Announces Bloo EP, Download "Experience"". The Fader. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  19. ↑ Abdul, Haseeb Sultan (7 March 2015). "10 new music artists you are bound to have on repeat". Express Tribune. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  20. ↑ Cheslaw, Louis (18 December 2014). "How to get signed by Kanye with only one song". GQ Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  21. ↑ Kacy Hill – Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again (2020, Vinyl), retrieved 2021-07-31
  22. ↑ "Kacy Hill: Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again". Retrieved 2021-10-19.
  23. ↑ Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again, 2020-07-10, retrieved 2022-01-31
  24. ↑ Pandya, Hershal. "Just Circling Back with Kacy Hill: Interview". DJBooth. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  25. ↑ "Kacy Hill on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  26. ↑ Wang, Steffanee (27 August 2021). "Hear Kacy Hill's New Song "Seasons Bloom" Before Summer Ends". Nylon. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  27. ↑ "Kacy Hill: Simple, Sweet, and Smiling". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  28. ↑ "Kacy Hill - If I Could Say". Kacy Hill - If I Could Say. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  29. ↑ Vigliaturo, Bailey (2023-11-03). "KACY HILL Returns With New Single "No One"". Nettwerk Music Group. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  30. ↑ Cuby, Michael (12 May 2017). "Listen to Two New Songs by Kanye West-Signed Singer Kacy Hill". Paper Mag. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  31. ↑ "Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again by Kacy Hill". Apple Music. June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  32. ↑ Simple, Sweet, and Smiling by Kacy Hill, 2021-10-15, retrieved 2021-09-25
  33. ↑ "Kacy Hill sets release date for G.O.O.D. Music debut". Exclaim!. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
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