Kaien is a 22 yr old singer/songwriter born and raised in South Africa.
She made the move to Los Angeles in January in hopes of finding bigger and better opportunities.
Kaien took a large bet on herself moving to Los Angeles, waiting two years to receive a visa and going as far as to sell her car in order to have the money to live in Los Angeles.
She now is enjoying her time working with friends, and other creatives. Kaien also just dropped her latest single “Enormous” which you’ll find the link to below.
1. Who are you? What do you do? Where are you from?
My name is Kaien Cruz, I’m a 22 yr old singer/songwriter born and raised in South Africa. I moved to LA in January for bigger opportunities. I spent 2 years working on getting a visa so I could move out here. I sold my car and a few other things to save up enough money so I could chase my dreams. I’m now working with a lot of great people on new projects that I’m really excited about and recently released a song called Enormous that I will be dropping a video for soon.
2. What was the turning point in your career? Where were you before that?
In 2017 I opened for Justin Bieber in South Africa in front of 90 000 people for my second performance ever. It was a crazy experience that confirmed I was on the right path. Since then I’ve had hit songs, collaborated with Grammy-nominated artists, and am consistently expanding my brand and network independently.
3. How has your life experience shaped you?
Growing up my family wasn’t very wealthy so I had to learn how to work hard from a young age. Also dealing with racism, sexism, and homophobia from a young age as a queer woman of color. I’ve learned how to rise above the obstacles and challenges that people like me face every day in society and want to inspire other people like me to do the same, showing them that it’s possible.
4. How do you practice awareness? How do you maintain your best self and manage your day to day experiences?
I do a lot of self-reflection, remaining open-minded. Knowing I have no control over certain things but working on the things I can control keeps me centered and helps calm my anxiety caused by all the chaos that life brings. I also have amazing people around me that keep me grounded and focused.
5. What are some important issues you’d like to shed light on? How would you do it?
There are many issues in the world but the ones I can relate to the most are mixed women and all the challenges that they face daily.
Growing up I never really fitted in because I wasn’t white enough or black enough. I always felt like I existed in this in-between space and so through my music and art I want to be something mixed kids can look up to and relate to.
As well as showing them that anything is possible no matter who tells you that you’re not good enough. Like a lot of other people out there I just want to live in a world with equal rights, representation and overall equality.
Enormous Video
