Known for her lavish, electronica-infused brand of R&B and downtempo, American singer-songwriter Alina Baraz first jumped into the public eye in the 2010s through a series of collaborations with Danish EDM producer Galimatias. Born on September 24, 1993, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Russian-Ukrainian parents, her musical taste was heavily informed by both classical music and female pop singers like Adele, Amy Winehouse, and Corinne Bailey Rae. She began singing gospel music at her local church and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 19 to pursue a career as a professional musician. After discovering the work of electronic producer Galimatias online, she wrote lyrics for one of his instrumentals and uploaded it to her SoundCloud page in 2013. This prompted the beginning of a fruitful creative exchange between the two that culminated with the release of the EP Urban Flora, which peaked at Number 2 on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums Chart in 2015. Following a brief North American tour in support of the EP, Alina Baraz signed with Mom + Pop Music and made her first live appearance as a solo artist at several festivals ahead of the release of her second extended play, The Color of You, in 2018. Preceded by the Top 10 non-album single "Buzzin" and "Electric" with Khalid, the EP reached Number 59 on the Billboard 200 and established Alina Baraz as one of the most promising talents in contemporary R&B. Featuring guest spots by 6lack, Smino, Khalid, and hip-hop legend Nas, her full-length debut It Was Divine peaked at Number 6 on the US R&B charts and Number 5 on the Independent Albums chart. This was followed by the independently-released two-part EP series Sunbeam and Moongate in 2021.
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