Her style may have been heavily influenced by the late singer Aaliyah when she was growing up, but Bia has created her own lane. The rapper’s star has been rising for quite some time, especially after she was signed to Pharrell Williams’s i am OTHER record label. However, her career came to a bit of a standstill in the years to follow after she was shelved. Now that she’s able to spread her wings, we’ve seen much more of the Massachusetts native.
Russ added Bia to his single “Best on Earth,” a hit song that not only introduced Bia to a larger audience but also received a co-sign from Rihanna. “I would say that was one of the best days for me of my career,” the rapper told HipHopDX. “Because Rihanna, she is one of my favorite people in the world. And to have a co-sign like that from a peer, it already means a lot. But to have co-sign, like that from your favorite person. Like one of the people that you look to for inspiration or one of the people that you feel like set the bar. It was overwhelming for me. It just hit different.”
Bia calls herself a “real student of rap” who studies the styles and flows of those to be considered icons as well as her peers. “When it comes to rap and flow, I’ve always been heavy on rap. I’m a flow type of person,” Bia added. “I love Big Sean’s flow. I love Nicki Minaj. She influenced me a lot. I love Bankroll Fresh. Bankroll Fresh to this day is one of my favorite rappers of all time. People ask me, ‘Who was my biggest inspiration?’ They always think it was Big Sean and I always tell people it was Bankroll Fresh. I’m a real student of rap. I just love rap. I love music. I’m onto sh*t at least a year or two before it pops.” Check out Bia sharing a sexy clip of herself as she raps along to her latest single “Cover Girl” and watch her interview with us on Between the Lines below.
