Female rapper Chika burst onto the scene in 2019 – the industry was pushing her HARD as the new gay female rapper.
Chika, who is from Alabama and has a strong following for her hard hitting lyrics, came out as LGBTQ+ and quickly gained a push from people hoping to increase gay voices in hip hop.
She once told the media, “As a queer black woman raised from immigrants, my entire existence is political, … For me to have a platform and be like, ‘Oh, I don’t do politics because that makes people uncomfortable’ is tone deaf to people who have to be political.”
Chika was featured by The Gay Times, OUT Magazine, and other prominent LGBTQ+ platforms. She’s also been honored at Pride parades across the country.
Well it turns out, she’s not gay anymore. Chika posted pics of her new boyfriend, whom she says that she’s in love with.
Some of her LGBTQ fans are upset with Chika’s revelation. Look:
Chika released her debut single, “No Squares”, in April 2019. The following month, at the invitation of guest host Lena Waithe (who is gay), she performed “Richey v. Alabama”, another of her songs, on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The song dealt with the state of Alabama’s 2019 abortion bill and was named for a friend of Chika’s. That summer, she signed a deal with Warner Records. Chika released two more singles as a lead artist in 2019: “High Rises” and “Can’t Explain It” featuring Charlie Wilson. That year, she also featured on JoJo’s “Sabotage”, which reached number 18 on the Billboard US R&B Digital Downloads.
In December 2019, Chika announced that she was working on her debut extended play titled Industry Games. On January 23, 2020, Chika confirmed the title and posted snippets of music from the EP, telling followers the release was two months away.
In 2020, Chika was included on XXL’s 2020 Freshman Class. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. and a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist. On March 11, 2021 Chika announced that her second EP Once Upon A Time would be released at midnight.
On April 10, 2021, Chika posted a widely publicized note to her Twitter account explaining her decision to retire from music while reflecting on the “mental toll” that life as a musician in the spotlight had taken on her health. In an Instagram Live session in which she interacted with fans following her initial retirement announcement, she criticized “trolls” or “stans” who “dogpile on top of people’s other mental problems and make them worse.”
She specifically cited the effects of online abuse on her ongoing battle with depression on her decision, although she left a small possibility for a comeback in her final statement.
