This is Tori Kelly.
The 22-year-old singer from California has recently been nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist and after years of loving her talent and supporting her music, I can say without a doubt that she deserves it. If you haven't heard about her then listen up. (I mean literally, click this link to access her music on Spotify to listen to while reading this post.)
Here are nine reasons why she deserves the Grammy Nomination:
1. Tori Kelly's first publicly documented performance was this astounding performance below on America's Most Talented Kids in 2004 at the age of 11.
Above is her performance on the show.
2. She auditioned for American Idol in 2010 at the age of 16 (Season 9) and made it, but didn't get through Hollywood.
(See her audition above). But, she didn't let this national rejection get her down. In fact, she let it inspire her to make more songs, and to become the star she is today. Listen to her reflect about her experience below.
3. As Kelly explains above, she let her Idol rejection fuel her songwriting and garnered success on her following YouTube presence.
After Idol, she started putting her own original music along with incredible covers of other songs on Youtube. See her perform one of her earlier covers, Suit & Tie by Justin Timberlake, live, in front of Justin himself, a couple years after she originally posted it. Below two more of my favorite covers by her.
4. Due to the fan base she garnered from Youtube, she released two beautiful EPs: Handmade Songs and Forward
Above is a song from Handmade Songs and below is a song from Forward. Tori released Handmade Songs solo, writing, producing, editing, and recording everything herself in her bedroom (so talented). Forward was released under Capitol Records. In the video below, Kelly teams up with Ian Eastwood, a choreographer on the rise (maybe a future article as well).
5. After her two awesome EPs, she releases her debut album Unbreakable Smile.
In between the release of Handmade Songs and Forward, Tori Kelly meets Scooter Braun, the manager for big names such as Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. Then she signs with Capitol Records and releases her first album, Unbreakable Smile. The album is a mixture of pop, r&b and minor hip hop threads, with a definite coffeehouse vibe; influences from Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott can definitely be heard as well as other traditional pop influences. The album made it to #2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and is still making splashes around the globe. She had been signed to a label when she was 12, but things didn't pan out and it was mutually agreed that she be released from the label. Kelly posted a video of a teary thank you to her fans when her album reached #1 on the iTunes charts. Watch it below:
6. She should be nominated just for this performance on the 2015 VMAs alone.
7. And this performance at the BET Awards during the Smokey Robinson Tribute
Watch it here.
TORI, ARE YOU REAL? Even Snoop Dog doesn't think you're real.
8. And this performance at the MTV EMAs where she did a really cool mashup of her song "Should've Been Us" and "No Scrubs" by TLC and "Ready or Not" by The Fugees (around 2:00)
9. Or for this rendition of "Colors of the Wind" from the Disney animated film Pocahontas
# goals
After trying to years to break through, Tori Kelly has finally done it with her talent, drive, and her constant gratitude. So far she has worked with many big names such as Max Martin, Pharrell, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, India Arie, and Big Sean. Now Tori is nominated for her first Grammy and as one of her biggest fans, I can't wait to see where she goes next. I'm gonna end this piece with a video by her and Pentatonix that is appropriate for this time of year. Congrats, Tori Kelly!
