Citizen Queen

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Citizen Queen is an a cappella girl group consisting of vocalists Kaedi Dalley, Cora Isabel, Hannah Mrozak, Nina Nelson, and Kaylah Sharve’. The group was formed in 2018 under the auspices of RCA Records, with mentorship from Pentatonix member Scott Hoying.[1][2][3]

Formation[]

Pentatonix member Scott Hoying, along with manager Jonathan Kalter,[1] and arrangers and producers Ben Bram and Shams Ahmed, "hand-selected each member" of the group.[2] The members of the band "come from different states and different ethnic backgrounds".[2]

Singer and beatboxer Cora Isabel was the first member chosen, after sending audition videos to the arrangers.[2] Ben Bram first saw Hannah Mrozak on season 13 of The Voice "where she made it to the playoffs in 2017 as a member of Adam Levine's and Jennifer Hudson's teams". Bram "reached out to Mrozak" and "encouraged her to audition" for Citizen Queen.[1] The members of the group were "complete strangers before the group's founding, aside from Nelson and Sharve’", who were members of the SoCal VoCals,[2] of which producer Ben Bram had previously been music director before participating in the formation of Pentatonix and Citizen Queen.[4] Sharve’ had also previously released an album and performed in her home state of Texas.[5]

The group has been identified as playing a part in the revival of girl groups in the United States. Refinery29 stated that the group "kicks down the doors with their powerful official debut, and the perfectly placed harmonies, bass, and vocal percussion on the original song all but promise a top spot for the talented newbies. Forget what you heard — girl groups ain't dead, y'all".[6] Nylon described the group as "Modern representation plus Danity Kane-levels of pop ear-worminess? This is the girl group we deserve!"[7] The group has been described as "unique because they tend to rely more on their voices rather than singing along to a beat".[8] Cosmopolitan compared the group to Fifth Harmony, and their origin to the movie, Pitch Perfect, noting that "after going through a cappella boot camps and auditions, the girls joined forces to create pop anthems and covers".[9] Fringe noted that the group had "received praise from the likes of everyone from Ariana Grande to Meghan Trainor".[10]

Song production and touring[]

The group first worked out of "an Airbnb in L.A. where they recorded four fully produced songs and music videos in one week".[2] Their first popular video was "Evolution of Girl Groups", a six-minute medley of 25 songs, which was posted to YouTube in January 2019.[1][11] It had received nearly 10 million views by June 2019,[1] and over 18 million views by August 2020,[2] passing 20 million views in December 2020.[3]

In July 2019, the group went on "a nine-week world tour opening for Pentatonix",[2] with the tour also featuring singer/songwriter Rachel Platten. The group went on to record well-viewed videos for "No Tears Left to Cry" by Ariana Grande,[1][12] "Lost in Japan" by Shawn Mendes, and "Never Enough" from The Greatest Showman.[1] In June 2020, the group performed an arrangement of "Free Your Mind" by En Vogue for the 2020 Pride Benefit Concert put on by RCA Records and the Human Rights Campaign.[13] In December 2020, the group released their first original song, "Call Me Queen", written by Justin Tranter, Nova Wav, and Shawn Wasabi, and accompanied by a music video produced by .[14][3] The group also performed that month at TheWrap's 2020 Power Women Summit.[15] In January 2021, the group released an official remix of "Call Me Queen" by Armada Music artist Frank Pole.[16]

The group's next original song was "No Ego", written by Justin Tranter and songwriting duo Nova Wav and released in March 2021.[10] In April 2021, the group released the original ballad, "Y", reported by the group to have been inspired by a bad breakup experienced by Mrozak. Shortly after the posting of a video on TikTok introducing the song, it was reported that "the TikTok video has almost four million views and over nine thousand comments".[12]

Members[]

Citizen Queen consists of five members (ages as of July 2021):

  • Cora Isabel (Beatboxer, 20)
  • Hannah Mrozak (Mezzo-Soprano, 22)
  • Kaedi Dalley (Bass, 20)
  • Kaylah Sharve’ (Alto, 22)
  • Nina Nelson (Soprano, 23)

Chart performance[]

In December 2020, Citizen Queen had three songs on the South African iTunes Pop 100, these being their covers of "No Tears Left to Cry" at #48, "Slow Burn" at #96, and "Lost in Japan" at #100.[17]

In May 2021, the original song "Y" reached #48 on the Nigerian iTunes Pop 100.[18]

Discography[]

Singles[]

  • 2020: Call Me Queen
  • 2021: No Ego
  • 2021: Y

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Levy, Piet (June 17, 2019). "Citizen Queen could be the next big girl group. Milwaukee's Hannah Mrozak is one of the singers". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Zayed, Marissa (August 24, 2020). "Rising artists Citizen Queen are setting the scene for female a cappella". Daily Trojan.
  3. ^ a b c Brow, Jason (December 11, 2020). "Citizen Queen Demands Your 'Attention & Respect' In Their First Original Song 'CallMe Queen'". Hollywood Life.
  4. ^ Ben-Moche, Erin (September 16, 2020). "Ben Bram on Creating A Cappella During a Pandemic". The Jewish Journal.
  5. ^ Goode, Jo-Carolyn (May 17, 2019). "Kaylah Sharve' Is a Star On the Rise". Houston Style Magazine.
  6. ^ Komonibo, Ineye (December 11, 2020). "New Music To Know: F*ck Buddies, 3-Part Harmonies & The Good Kind Of Pain". Refinery29.
  7. ^ "Soundcheck: The Best 10 Music Releases the Week of December 14, 2020". Nylon. December 14, 2020.
  8. ^ Greene, Kaylyn (March 21, 2021). "Five women artists you should add to your playlist". The Underground.
  9. ^ Bowenbank, Starr (September 15, 2021). "Attention: The Girl Group Renaissance Is Upon Us". Cosmopolitan.
  10. ^ a b "Vocal quintet Citizen Queen releases second original song, 'No Ego'". Fringe. February 27, 2021.
  11. ^ Roschke, Ryan (January 24, 2019). "This FANTASTIC Girl Group Medley Takes You Through 60 Years of Perfect Pop Music". PopSugar.
  12. ^ a b Fontalvo, Kayla (May 1, 2021). "Citizen Queen's Powerful Story Behind Song 'Y' Gains Social Media Popularity". Glitter Magazine.
  13. ^ Daw, Stephen (June 30, 2020). "5 Highlights From RCA Records & Human Rights Campaign's Pride Benefit Concert". Billboard.
  14. ^ "Citizen Queen Releases First Original Song 'Call Me Queen'". BroadwayWorld. December 11, 2020.
  15. ^ Vogel, Emily (December 3, 2020). "Annie Lennox, Melissa Etheridge Perform for COVID-19 Relief at Power Women Summit 2020". TheWrap.
  16. ^ "Citizen Queen Release 'Call Me Queen' Frank Pole Remix". BroadwayWorld. January 6, 2021.
  17. ^ "South Africa iTunes Top 100 Pop Songs". www.top-charts.com.
  18. ^ "Nigeria iTunes Top 100 Pop Songs". www.top-charts.com.

External links[]

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