With two new singles — “Natural” and “Space and Pussy” — gaining traction, Kiana Ledé is ready to deliver even more to her fans. The L.A.-based singer stopped by Billboard‘s NYC office for an episode of Billboard Gaming, just in time for the release of her Cut Ties album arrival on Friday (Nov. 1).
In Cut Ties, Kiana Ledé delves deeply into the complexities of anxious and avoidant attachment styles, reflecting on the ways relationships can offer both comfort and pain, shaping one’s emotional responses over time. The album invites listeners to experience a journey through love’s emotional spectrum—from the security and closeness of a relationship’s early stages to the eventual sense of detachment and heartbreak that may follow.
We faced off with the singer-songwriter in several rounds of Mario Kart while discussing the inspiration behind her album, her love for Halloween and High School Musical and more.
You just dropped two new singles, “Natural” and “Space and Pussy.” Can you dive into the themes of self-assurance and womanhood? What’s the inspiration for those tracks?
Ooh, “Space and Pussy” and “Natural.” I mean, I think they’re pretty opposite of each other, just because “Natural” is about feeling so comfortable with the person that you’re with that you would do anything—wink wink—with them.
And then “Space and Pussy” is like, I gave you my p—y, and I gave you space, and, like, what more could anybody ask for? And you’re stupid because you f—ked it up. They’re pretty opposite, but they both have to do with p—y, I guess.
Is that a surrounding theme for the album?
P—y?
Yeah.
[Laughs.] Yeah, I mean, I feel like p—y is like a theme of my life.
And why is that?
I just think p—y is beautiful. I think my p—y is beautiful. I think other people’s p—ies are beautiful. P—y, in general, is just a beautiful part of life. It gives us life, you know?
You also recently dropped a visualizer for “Natural”. What was the creative process for that?
I wanted to do something, like, kind of spooky because, obviously, spooky is my favorite genre—horror is my favorite genre. I love spooky season. But also, one of my first acting jobs was Zoe in Scream [the show], and, spoiler alert, I die in Scream. And I loved dying — it was so fun — and I wanted to either be the villain or die again and bring that back. Eventually, I want to write my own horror movie, and I want to, like, I don’t know, just… it’s something that I’m really passionate about.
So, the “Natural” video, I was like, “Why don’t I just get back into the horror bag?” because I know people are going to be excited to see me doing horror stuff again too.
Music is meant to be experienced, and everyone interprets songs and albums differently. But with this album specifically, what message, idea, or theme do you want your listeners to take away?
I think I want them to listen to the story. This album is really a story. It’s a message about how great things can go horribly wrong. I think something really important to take away is the story of me finding out who I need to keep in my life and who doesn’t deserve to be in it quicker than I have in the past, and hopefully that inspires other people to do the same.
I heard this album is also inspired by like your passion for Halloween, is that correct?
Yeah, I love Halloween.
How has loving Halloween influenced this album?
I mean, obviously, it was perfect timing because it’s spooky season.
I made that something that was a part of what we were doing because I wanted to be able to celebrate. Like, for me, there are only two holidays every year: my birthday and Halloween. And so, I take it very seriously. I was excited to potentially release an album on Halloween.
So, the whole year is Halloween except for my birthday. Then it’s my birthday, and the rest of the year is Halloween. I love spooky. I grew up watching horror movies and having horror movie marathons with my sister and my dad and just always being drawn to darker things in general in life.
I just love things that people don’t really like to talk about. It interests me. I follow Creepy.org on Twitter, and I’m just really drawn to things that are scary or that people don’t want to talk about. It just excites me. So, I was excited to bring a little bit of that into this album and the visual part.
I’m not used to having a good idea for the visual creative part of the album because I’m not a very visual person. But once I added that aspect of horror and brought that spookiness into it, I was like, “Oh, I got this. Boom, boom, boom. This is what we’re doing.”
So, did that idea also influence the cover?
I’m a huge Pinterest person. I love Pinterest. So, I had a Pinterest board, and I was just putting together different things that are kind of on the darker side that have to do with the themes of the songs on the album. And ropes were one, especially because “Cut Ties” — we also have another song called “Too Many Strings.” And sometimes relationships can be scary, you know?
I know I’ve been in all these relationships in my life, so we took the ropes to show, “I am stuck in this situation, but I’m about to cut the s—t. Don’t worry about it; I’ll be good.”
You recently went independent — why?
I think I was just ready for something different. I’ve been in label situations, major label situations, since I was 15,14,15. And I was ready to just be able to make more of my own choices. And I really came into this new era of having freedom. So now I just really fully have all the freedom.
Do you think this album represents freedom in a sense?
Yeah, I would say so. I mean, even in the album, I’m breaking loose from the person in the relationship and from friendships that I’ve had that I’ve just needed to cut ties with earlier on than I did. So, yeah, I guess it represents the freedom that I have to choose.
Going independent is a big step for any artist. What challenges have you faced since?
Honestly, I don’t feel like I’ve felt a lot of challenges. Because I didn’t have as much control before, I didn’t feel as much pressure on making certain decisions. But I wish I did make more decisions. Now I can make all the decisions; I have to. It’s overwhelming, almost. Like, I really have to get this right, and if I fall on a sword, it’s going to be my own sword.
So, if things go wrong, it’s all on you — there’s no one else to blame. How do you manage that pressure?
There’s definitely times where I feel that pressure, but I feel like my team is just so supportive, and I’m very big on teamwork. We all are moving as a unit together every single step of the way. So I definitely feel some of that pressure sometimes in my most vulnerable moments, but I think I just feel so much like a team that it feels like we’re all helping this machine work for us.
All in this together? Like High School Musical?
Exactly. Do you know the dance?
[We do a quick version on the dance in our sets.]
That’s good! That was good!
My mom actually bought High School Musical 2 on DVD and I had the soundtrack, but I don’t have it anymore.
Yes, you do. [Smiles.]
I don’t.
You know you do.
I don’t, my mom probably has it. I do love High School Musical, I really do.
High School Musical is the best. I used to want to be Gabriela so bad.
You’ve recently been on tour with Jhené Aiko, and now you’re heading out again for the third leg. How’s the experience been so far?
It’s been so much fun. I mean, she’s amazing. I’m obsessed with her. She’s my favorite artist in the world. So, it’s been a lot of fun just to be able to be on the same stage as her.
And also, she is such an amazing person, you know? There are a lot of experiences we’ve had in the industry where the people that you respect unfortunately aren’t the coolest people, you know?
I can relate.
And she’s really f—king cool. We go to the green rooms every day, and there’s rose petals and confetti and glitter at our door.
And she’s so genuine and sweet. So, I’m having a lot of fun. The chaos is so much fun. Yeah, everyone’s pretty great. I think that’s what makes a tour experience good or not—not even necessarily the show itself, but the people. So, it’s been fun. But the fans have been awesome. Her fans are great.
Sometimes they be fighting during random songs, though. I get so confused. There are these things I’d seen on Twitter, like, when we were on tour, and they were like, “How are you fighting after a Jhené Aiko concert?” And I’m literally, like, same. Like, how do you do that?
It’s so soothing.
Yeah. But they found a way.
As you head into the third leg of the tour, will there be any changes to your performance, or will it stay mostly the same? What can fans look forward to this time around?
I might add a song, a new song.
From the album?
Yeah, I might add a new one; who knows?
Getting back into the album, what’s your favorite song?
My favorite song? That’s hard. Maybe “Out of Luck?” Maybe — no, no, that’s a lie. “Too Many Strings?” No, “The Truth.” I don’t know; that’s hard.
Are they all your babies?
Yeah, I always have a hard time with that question because I also think it depends on the mood.
Like the day, the hour, the time.
Yeah, right now I feel like I’m kind of in a bad b—ch, maybe a little bit in a bad mood earlier kind of mood. So, I think the bad b—ch would come out today. “Out of Luck” is me.
I like “Burn It Up.”
Oh, you like that one?
Yes, I like “Burn It Up.” I don’t know if it’s the beat or like the message I just like when I hear it, it makes me feel good. You know?
Yeah, I love that. “Burn It Up” is good. That’s definitely a psycho song, for sure.
With over a billion streams, your music keeps evolving, but how do you stay true to your original self before the fame, before the honor, before the glory? How do you evolve, but still stay true to you?
I think, honestly, one of the things that has been a blessing and a curse is having imposter syndrome.
Having imposter syndrome is really crazy and shitty sometimes, but also, like, it weirdly does keep me grounded. I know that every time somebody listens to my music or a fan comes up to me and they’re like, “Oh my god, are you da da da da da da?” and they freak out, I have no idea why they’re freaking out. It probably sounds dumb, but I literally will be like, “Why are you?” This is crazy that they’re freaking out.
Like, I’m just chillin’ here… I’ll literally be like, “Who are they freaking out about? Who’s behind me?” [Laughs.] Because it doesn’t make sense to me. It doesn’t click in my head for some reason. So, that’s one of the things that I think is like a weird way to stay grounded because I just appreciate it every time; I just don’t expect it.
And then I think the other way is I’m very close with my family, and I’m best friends with some of the people I work with. I’m also best friends with somebody who I’ve known since third grade. She’s been my best friend since third grade. So, it’s just kind of a reminder to me that if she still loves me, I’m the same person… Because I know if I were to f—k around and change up, she would not be f—king with me, you know? So having those people in your life that are your constants from when you were a child, it’s like, you know that that core you is still there.
Yeah, like it reminds you of where you came from.
Yeah, exactly. So, it’s great. I love that.
Do you think you’re underrated?
It’s so funny; I don’t feel like I’m underrated. I think people say that I’m underrated. I feel like it’s kind of a weird thing to say just because I know my fans rate me, you know? I think they mean it as a compliment, obviously, when they say you’re underrated. To me, it’s like what the great Marcel the Shell said: “compared to what?” Like, compared to what? Because I feel like I’ve done—like, yes, I’ve been in this s—t for twelve years, probably closer to thirteen at this point, and it’s been a long ass time.
Do I feel like I am where I thought I would be when I was a kid? No, not necessarily. But also, I think I have certain expectations that people don’t probably know about, you know? I have my own goals. I think people expect that if they love you and your music is great and you’re a great person.
So from what they can see, they assume that you should be — or you want to be — like Beyoncé, you know? Or close to that. And that’s just not where I want to be. So while I appreciate people saying that, because really what they’re saying is more people should know about you because your music is so great.
I really am happy with where I’m at. Obviously, I would love to make more money [laughs] and have more people hear my music, but it’s really also about just making people feel something. And I’ve had to learn to get the love back for music, and it’s not like fully there yet, but I think people weirdly — and I don’t want to sound ungrateful — but people saying things like “underrated” takes away that love a little bit when I hear it.
But I do see that it’s a good thing, and I’m grateful that people say it.
I feel like when it comes to being an underrated artist it’s like, “You’re a great artist, but why don’t more people know about you?” Or “Why isn’t your name brought up in conversations about the top three, top five, or even top 20?” It’s not to think about “what am I doing wrong?” but to think “hmm why aren’t I being mentioned?” You know what I’m saying?
Yeah, I think maybe that’s what it is. Maybe I’m just projecting because when people say that, I’m automatically thinking, “Am I doing something wrong? Am I not where people see me or where people think I should be?” Does that make sense?
Yeah, getting into the top three, who would you say is in your top three?
Ooh. That’s hard. I would say Jhené, Sinéad [Harnett], and Destin [Conrad]. I just threw two of my friends in there because they’re f—king incredible. I mean, Destin is an incredible songwriter. He’s so f—king talented.
And then Sinéad is one of the most amazing singers I’ve ever heard in my life. I get so mad at her when she sings in front of me because I’m like, “How the f—k can you…”
Sound like that.
Yeah, like, how do you do it? Her runs are so clean, and she’s so funny and genuine. So, yeah, I’m gonna put them up there in my top three. And then Jhené for obvious reasons.
Speaking of Jhené, collaboration coming soon? Got any tracks lined up?
We’ll have to see.
The people are asking.
People will get an answer when I give them an answer. [Laughs.]
Are you a rap fan at all?
To be honest, I don’t really listen to music.
So what do you do when you’re traveling?
Play Township on my phone, listen to audiobooks, listen to spooky podcasts. I watch a lot of shows cause it’s really comforting for me to just have something on in the background. But, yeah, I don’t really feel like it.
I feel like a lot of artists say that. They’re like, “No, we don’t listen to music. We just exist.” I don’t know, for me, I’m walking somewhere, headphones in. I’m going to work, headphones in. I’m working, headphones are in…
That’s so nice.
How do y’all live and not have your headphones in?
I don’t know; I feel like when you do it for a job, it’s like anything, you know? Like a chef probably doesn’t want to come home and cook, and that’s the first thing that they do when they get off work. I feel like it’s partially that. I think also just a lot of bad, bad f—king experiences in the industry.
I just don’t want to be reminded of certain things or certain people just by listening to, like, a f—king playlist on Spotify, you know? I’d rather just have my own fresh ideas. I think that’s another part of it.
You feel like playing tracks influences you in a way?
Maybe. I don’t even want it to be a question, I think. But, yeah, I don’t listen to music at all. Most of the time when I’m listening to music — this is not even to be like conceited — I’m listening to my own music, but it’s my music that I just made because I want to make sure that I love it, you know?
Music for me is very attached to experiences and emotion. If you go to a concert, you either love the album or you hate the album, and so listening to music kind of does that same thing for me.
Like, I want to listen to the album and hear the stories that I’ve been through and kind of relive that for a second, just to laugh at it or just see that some art came out of it, you know?
Why did you stray away from acting?
I actually didn’t really stray away. I think it was just that there was so much going on with music at the time that it just made more sense than going out for roles that were just not really suited to me at the time— not really what I wanted to do. I’m looking forward to acting again, but by the time I was ready to get back into acting, the whole world shut down, and then there was a strike, and like, you know, I just wasn’t very lucky when it came to that time of my acting career. But I’m excited to get back into it.
So we’re going to see you on the screen? The silver screen or a TV screen?
We’ll find out. I’ll take either one.
