Queen Naija

Queen Naija Bulls (born October 17, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter and Youtuber.

Queen Naija
Born
Queen Naija Bulls

(1995-10-17) October 17, 1995
Ypsilanti, Michigan, U.S.
OccupationSinger-songwriter, YouTuber
Years active2014–present
Height1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Children2
Musical career
GenresR&B
Labels
Associated acts
WebsiteOfficial Website

In January 2018, she self-released the song "Medicine". DL Mighty was writing all off her music for her while they was also doing YouTube together, later in life stopped and DL Mighty had started her own YouTube channel. She was an unsigned social media star at this time and the song made a No. 45 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of April 10, 2018.[1] In June 2018, she released her second single, "Karma", this time as a signed artist to Capitol Records. On its release day, the song reached #1 overall on the iTunes charts.[2]

Early life

Queen Naija was born on October 17, 1995. She has described her ethnicity as a mix of "Black, Italian & Arab".[3] But has also claimed her mother had African-American, Italian and Indian[note 1] heritage, but wasn't sure how much.[4] Her father is originally from Yemen.[5][6]

Her birth name, Queen Naija, was given to her by her mother. "Queen" was inspired by her grandmother, who had the same first name, and "Naija" represented her father's name. [7]

Career

2014-17: American Idol and YouTube

Queen Naija, formally known as Queen Bulls, first gained prominence as a contestant on the thirteenth season of American Idol. She had auditioned two years earlier but had failed to advance into the next round.[8] In the thirteenth season, she advanced into the Hollywood round, but was cut when the top 30 were chosen.[8] Afterwards, Queen Naija went back to working as a security guard. She then continued on building her YouTube career.[9]

Queen Naija began her career as a YouTuber in 2015 alongside her ex-husband Christopher Sails in Detroit, Michigan.

In December 2017, the couple officially separated after Chris was caught up in a cheating scandal, and Queen filed for divorce. Their channel, which held over 2.3 million subscribers, was given to Sails by Queen Naija. [10]

On April 4, 2017, she created her own YouTube channel named "Queen Naija". [10] Once her relationship with Sails officially ended, Queen Naija built up her own YouTube channel, which had around 500,000 subscribers at the time. Within a year, her solo channel had surpassed the old channel, and has 4.59 million subscribers as of June 2020.[11]

2017-present: Musical career beginnings and Queen Naija EP

Queen Naija began her career with music while she was on YouTube. She also collaborated on music with close friends Armon and Trey on covers and original songs. Their collaborative song “No Strings” has 18 million views as of June 2020. Queen also created song covers and remixes on her own. The collaborations, covers and remixes never went mainstream nor outside of the YouTube platform.[12]

After her public breakup, Queen Naija dropped "Medicine" on December 31, 2017, and in less than two weeks, it had more than 2 million views on YouTube.[13] In an interview with Fader magazine, she described the song as "Medicine was basically made to confirm to my supporters on YouTube what happened in my marriage. They wanted to know was I leaving or not. I didn't want to say anything because the first time after the cheating situation happened, I stayed. I felt stupid. But then it happened again privately and I didn't want everyone to be like, I told you so. So instead of talking about it, I told them I'd write a song about it. Once I saw how crazy it went outside of YouTube, I was like, Okay, I need to take music more seriously. I've always wanted to sing — I've been singing since I was three. I knew it was going to happen somehow, but I didn't know how."[14]

Queen Naija Bulls did an official lyrics and meaning interview for the song "Medicine" with Genius in January 2018.[15] A month after the song's release, it had 5 million views.[15] Queen documented on her YouTube channel a few meetings with record labels that she attended with her team/management.[16] By March 2018, Queen's initial song post of "Medicine" had more than 10 million views.[17] An official music video was released later that month.[1] The video acquired 4.5 million views on the day of its release, and has over 146 million views as of December 2019.[18] In July 2018, Queen Naija created a new collaborative YouTube channel, "Royal Family", alongside her boyfriend ClarenceNYC TV. Their videos include challenges, vlogs, story times and family content. The channel has 2.64 million subscribers as of June 2020.[19]

On April 25, 2018, Queen Naija signed to Capitol Records.[20] On June 28, 2018, she released her second single, "Karma". She had written and recorded the song in January 2018.[21] In an interview with Genius, she described this song as being a more personal story: "I just was trying to get a more personal because “Medicine” was personal. I just wanted to tell people how I really, really, really felt, like about not being confident about myself, and the reason why. I wanted people to know all the good that I was doing too. Like, how I stuck by his side, and all that stuff. How I was a good woman, and how I felt."[22] On its release day, the song reached #1 overall on the iTunes charts.[23] "Karma" closed the week as the thirteenth-best seller in the United States, thus taking #13 on the Billboard Digital Songs sales chart.[24] In July 2018, "Karma" debuted at #63 on the Billboard Hot 100.[25] Five months after its release, the video has over 101 million views as of December 2019.[26]

Queen Naija released her self-titled extended play on July 27, 2018. It consists of five songs: "Medicine", "Karma", "Mama's Hand", "Butterflies", and "Bad Boy".[27] The project includes production from No I.D., El Jefe, Rob Grimaldi, 30HERTZBEATS, and ClickNPress.[28] Queen Naija has described the EP as an emotional journey in which each song describes either an experience or emotion she has gone through.[29] The songs reference topics including heartbreak and betrayal, motherhood, and finding new love again.[30] "Medicine" deals with her heartbreak and emotions toward her ex-partner, and "Karma" explains overcoming the heartbreak while sending a message that she will be fine. "Mama's Hand" dedicated to her son; she promises to give him everything and encourages him to have optimistic thoughts about the future.[31] "Butterflies" reveals that she is beginning to fall in love again with someone new. "Bad Boy" describes her connection with a new lover, and how her goodness may cause him to change for the better.[31] In August 2018, the EP debuted at #26 on the Billboard 200 and reached #1 on the Apple Music R&B charts.[32]

Personal Life

As a result of his infidelity Queen Naija was involved in a very public breakup with her husband Chris Sails. Queen has a son, Christopher Sails jr from her marriage.

Queen Naija and partner ClarenceNYC (Clarence White) have been together since 2018 and together they have a son, Legend Lorenzo White, born January 29, 2019.

Discography

Studio albums
  • QN1 (TBA)

Extended plays
List of extended plays, with selected details and chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
US
[33]		 US
R&B
/HH
[34]		 US R&B
[35]
Queen Naija EP[36] 26142 RIAA: Platinum

Singles
List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications
US
[37]		 US

Adult

R&B

 US
R&B
/HH
[38]		 US R&B Album
"Medicine"[39] 2017 45 120 3 Queen Naija
"Karma"[41] 2018 63 140 7
"Butterflies" — —49 14
"War Cry"[42] — —— — Non-album single
"Good Morning Text" 2019 — —— —
"Away From You" — —— —
"Butterflies Pt.2" 2020 — 13 — 17 TBA
"More Love" — — — — Non-album single
"Pack Lite" 11 TBA

Notes
  1. Due to the ambiguity of the word "Indian" in English, this could mean "Indian" in reference to having partial Native American ancestry, or "Indian" meaning she has ancestry from the Indian subcontinent.

References
  1. "How YouTube Vlogger Queen Naija's Viral Breakup Inspired Her Hot 100 Breakthrough". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  2. "Blue Rose 🌹 on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  3. Queen Naija (10 January 2018), Queen Naija Reveals Her Heritage, retrieved 12 July 2020
  4. Queen Naija (20 April 2017), MY FIRST Q&A (GET TO KNOW QUEEN), retrieved 26 July 2020, I'm half Arab, and then the other part is Black and Italian. My mom is Black, Italian and Indian, but I don't know how much so I just say "Arab, Black, and Italian.
  5. Queen Naija (2017-11-06). "THE TRUTH BEHIND MY DAD". Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  6. Queen Naija (2018-09-10). "Queen Naija Reveals Origin Of Her Name and Correct Way To Pronounce It". Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  7. DJ Smallz Eyes 2 (2018-09-10), Queen Naija Reveals Origin Of Her Name and Correct Way To Pronounce It, retrieved 5 October 2018
  8. American Idol (2014-01-22). "Road to Hollywood: Queen Bulls - AMERICAN IDOL SEASON XIII". Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  9. 106 KMEL (2018-07-16), Queen Naija talks Detroit Slang, Cardi B, American Idol, and Her Ex!, retrieved 2018-10-05
  10. Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM (2018-07-26). "Queen Naija Opens Up About New Relationship, New Music, Karma + More,Medicine and Karma have been certified gold in the United States". Retrieved 2018-10-02.
  11. "Queen Naija". YouTube. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
  12. Chris Sails (2017-02-15). "PnB Rock - Selfish (Queen/ Female remix)". Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  13. "Queen Naija". Genius. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
  14. "Queen Naija is a master of the break-up anthem". The FADER. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
  15. Genius (2018-01-23). "Queen Naija "Medicine" Official Lyrics & Meaning | Verified". Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  16. Queen Naija (2018-03-21), FINALLY TOOK Y'ALL TO MY MEETING!, retrieved 2018-10-05
  17. "Queen Naija👑 on Instagram: "Came to Get Pizza & Pieces from @cutsandslicesnyc @mclarenkickshop1 & then CLARENCE HANDSOME BEAUTIFUL SELF CAME & POPPED CHAMPAGNE ON A…"". Instagram. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  18. Queen Naija (2018-03-29), MEDICINE - QUEEN NAIJA (OFFICIAL VIDEO), retrieved 2018-10-06
  19. "Royal Family". YouTube. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  20. "Queen Naija👑 on Instagram: "First of all, I want to give ALL THE GLORY AND HONOR TO JESUS!!! And I TRULY wouldn't have been able to do this WITHOUT ROYALTY SQUAD!!!…"". Instagram. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  21. Brittney Michelle (2018-01-15), Queen Naija sings new song Karma live, retrieved 2018-10-06
  22. "Queen Naija". Genius. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  23. "Blue Rose 🌹 on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  24. "Queen Naija's "Karma" Debuts At #13 On Digital Song Sales, #63 On Hot 100". Headline Planet. 2018-07-10. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  25. "Billboard Hot 100: July 14, 2018". Billboard. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  26. QueenNaijaVEVO (2018-06-28), Queen Naija - Karma (Audio), retrieved 2018-10-06
  27. Queen Naija - EP by Queen Naija, 2018-07-27, retrieved 2018-10-06
  28. "Read All The Lyrics To Queen Naija's Self-Titled Debut EP". Genius. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  29. Genius (2018-08-08), Queen Naija Discusses Her Debut EP & Grammy Goals | For The Record, retrieved 2018-10-07
  30. "Queen Naija Goes the Self-Titled Route With Her Debut EP | The Source". The Source. 2018-07-28. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  31. "Queen Naija releases a beautiful self-titled debut EP [REVIEW]". Bong Mines Entertainment. 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  32. "Billboard 200: August 11, 2018". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  33. "Chart Search for Queen Naija, Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  34. "Chart Search for Queen Naija, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  35. "Chart Search for Queen Naija, Top R&B Albums". Billboard. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  36. "iTunes - Music - Queen Naija - (EP)". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
  37. "Chart Search for Queen Naija, Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  38. "Chart Search for Queen Naija, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  39. "Medicine - Single by Queen Naija on Apple Music". iTunes.
  40. "Gold & Platinum: Queen Naija". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  41. "Karma - Single by Queen Naija on Apple Music". iTunes.
  42. "War Cry - Single by Queen Naija on Apple Music". iTunes.
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