Breaking through as an artist requires as much luck and persistence as it does talent. In today’s landscape, it means little that there are a million different ways to be discovered when even the most talented can be drowned out by the clutter of competing entertainment.

For singer-songwriter MIRIAH., talent was certainly never the issue; she sings with a soothing vocal style to tell gripping stories about love, heartbreak, and yearning. Yet for a while, her journey as an artist seemed to keep leading to dead ends, pushing her to the brink of giving up on music as a career. In fact, when I first met the South Side native (at TheMIND’s GINA short film release) in 2024, she all but confirmed she had fully stopped recording.

Her resilience and love for music never really went away, though, and a partnership with Chicago label No More Heroes was the break she needed to get back to creating. Shortly after, she began dropping snippets, videos, and songs that have turned a lot of heads in the city and beyond.

MIRIAH.’s songwriting is diaristic, often feeling like you’re right in her mind, or going through her text messages. She’s also a master at utilizing sparse production to create a sense of intimacy, allowing listeners to fill the quiet spaces with their own stories or get closer to hers.

Over the course of the past few months, MIRIAH. built a team around her that understands these strengths and has helped her bring them to life in other ways. Each single is paired with striking cover art and visuals that feel far grander in scale than the typical budget of an independent artist.

With just four songs out, MIRIAH.’s catalog —in an ecosystem that often prioritizes volume and spectacle over substance—feels like something far more grounded and lasting.

Though still very much an up-and-comer, MIRIAH. has proven she has the resilience and vision to carve out her place. As she hits her stride, doing it on her own terms, we sat down with her to learn more.

Growing up, what were you listening to? What were your influences?

Oh man, everything. I’m all over the place. I’m Christian, so a lot of gospel. Fred Hammond, Israel Houghton, a lot of worship music. Then my favorite artists were rappers. My cousins were older, so I was super into rap, so Kendrick [Lamar]. Sade, who is not a rapper, but Sade is a big voice for me. But really, my favorite artist is Kendrick. I was listening to J. Cole. That whole era.

You were growing up as the drill scene was blowing up, right?

Yeah, it was a big influence on me. Chief Keef was that guy, you know what I mean? It was really cool to watch how his growth opened the doors for all of Chicago. So I was a big fan of Chicago artists too. Then on the R&B side, SZA, Jhené [Aiko], and all those girls.

When did you first realize that you wanted to pursue music as your career?

I had two epiphanies. I had one when I was super young. I was like, I’m going to be a singer. And then I had a conversation with my dad, when he was around, and he was basically like, “Yo, that’s not a good idea. Maybe you have a gift for music in terms of if someone needs a song on their deathbed.” [laughs] That’s really where he went with it.

So I kind of gave up on it, but I couldn’t stop writing. I was always writing, and by high school, I was in class and I’d just have pages full of poems and songs. But after college, I was like, “Oh, you gotta get for real.” I don’t know if music is the thing to do. And then after college, I started teaching. When I taught, I was like, maybe I’ll teach dancing. So I just couldn’t get away from it.

What did you go to college for?

Originally, it was for creative writing. I was like, “Well, I can make better songs.” And then I was like, that’s not smart. [laughs] Eventually I changed my major [to education].

I went to L.A. for creative writing. I was like, “Maybe we’ll see what happens” and then I got really practical really quick. I was also impacted by just being in L.A., being from Chicago, and seeing the disparities. I was like, “You know what? I can help people by being a teacher.”

Is that a constant battle that you have internally, is this something I want to go fully in?

In a way. It’s my logic versus what I feel like is my calling. Your dreams never make sense. And I’m a type A person while being a creator, so it is always a battle. But I never thought I was going to stop making music. I just never knew if it was going to be full time. Honestly, we met last year, and I was like, “It’s okay. I’m going to stop. And I literally quit.” But I kept putting myself in those spaces, and I ended up meeting my team at an album release party.

When did that encounter happen?

This was in January.

Oh wow. That’s cool. I like things that happen serendipitously.

Literally. I was like, OK, cool. Because I’m big on my faith —my faith is my foundation. It got to a point where I was like, it won’t kill me if this doesn’t work out. And so I was able to put it down and I was able to just say, let me focus on how I can help people in a different way.

That’s why I genuinely was trying to help him, and that’s how it happened. Literally once I stopped trying so hard, it kind of just came together.

It’s also cool that with this new team, you’ve been able to roll out stuff with really great supplemental visual content. Is that something you were intentional about this time around?

Realistically, I haven’t even thought about rollout. It was really just like, what is the song saying and how can we communicate the same message in a different format? How can I tell it visually? […] And I think that’s fire, which is also nerve-wracking. We planned a lot, but we didn’t plan for everything to mesh.

How do you approach songwriting?

That’s a great question. I’m still figuring that out. [laughs] Because I’m a writer, lyrics matter to me so much. My favorite artists are rappers. So it has to be cool. Entendres and metaphors, that’s a big thing for me. And I was a poet, so that’s a big piece.

When I started writing to beats, though, it was like, OK, making the story fit within the space of the beat. So now I’ll play a beat and I’ll catch a melody, but I’ll have concepts just in my notes. And so once I find a melody that I really love, I see where this concept fits. I’m kind of unraveling the story as I go, if that makes sense. But all of it is always very true. And I’ll be like, damn, “That did happen. That’s crazy.”

What type of beats do you like?

King Krule is another one of my favorite artists. Some of that music is so healing, but so cool. I love guitars. I like electric guitars, but I also really love synths, and I'm really specific about drums. I can't tell you what type of drums I like, but I know when I like them. If a beat is unique and it takes me somewhere, I'm like, yeah. I’m grateful for [my manager MJ] because I will go on YouTube for hours and not find anything, and he’ll send me a pack and I’ll be like, woah. I cried last time he sent me a pack.

You’re currently mostly focused on singles, but is there an album or project that you’re working toward releasing? Or right now are you just going with the flow?

I think it’s more of the latter, but I’m always thinking through what’s the story. I’m trying to get away from seeing how everything fits in one place, because that’s how my brain works.

Right now I’m getting used to having access to a studio every week and having access to just throw paint at the wall and see what happens. But ultimately I want to make a project that makes an impact. I want to tell a story.

And I think a lot of the music that I’m coming out with right now — like you said, it is King Krule–esque in a way — it’s really blues-centered, you know what I mean? And I’m like, damn, this is sad. It’s like me processing what I’m feeling and why I’m feeling it, and I can’t wait to get to the point where one of my songs talks about how I got past it. You know what I’m saying? And I just haven’t had that yet. So I would hope that a project can tell the whole story.

MIRIAH.: Timing Meets Talent