King Isis Shares New Single For 'MAKE IT UP'

Oakland-born artist King Isis (they/she), is breaking all of the rules. After years of stringent classic training and piano lessons from their great-great grandmother Omega King – one of the first Black opera singers in Chicago – King Isis is becoming one of the most exciting artists smoothly blending rock and R&B, following the release of their debut EP scales earlier this year on No Matter / Dirty Hit. 

Today, King Isis is giving us a taste of what's to come from their upcoming project next year with the intoxicating new single “MAKE IT UP.” The guitar-driven track traverses through the slow burn of a toxic relationship and the hardships of letting go of the attachment of comfortability. 

“I wrote the first version of this song at home in Oakland, going through lows in love and life,” King Isis says of the track. “I was experimenting with darker production and more droney melodies, which I felt encompassed the monotonous feeling of just getting through the motions that was my life at the time.'

Watch the vampire-themed video directed by Daddy here:

King Isis shifts shapes and fuses sounds ranging from rock and R&B to jazz and blues, sweeping through pain, growth, and transformation.

Music has been in King Isis' blood for generations. They were taught on the piano by their great-great-grandmother Omega King, one of the first Black opera singers in Chicago. King Isis' artist moniker pays reverence to Omega's legacy of pursuing her passion of art and creation in segregated, post-slavery America.

“Her name holds a lot of power in my house and in my family,” Isis reflects, “A big part of the reason my artist name incorporates hers is to remind me that there is power in my voice, that music has always been a deep-rooted part of me, and to keep going.”

Growing up, Isis existed on the periphery: coming from a low-income, single mother household, they struggled with feelings of inferiority and insecurity in predominantly white, wealthy private schools. Isis turned to creating little worlds of her own through music and writing.

Emboldened by the strength of the maternal figures in her lineage and life, King Isis has always had an affinity for rulebreakers, gravitating towards the kinds of people who go beyond themselves to set the template for change. Sonically, they credit everyone from SOPHIE to Erykah Badu and Tyler The Creator, whilst personally they look towards feminist progressives like Assata Shakur, Angela Davis, Gloria Anzaldua.

The communal healing power of music is a pillar of King Isis' ethos. They volunteer teaching music classes for low-income communities in Los Angeles, and worked with the FreeStudio Program of Rikers Island, creating a safe creative space for incarcerated youth. King Isis finds power and freedom in sound and is a firm believer in creativity as fuel to the revolution.

Photo credit: Gianni Gallant