Recording artist Rhia shot by Bode Helm
With over 19 years in the music industry, Australian recording artist, vocalist, performer and songwriter Rhia is well aware that hit songs are not born overnight. Like many established musicians, Rhia has spent her career developing a catalogue of music and performing at an array of venues, leading to her most recent single, ‘Fire.,’ which, since its release at the end of May, generates roughly 1,400 plays per day on Spotify, not to mention hundreds of thousands of impressions on other platforms and streaming services. At the time of writing, ‘Fire’ has generated 75,000 plays on each of some of the major platforms.
The song’s selection in Spotify’s Discover Weekly and Release Radar in less than a month is unheard of, and truly showcases how Rhia has found herself in the top cluster of Australian singer/songwriters.
In an era where influencers buy followers and artists notoriously purchase bots to generate views for their videos and releases, the legitimacy of Rhia’s impressive success is ultimately consistent with, and reinforces the authentic nature of, her one-of-a-kind artistry.
‘Fire’ also earned her the April 2019 American Tracks Music Award for Artist Revelation, two Global Music Awards, including Best Lyrics/Songwriter, Best Vocalist, two Hollywood Songwriter Awards for Best Lyrics and Best Independent Song, and has been selected as a finalist as Best Top 40/Pop Song in Unsigned Only, one of the most prestigious music competitions in the World. Rhia is nominated alongside artists such as Jason Heerah, and judges include Taj Mahal, Robert Smith (The Cure), Bow Wow, Lyndsey Parker, the Managing Editor of Yahoo Music, Anthony Decurtis, Editor at Rolling Stone, and more.
Rhia’s songs have been nominated in 4 categories, with the winners to be decided soon.
“The response I’m seeing is crazy,” Rhia says.
The multi-talented musician goes on to add, “there’s no pun intended here... the song is literally spreading like wildfire.”
Rhia states how she believes the song’s success is not only due to the fact that people seem to genuinely love the song.
“It’s like building a house,” Rhia assertively states.
“I’ve been working in [the] industry for two decades, and that has allowed me to form strong foundations, those foundations have given me the ability to build and grow with each experience. I think there were a lot of factors which came into play; some of it feels like luck and magic too.”
Rhia elaborates further.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to build a loyal following through playing a lot of live shows over the years. People have been very supportive of my music. Now I’ve started an entirely new brand, if you will, with Rhia, and I believe we’re also seeing a tangible result from my past successes and putting out music that people have resonated with over the years. There’s a lot to be said about hard work, and also letting things happen naturally...staying true to your artistry. “
Though she is certainly right about the dedication it takes to master a craft, the undeniable commercial success of her music should not be discredited with humility. You can very clearly see that from a young age she was well ahead of her years, and her songs have generated hundreds of thousands of plays online. She has consistently stood out from what is considered to be the norm.
Rhia indeed has the midas touch. Any listener can tell there is something very special about her, and her music.
‘Fire.’ is a hip-hop/future-bass inspired, electro-pop song that is filled with soul. It is a track in which Rhia vocalizes the frustration about wanting to help someone who is important to her, but feels unvalued in the process. Essentially, it’s about losing her own voice.
The cinematic and ambient nature of ‘Fire.’ makes it an addictive and undeniably powerful listen. ‘Fire.’ is about something we have all felt in one way or another, and Rhia’s chorus encapsulates and shares with us, the courage of finally prioritizing yourself again.
Listeners can hear she’s had enough, she’s ‘done speaking underwater.’
Adding to that the fact that Rhia writes her own songs, she also writes for other successful artists, and not only is she a killer performer, but she is a vocalist who can command the studio with her experience as an audio engineer.
In the past, Rhia has performed with the likes of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Winner and an array of household names.
Therefore naturally, in the process of making ‘Fire.’ Rhia collaborated with acknowledged producer Samuel PK Smith (known for his work with Warner Music Recording Artist Bebe Rexha, the film 22 Jump Street, as well as on the show “Keeping up with the Kardashians,” and so on).
“I love collaborating with new producers,” she says. “It’s a rewarding feeling to build my artistry, career, and catalogue, and help someone else build theirs. Sam is really talented”
And Rhia is certainly not looking back in her work toward that goal. In addition to the success of ‘Fire.’, Rhia’s next single also won her the May 2019 ATM Award for Best Pop Song, adding to Rhia’s impressive track record by, for the second time, placing her alongside past ATM Award winners including Catfish and the Bottlemen (over 78,000,000 Spotify streams) and two-time Grammy nominee Bun B. Both of her next two releases also won Global Music Awards and Hollywood Songwriting Awards for Best Lyrics, Songwriting and Best Vocals.
“I’m honored to earn the ATMA for Best Pop Song,” she said, noting that it is yet another step toward her ultimate goal of sharing her music with as many people as possible.
Given the undisputed commercial success of ‘Fire.’, as one might expect, Rhia has a host of upcoming commitments. She’s heavily booked for shows in the US and will be working with highly acclaimed producer Jorel Corpus, a Grammy and Emmy certified and Billboard Number 1 music producer and sound engineer. With clients that include Brandy, Boys II Men, and Disney, a pair like this teaming up gives me the impression that we’re about to experience an unstoppable collaboration.
“I’m really looking forward to my collabs. Jorel is an incredible producer and I’m eager to delve in to our projects. I have so many other great projects and releases coming up too including a long standing partnership with Adam Deitch, Break Science, and many more talented producers and composers. I’m very excited about these ones.”
Rhia will be performing in almost every major US city.
Further details will be found at https://www.rhiamusicofficial.com
Check out “‘Fire.’ here: https://open.spotify.com/album/3jSpDbtsmCLvEzqhA5ZIMV