Kacy Hill - Like a Woman (2017) [Hi-Res]

A rising star on Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music label, Kacy Hill writes adventurous, confessional electro-pop songs about womanhood. Her debut album features a slew of A-list producers—including Tourist (Sam Smith), Terrace Martin (Kendrick Lamar), and West himself—but Hill remains firmly in the driver’s seat. Don’t miss the Cranberries-inspired “Hard to Love” or the sparkling “Like a Woman.” When fans asked why she removed DJ Mustard’s vocal tag (“Mustard on the beat”), she responded on Twitter: It “wasn’t the first thing I wanted to hear on a song about being a woman.”

A left-field pop singer with a soft, slightly tremulous voice, Kacy Hill entered the music industry in an indirect fashion. She started modeling during high school in her native Phoenix and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career after she graduated. Director and photographer Stephen Garnett introduced her to Jaylien Wesley, a songwriter/producer who had achieved mainstream success with Akon's Top 20 U.S. pop hit "Beautiful." Hill and Wesley collaborated on material, including "Experience," a low-key song that caught the attention of Kanye West. At the time, Hill happened to be working as a dancer on West's Yeezus tour. West subsequently signed Hill to his G.O.O.D. label. In May 2015, "Experience" was released as the lead song on the Kitsuné America 4 compilation. Two years later, a pair of singles ("Hard to Love" and "Like a Woman") preceded the release of Hill's debut album, Like a Woman.