9-year-old Mississauga girl releases first song on Spotify

After a busy summer singing at a sought-after New York City venue and at multiple other gigs, a Mississauga girl released her first song on Spotify.

Kalia Stapleton, 9, started to make a name for herself last summer when she got to the semi-finals of the CNE Rising Star Talent Competition.

In the last year, Kalia has been busy. She played a 90-minute set as a headliner at the City of Mississauga Summer Concert Series, she has sung anthems at sporting events including Hamilton Forge FC, Mississauga Steelheads, and she has a monthly performance at a local retirement home, her mother, Selena Stapleton, told INsauga.com.

In July, Kalia and her family travelled to New York City where Kalia joined a group of youth singers to sing the U.S. Anthem at Yankee Stadium, and Kalia landed performances at cabarets and clubs. These opportunities came through connections on social media.

Kalia sang Feeling Good in a solo performance at the legendary Birdland Jazz Club, which was a highlight of the trip, said Selena.

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“It’s a legendary place where Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald and Sammy Davis Jr, and really big greats used to perform, even Ariana Grande performed there when she was younger,” said Selena.

Kalia enjoyed visiting New York and wasn’t nervous performing.

“It felt really great and made me happy that I got to be on so many stages,”  Kalia said.

Under her parents, Selena and Partrick’s supervision, Kalia started social media accounts on TikTok and Instagram last year. She has over 19,000 followers on TikTok and several viral videos. Two videos have more than 3.6 million views. She has nearly 2,000 followers on Instagram.

One of Kailia’s biggest thrills was in early October when singer Olivia Rodrigo commented on Kalia’s cover of Vampire.

“she’s amazing!!!!! wow!!!” Rodrigo said.

Rodrigo is one of Kalia’s favourite singers.

“I think for Kalia, that was such a big moment because she loves Olivia Rodrigo,” said Selena adding both Kalia and Rodrigo have Asian heritage. “I think that she’s able to see herself in this big pop star.”

While Kalia likes singing Rodrigo’s songs, she has been writing her own songs since she was about five years old.

“But this year was kind of the year that she started really composing, because she’s starting to play other instruments quite proficiently,” said Selena.

Kalia said she has several different processes for writing songs but often she will find a piano melody or chords she likes and then start singing to them. She found inspiration to write a song in New York and even wrote a song about her five-year-old brother.

Her parents, who are not musicians, don’t know where the music talent comes from.

“Both Selena and I are not musically inclined, it’s amazing to watch it all come out and be like, wow. I’ll be like, ‘Did you just write a new song?'” said Patrick.

After hours of work in the studio, Kalia released her first original song, New Place to Go, on Spotify this month.

The inspiration for the song was based on an experience Kalia had with a mean girl at school, she said. The girl moved away and the song is about how Kalia moved on from the experience.

 

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A post shared by Kalia (@kaliasmusic)

Writing songs helps Kalia process her emotions.

“Sometimes when I’m sad or happy, I can use emotions that make me feel hurt or good to write a song,” she said.

Now, entering Grade 4 in school in Mississauga, Kalia said she won’t have problems balancing music and school. She dreams of becoming a professional singer-songwriter.

Kalia has regular gigs around Mississauga and those interested in seeing her perform can check out her Instagram here and TikTok here.

New Place to Go can be found here.