{"id":2057875,"date":"2026-07-23T14:09:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T11:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2057875"},"modified":"2026-07-23T14:09:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T11:09:18","slug":"with-in-this-bih-kah-lo-once-again-has-a-dance-world-smash-this-time-shes-ready-for-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2057875","title":{"rendered":"With \u2018In This Bih\u2019,\u2019 Kah-Lo Once Again Has a Dance World Smash \u2014 This Time, She\u2019s Ready For It"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tThis past May, Kah-Lo was boarding a flight in Australia, casually checking her socials as she waited to board. She clocked that one of her most recent posts \u00a0\u2013 a clip from the music video for her March release \u201cIn This Bih,’\u201d a collab with British producer Chris Lorenzo \u2013 had a few thousand views, and then the plane took off. When it landed a few hours later, she got on her phone again and saw that this same video had been viewed more than half a million times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was an Instagram bug,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t. Instead, the Nigerian singer\/songwriter\/producer was going viral as \u201cIn This Bih\u2019\u201d took off. On May 21, Shazam announced that it was the most Shazam\u2019d track of EDC Las Vegas 2026, and just over four months after its release, the club anthem now has 13.9 million global on-demand streams, according to Luminate. More than one person in the comment sections of Kah-Lo\u2019s posts about the track call it nothing less than the song of the summer. Diplo called it \u201cdance song of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tThis isn\u2019t Kah-Lo\u2019s first time clocking a hit. \u201cRinse & Repeat,\u201d a collab with English producer Riton, became a major club hit in 2016, ultimately generating 73.6 million streams and earning Kah-Lo and Riton a 2017 Grammy nomination for best dance\/electronic recording. That smash was followed by the success of 2022\u2019s \u201cFake ID,\u201d which was also made with Riton and has to date generated 568.1 million on-demand streams. (This number includes streams for both the original and a remix.) <\/p>\n

\n\tThese tracks made Kah-Lo \u2014 who was focused on being an R&B artist around the time she made \u201cRinse & Repeat\u201d \u2014 an in-demand dance world vocalist. While the work had its highlights, including releases with Micha\u00ebl Brun, Diplo and Blond:ish, James Jones and Sofi Tukker, she also found the experience destabilizing, as she was swarmed with topline requests from would-be collaborators who in many cases treated her like a commodity instead of a fellow artist and person.<\/p>\n

It was a learning experience that led her to learn how to DJ and produce, with her debut EP, The Arrival<\/em>, coming in 2021 and her first album, Pain\/Pleasure<\/em>, released in 2023. Her own label, Lagos Way Records, followed. Now, as an established dance world triple-threat with a new hit on her hands, she\u2019s handling this fresh wave of success on her own terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith \u2018In This Bih,\u2019\u201d I was again making a song that felt huge and that I felt like it might dwarf my efforts, when I\u2019ve come so far,\u201d Kah-Lo says, talking to Billboard <\/em>over Zoom. \u201cThe good thing, though, is that this time I have 10 years of experience behind me, and I know how it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn This Bih\u2019\u201d came directly from the club, having been inspired by a heavy night out that Kah-Lo had while she was in L.A. last September. (She\u2019s based mostly in Lagos and London, but also spends a lot of time in Australia, L.A. and New York, where she graduated from Hofstra University in 2013.) She was out partying with, as she puts it, \u201ca bunch of kids,\u201d all of whom were drinking brown tequila. While she typically avoids this variety of liquor (\u201cit never ends well for me\u201d) on this night she partook.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI was trying to keep up,\u201d she says with a laugh. She had a session with Lorenzo the next day, and as she worked through her hangover, they made a track called \u201cOh No\u201d \u2014 \u201cbecause that [was the feeling] after this brown tequila got in my system,\u201d she says. The second track made during the session was \u201cIn This Bih,\u2019\u201d a song in which she describes what she\u2019d seen while out with the kids the night before. (\u201cI\u2019m throwing hand\/In this bih\u2019\/they throwing a\u2013\/In this bih.’\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter she and Lorenzo made the song, he drove her to Erewhon so she could get supplies to nurse herself back to health. \u201cWe were just bumping \u2018In This Bih\u2019\u201d in the car,\u201d she says, \u201cand it was like, \u2018Whoa.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThey both felt like the song \u2014 a spare, wompy, catchy as hell tech house heater built on Kah-Lo\u2019s swaggery vocals and intermittent dog barks \u2014 was special and, Kah-Lo says, \u201cprobably gonna go off.\u201d She wasn\u2019t sure if she wanted that to happen.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve been spending so long trying to stand on my own as a solo artist, and I was like, \u2018If I release this song, it\u2019s gonna put me back in square one.\u2019 But then I was like, \u2018You know what? If this is my place in history, so be it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHer worry was understandable. Dance music has a long history of undervaluing and erasing female vocalist, especially Black female vocalists. Infamously, legendary vocal powerhouse Martha Wash received no vocal credit and was scrubbed from the imagery and music video for C&C Music Factory\u2019s 1990 classic \u201cGonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now),\u201d despite the fact that the song is built around her iconic hook. (Wash later sued RCA Records when her name and likeness were also scrubbed from Black Box\u2019s \u201cEverybody Everybody\u201d and \u201cStrike It Up,\u201d both built around her vocals.)<\/p>\n

\n\tIn April, singer\/DJ\/producer Kaleena Zanders told Billboard<\/em> about \u201cnot getting the right royalties or splits and having to negotiate and fight for those things,\u201d while contributing her vocals to collabs with male producers. \u201cI think the [attitude] among some DJs can be like \u2018Let\u2019s just find some vocals,\u2019 very casual. I\u2019m just like, \u2018Okay, but I\u2019m a whole human,\u2019\u201d Zanders said. In dance music, it can be difficult to even identify who\u2019s actually singing on the song, with vocalists not always receiving credit. (Kah-Lo herself wrote about this issue in Billboard<\/em> in 2023, upon the release of Pain\/Pleasure<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

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\n\tAs artists clamored to work with her after her first big hit with Riton, Kah-Lo experienced all these lame cliches for herself. \u201cWhen you\u2019re on the singer\/songwriter end of things, it\u2019s really about trying to fight your way to the front,\u201d she says. \u201cI did that naturally out the gate, and I didn\u2019t know that was a taboo thing to do. I didn\u2019t know there was all of this history behind it, of this always happening with Black artists, and especially Black women.\u201d She often had to fight for credits, and the royalties, stream counts and visibility they bring.<\/p>\n

\n\tHer turning point came during the pandemic when DJ\/producer Micha\u00ebl Brun \u2013 her neighbor in New York at the time \u2013 taught her how to DJ. She\u2019d been having a hard time with it, then Brun suggested she just try playing her own songs. \u201cIt was like a light shone on me,\u201d recalls Kah-Lo. \u201cHe told me that because my voice has a cadence and tone where it doesn\u2019t really have a key, it can mixed over anything. I was like, \u2018Oh my god, this all makes sense now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA steady run of gigs was booked after the pandemic ended, and her EP and album followed, with both projects demonstrating the swagger, style and and power she brings to her music. As she\u2019s established herself, she\u2019s learned to be choosy. \u201cI\u2019m really selective about who I collaborate with,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople who just see me as a top line, I don\u2019t even respond to the email.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe\u2019s also learned to insist that key video clips are posted to her own social channels, giving greater visibility to all her work. (\u201cIt helps that Chris is a great collaborator,\u201d she adds of Lorenzo. \u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018Go for it.’\u201d) With all of this wisdom, she says this time around she\u2019s more prepared \u201cboth mentally and team wise\u201d to navigate this new hit.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe\u2019s also learned, as so many people and especially women in the industry do as they get more established, to trust her instinct. \u201cI wish I\u2019d listened to my gut a lot more in the beginning,\u201d she says. \u201cThere were a lot of times where I was like, \u2018This doesn\u2019t really feel right,\u2019 and then I found out years later that my gut was, like, yelling, and I wasn\u2019t listening. Now, I have a very strict no a\u2013hole policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe also knows how to spot the signs of a potential a\u2013hole. \u201cI take it from even how I\u2019m addressed in the email,\u201d she says. \u201cIf someone emails me and says, \u2018Hey, we\u2019re looking for a vocalist,\u2019 that out the gate is a big crimson flag. To me, that says \u2018it could have been anyone\u2019 and it tells me they don\u2019t see me as an equal partner in a collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t(She acknowledges, however, that it\u2019s not always easy to say no to opportunities when you\u2019re first starting out. \u201cIt\u2019s very tough to make a choice of wanting to be heard and wanting that respect, but also being able to say no,\u201d she says, \u201cbut I will say for sure that gut instinct is 100%\u201d)<\/p>\n

The wisdom is currently proving useful, as \u201cIn This Bih\u2019\u201d pops off and the collab requests roll in. (\u201cThe DMs are flooded,\u201d she says.) The song\u2019s success has also affected her release schedule, with her collaborators on various tracks all moving up the release dates to try and capitalize. \u201cAll of a sudden, with songs I recorded two years ago, people are like, \u2018We want to put this out right now.’\u201d (Since the release of \u201cIn This Bih’\u201d she\u2019s released songs with Francis Mercier and Peking Duck, along with her solo track \u201cSuddenly, That\u2019s Strange.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\tHer next release is coming in September, with an appearance with Lorenzo at HARD Summer in Los Angeles happening during the festival next weekend (Aug. 1-2.) She may also possibly tour in October, saying that \u201cThe calendar is full, baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd in a clear sign of power, artists Kah-Lo works with now always ask to have her name on their collaborations, because, as she says, \u201cthey know it\u2019s a cool stamp of approval if I agree to be on a song. Because if I do say so myself: I don\u2019t make flops.\u201d<\/p>\n

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[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/kah-lo-interview-in-this-bih-track-chris-lorenzo-edc-vegas-1236300662\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Billboard-KahLo-2026.jpeg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard This past May, Kah-Lo was boarding a flight in Australia, casually checking her socials as she waited to board. She clocked that one of her most recent posts \u00a0\u2013 a clip from the music video for her March release \u201cIn This Bih,’\u201d a collab with British producer Chris Lorenzo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2057875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2057875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2057875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2057875\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2057875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2057875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2057875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}