Alina Baraz

Primarily recognized for her subdued compositions that weave contemporary R&B into downtempo electronica, Alina Baraz first surfaced alongside producer Galimatias during the mid-2010s. Their joint EP Urban Flora appeared in 2015 and climbed close to the summit of Billboard’s dance/electronic chart. After signing with Mom + Pop, she issued a follow-up release, The Color of You, in 2018, which also charted, then delivered her debut full-length, It Was Divine, in 2020; that album reached number 43 on the Billboard 200. Operating independently, she later put out the concise EPs Sunbeam and Moongate in 2021 before returning with the measured yet firm singles “Keep Me in Love” and “Don’t Buy Me Roses” in 2023.

Born in Cleveland to first-generation Russian-Ukrainian immigrant parents, Baraz was immersed in classical music from childhood. During adolescence she gravitated toward pop and R&B, absorbing the work of Amy Winehouse, Adele, and Corinne Bailey Rae, then broadened her palette by participating in a gospel choir connected to Cleveland State University. At nineteen she relocated to Los Angeles to advance her career. Early attention arrived in 2013 through joint tracks with Galimatias—“Drift” and “Make You Feel”—and with ESTA on “Paradise.” The deeper alliance with the Denmark-born Galimatias, sparked when she contacted him on SoundCloud, produced Urban Flora. Released by Ultra in May 2015 and credited to both artists, the eight-track project entered the Billboard 200 at number 111 and peaked at number two on the dance/electronic chart. In 2017 she returned with the single “Electric,” which featured Khalid.

Her first project released without a collaborator, The Color of You, arrived via Mom + Pop in 2018 and reached number 59 on the Billboard 200 the following year, aided by the single “I Don’t Even Know Why Though.” The full-length It Was Divine followed in April 2020 and landed at number 43 on the Billboard 200, buoyed in part by “Off the Grid,” her initial entry on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart and another collaboration with Khalid. After leaving the label, Baraz issued the four-song EPs Sunbeam and Moongate independently in 2021. The 2023 singles “Keep Me in Love” and “Don’t Buy Me Roses” have since appeared while work continues on her second album.