Biography
Active since the start of the decade, Ari Hicks has pursued her own sonic path, layering woozy and infectious electronics beneath memorable melodies and introspective lyrics sung in a low, inviting tone. Though she titled two EPs It’s Not That Deep, her material addresses common milestones for young women, such as discovering personal identity and sharing it with a compatible partner.
Born Arianna Singh-Hicks and raised in Toronto, she later described in interviews the challenges of navigating predominantly white neighborhoods while pushing to succeed academically and in after-school pursuits. Fresh out of school and still in her twenties, she issued her first single “Nothin But a Monster” in 2020 under the mononym ARI, enlisting Doja Cat producer Cambo for the track. The subsequent EP IDIOT GRL spanned R&B and synth pop, occasionally incorporating an unexpected guitar accent. Later that year she followed with a Halloween-themed EP containing a version of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” alongside the new song “Kiss Me, Kill Me.”
A comparatively quiet 2021 yielded just one release, the single “Everyone Is Disappointing,” before Hicks returned in 2022 with It’s Not That Deep: Chapter 1 under her full name. That project included the widely streamed cuts “Romeo Dies,” “Shut Up and Look Pretty,” and “Sucker.” Its follow-up, It’s Not That Deep: Chapter 2, closed the year and applied her hallmark elements—stormy synth beats and pitch-shifted vocal doubling—to tracks such as “Midas” and “Criminal.”
Although she put out no new material in 2023, “Kiss Me, Kill Me” unexpectedly gained viral traction on social platforms and markedly elevated her visibility. In 2024 Hicks appeared on the roster of the first Lavender Wild Festival, an LGBTQ+ focused event in Toronto, and issued her initial singles under Warner’s Canadian division, “Good Boy” and “Innocent.”
Born Arianna Singh-Hicks and raised in Toronto, she later described in interviews the challenges of navigating predominantly white neighborhoods while pushing to succeed academically and in after-school pursuits. Fresh out of school and still in her twenties, she issued her first single “Nothin But a Monster” in 2020 under the mononym ARI, enlisting Doja Cat producer Cambo for the track. The subsequent EP IDIOT GRL spanned R&B and synth pop, occasionally incorporating an unexpected guitar accent. Later that year she followed with a Halloween-themed EP containing a version of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” alongside the new song “Kiss Me, Kill Me.”
A comparatively quiet 2021 yielded just one release, the single “Everyone Is Disappointing,” before Hicks returned in 2022 with It’s Not That Deep: Chapter 1 under her full name. That project included the widely streamed cuts “Romeo Dies,” “Shut Up and Look Pretty,” and “Sucker.” Its follow-up, It’s Not That Deep: Chapter 2, closed the year and applied her hallmark elements—stormy synth beats and pitch-shifted vocal doubling—to tracks such as “Midas” and “Criminal.”
Although she put out no new material in 2023, “Kiss Me, Kill Me” unexpectedly gained viral traction on social platforms and markedly elevated her visibility. In 2024 Hicks appeared on the roster of the first Lavender Wild Festival, an LGBTQ+ focused event in Toronto, and issued her initial singles under Warner’s Canadian division, “Good Boy” and “Innocent.”
Albums
Singles
