Arika Kane

A soulful vocalist and songwriter, Arika Kane crafts pop laced with dance and R&B elements. Her first recording, the self-titled Arika Kane issued in 2009, quickly drew notice when several of its tracks appeared on VH-1’s Love & Hip Hop. Additional screen placements soon followed, among them the 2012 selection of “Make It” as the theme for VH1’s Hollywood Exes. Touring opportunities expanded in tandem, taking her onstage alongside Babyface, Charlie Wilson, Frankie Beverly, and additional headliners. In 2014 she joined Brian McKnight for the duet “It’s There,” featured on her album Thru the Veil.

Born in Killingly, Connecticut, Kane was raised in a musically active home where both parents performed. She began singing near the age of ten and participated in school choirs throughout her education. During those years she also started composing original material, citing inspiration from Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Judy Garland, Etta James, Quincy Jones, and other artists. After graduation she relocated to Bridgeport to focus on a professional career. Early work singing behind other performers led to a contract with the Stratford-based BSE imprint, which released her 2009 debut. Three tracks from the project reached audiences: “Bcuz I Luv U” and “4 the Lovers” both entered the Top 40 of the Billboard R&B Airplay chart, while “Here with Me” generated further attention after its placement in the first season of Love & Hip Hop. Subsequent seasons of the series spotlighted additional Kane recordings, including “What Chilli Wants,” “Single Ladies,” “Disaster Date,” and “Basketball Wives.”

Her second full-length, Substance, appeared in 2012 and registered in the digital Top Ten; several cuts also surfaced on VH1’s Single Ladies 2. That same year “Make It” was again licensed, this time as the theme for Hollywood Exes. Thru the Veil followed in 2014 and introduced the Brian McKnight collaboration “It’s There.” Two years later The Remix Album charted on the Billboard Heatseekers survey and reached the Top 25 on the Dance chart. In 2017 Kane released a standalone cover of Barbara Acklin’s “Love Makes a Woman,” and the following year she issued the single “Chains.”