Zhavia

Zhavia Ward, a fast-rising contemporary R&B singer and songwriter whose vocal and stylistic approach recalls the slightly younger sibling of Kehlani, first drew notice as a contestant on the opening season of the 2018 reality series The Four: Battle for Stardom. That platform quickly yielded a Columbia recording contract, multiple follow-up singles, and soundtrack placements on Deadpool 2 (“Welcome to the Party”) and Disney’s Aladdin remake (“A Whole New World”). The entire surge unfolded across a 17-month stretch in 2018 and 2019, while the grainy-voiced performer, who carried herself with striking maturity, was still a teenager. She kept the momentum going by issuing the 17 EP and the 2020 single “Waiting.”

Raised in suburban Los Angeles, Ward absorbed a wide range of musical influences from her parents, both working musicians. Frequent moves—more than 15 during her childhood—prompted her to channel feelings into poems, songs, and singing. Immediately after high school she began visiting a recording studio, where auditions for The Four: Battle for Stardom were underway. Spurred by her manager and the program’s producers, she competed and finished third in the 2018 season. Republic later released several of her performances, among them renditions of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and Rihanna’s “Man Down.” Those tracks paved the way for her Columbia deal and the first original singles “Candlelight,” “Deep Down,” and “100 Ways,” each co-written by Ward and produced, respectively, by Cody Tarpley, Swagg R’Celious, and Warren “Oak” Felder. By year’s end she appeared with French Montana and Lil Pump on the Diplo-produced “Welcome to the Party” for the Deadpool 2 soundtrack. Soundtrack work continued in 2019 when she and ZAYN supplied a new version of “A Whole New World” for the Disney Aladdin film, which received the Choice Movie Song award at the 2019 Teen Choice Awards. Her debut EP 17, featuring production by Felder and Hit-Boy, arrived in June 2019, and she followed with the single “Waiting” the next April.