Patron saint of those who keep their friends close, their money closer and their enemies out of mind, Bia is the ambitious and unapologetic rapper making tracks to empower her fans.

Bianca Miquela Landrau, better known as BIA, has been ready to blow up like this for years. Having made music for the best part of a decade, her vision has been clear and her
trust in herself unclouded, working solidly while confidently waiting for the world to be ready too.

 

Born in Boston, BIA left her hometown for Miami and then LA, a move she compares to a meme she came across recently: “that said moving out of your hometown in your
20s is a lifehack”. Laying the foundations for the fierce independence that pervades her music today, starting over gave BIA the chance to cherry pick a circle of close friends who uplift and understand her, a circle she’s always reassessing and refining — as we learned in one of her favourite lyrics: “I don’t hang with jealous bitches, that’s a weak disease”.

 

Last summer, it was one of the bars that saw her single “WHOLE LOTTA MONEY” take off on TikTok, sparking a mirrorball of new fans emulating her energy on the track. Cocky and assertive in a knowing, glacially nonchalant way, it’s a song for channeling your best and baddest self, a feeling the artist wants to inspire in whoever listens to her music.

 

At the end of the year and at the top of her game, BIA dropped her second EP ‘For Certain’, an eight-track project that showed off her agile lyricism and distinctive sound. With a deluxe version about to drop soon (including the “WHOLE LOTTA MONEY” remix with Nicki Minaj) and an album in the works, BIA has only shown us the first act of all she has planned, and while her new music retains the fire that made her name today, she’ll be leaning into a more vulnerable side of herself too.

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In person she betrays none of the bravado of her lyrics, something she thinks often surprises people when they first meet her. It couldn’t be more of a celebrity profile cliché, but BIA is warm and grounded, “and they don’t expect me to be this way, or to be so happy and nice.” But as she makes clear in “SAME HANDS” (“don’t think that I’m soft because I’m gracious”), while she ensures her energy is on point as a priority, she won’t waste it on those who don’t deserve it (again: “I don’t hang with jealous bitches, that’s a weak disease”). Dancing the line between relatable and untouchable, she’s making space to tell her story on her own terms, ready to let us in beyond the armour to get to know the person who built it.

 

More than a rapper with range, gravitas and irrefutable talent, BIA knows that her artistry is also a business, a balance she’s proud to have learned to navigate and handle independently. With plans for her own makeup line and more work in the fashion space, her trajectory is unfolding parallel to the likes of Rihanna — who, since a viral co-sign in 2019, BIA has spoken avidly about admiring as both an artist and entrepreneur.

 

Sitting down a couple of weeks after her birthday, she reflects on the biggest year of her life so far, and why — no matter how famous the co-sign — she’ll always stay in her own lane and lead by example.

You had a birthday recently, you’re a Leo — do you  believe in star signs? 

Absolutely. I’ve done a lot of research on my sign. There’s the good traits and the bad traits, and I try to be as aware as possible of the energy that surrounds being a Leo. But I think it’s very true to me and my personality. I’m definitely a leader, I’m definitely outgoing. I feel like a lot of Leos are  musically inclined; we have that music thing in us. Just fearless.  

That’s a perfect time to reflect on the past year, which  has been huge for you after the release of  ‘For Certain’.  How do you feel about it and what have you learned?

It’s been enormous. I’ve been so grateful. I’ve been making  music for a while, so this success has definitely been long awaited and really appreciated. Me and everyone around me worked really hard together and we’ve appreciated every moment that we’ve had. It’s only been getting better.  

Especially coming out of the pandemic, it taught me how to be more self-sufficient and not rely on everything so much. It’s taught me to be more aware and more grateful of all the opportunities that come your way — not just when something happens, because you don’t realise everything  you’re doing until a pandemic comes and then everything is put to a halt. It taught me a lot. It made me want to be more giving, too. I came out a more compassionate person.

Is your sound evolving from that project now, or have  you found the space you sit best in?

I think I definitely found my sound, but I also think that I haven’t even shown the world a third of what I can do, what’s on my musical spectrum. I worked for so long making music and just learning how to make different sounds. I’ve stepped into the R&B space a little bit and I haven’t put any of that out, and I can’t wait to because it makes me so happy. It’s a completely different side. 

When did it click for you that you wanted to do music?  And when did you work out what kind of artist you wanted to be? 

It’s so crazy because I was thinking about it the other day —  of when I felt like I knew music was my thing. I can date it all the way back to when I was a kid. I always felt like I had this performer’s itch. I was always performing in these random places — in the car, in the mall. After high school is when I really [said] ‘I’m just gonna try this’, and it came so naturally to me. I think whenever something comes natural to you, it’s for you. If it feels fun and it doesn’t feel like a job, if it feels like a passion, then you should pursue that. That’s what I did, and here I am. 

Other than being naturally drawn to music, what qualities helped you turn that into your reality?

I’m very persistent. I don’t take no for an answer, and if you tell me no, I’ll probably come back and ask again. I’m very, very focused when I want something. I just tunnel vision on it and I go for it. And I think that I’m relatable.

How have you found a balance between being relatable and vulnerable in your music, and confident and assertive? 

It comes down to the recording. I allow myself to just record whatever is on my mind at that time, so I get songs that sound like all different things. From there I can pick how I want my project to sound — this is what I want people to hear from me, or this is a message that I feel needs to be said.

When people are connecting with your music, how do you want them to feel?  

I want people to listen to my music and feel empowered. I want them to listen to my songs and feel like that girl or that boy. I want to make people feel good. And I think that, whoever it is, there’s something for you. I make something for everyone. 

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When “WHOLE LOTTA MONEY” blew up on TikTok, the videos people were making to that song really captured that. It was just everyone feeling good about  themselves. That’s a really new side of being an artist for you to experience firsthand — what was that like?

I love TikTok. There’s so many different kinds of people in the world and TikTok is just an outlet for them to be themselves. It’s a safe place. And I’m grateful for it because it put my music into the hands of so many people who may have never found it. I was actually on vacation, and when I came back everybody was like ‘Have you seen “WHOLE  LOTTA MONEY” going crazy on Tik Tok?!’ I was in Puerto Rico, shooting a video actually, for another song that’s gonna come out soon.  

So much of that EP, and that song especially, is about knowing and speaking your worth. What message do you want to put out with your music?

My main message that I really want to give people is to  just stay authentic. And trust yourself — I always say that, because I feel like we’re in a place [where] so many people are watching what everybody else is doing. Social media makes things so weird; it’s hard to trust yourself and believe  in your own vision. So I really want to encourage people to do that, to believe in themselves and do whatever it is they want to do, and not feel like they have to do it with somebody else’s story.  

Has that been a journey for you to get to that place yourself, or has that mindset always been within you?

I’ve always had that in me. But as you go through life, things wear on your confidence. Sometimes it pulls you away —  ‘Oh, is this what I should be doing? Because it’s not really working’. Sometimes you just got to stay at it for a little longer.

 

I think that’s why it took me longer, because I stayed on that path and I just trusted myself. And people might not always have gotten it right away, but they circle back. They’ll come around. 

Is that why you named the EP ‘For Certain’?

Yes. Absolutely! I was going back and forth on a few titles, and then I cut the “Cover Girl” record and in the song it  says “Cover girl for certain”. I took the “for certain” and was like ‘You know what? This really means something to me, because I’m so for certain about everything in my life right now’. It just spoke to me on a higher level and I turned it into a mantra, like a lifestyle, an everyday mood. I’m not going to do it if I’m not sure about it.  

What advice would you give yourself when you were  first starting out? Would it just be that — keep that  certainty in yourself?  

Definitely. My advice would be don’t take anyone’s advice. In the humblest way speaking, being nice about it, definitely take people’s advice — but trust yourself too. If you know, then you know. Your gut feeling is always right. 

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Have there been any times where you’ve not listened to your gut and regretted it?

Many times. Sometimes you listen to the room, and you don’t need to listen to the room, you need to just listen to yourself.

As a woman navigating the world of rap, have you found you’ve had to fight for respect in certain rooms more than your male peers do? Or has it all been love from everyone?

It definitely hasn’t been love from everyone, but I think that’s where the Leo side of me comes in because I’m never scared to go out on stage and do what I have to do to show people I’m serious. I think when you rap people got to believe you, they got to know that you’re serious. So I carry it that way every time I rap. I do it with conviction.

Do you have a favourite song to perform?

I love performing “WHOLE LOTTA MONEY”. Not just because everybody loves it and knows it, but because the lyrics and the verses, to me, hit hard. “I don’t hang with jealous bitches, that’s a weak disease…” I don’t do that!

Have you always been like that?

I’ve always been like ‘[I] don’t want that energy’. But I think that the more confident you are, the less of a jealous person you are. When you’re really sure of yourself, when you’re really content and happy… Hating hoes ain’t happy, and happy hoes ain’t hating. I don’t hate on anyone because I’m so happy. That’s like the energy I try to keep around — people that are confident and they know they’re sure of themselves. They know what they’re doing in life, so they don’t have time to be negative.

That’s hard sometimes — especially if you have history with someone and then you realise they’re actually really on your side. It’s hard to put yourself first.

I’ve had to do that a lot of times, especially in the music business. I don’t ignore red flags or when certain friendships are not meant to serve you forever.

What are your red flags?

Negativity, jealous behaviour, laziness. Those are all traits and qualities I don’t align with.

What would your younger self — who would put on shows in malls and in the car — think seeing you perform that track?

That’s such a crazy question. I think if my younger self could have seen myself doing this I would have been relieved, because I had a lot of days where I didn’t know if I would get to this point. I felt like I would, but it just felt so far away.

From then to now, what has surprised you the most about your journey?

What surprises me the most is every time I plan, my plans never go as planned. I’ve learned to pivot and go with the flow sometimes, and just be ready. Because when you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready. I’ve learned to stay ready for whatever happens or whatever comes next, and I think that’s the best I could get from everything I went through.