carLEEE

carLEEE is a 23-year-old Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter. As a Wharton grad and former competitive gymnast, her musical journey began as a secret passion nurtured alongside louder conventional pursuits. By her senior year of college, encouraged by the musical community found in groups like Penn Counterparts (which John Legend and INJI also graced during their studies), she released her debut single “chew”. Rooted in her Jamaican heritage, carLEEE’s sound is genre-diasporic, mirroring the great breadth of her musical influences. As a self-taught singer and multidisciplinary artist, her musicianship has always been visceral and melody-first; something to make sense of and embody the profundity of life when words alone fail. She considers music to be an extension of her being and the best practice of understanding oneself and the universe around us. She hopes her stories and melodies mean something to others the way that those of Minnie Riperton, WILLOW, Lianne La Havas, Cleo Sol, Raveena, and Yebba mean to her. She wants nothing more than to see prevailing peace and love on Earth and to use art to connect with our truest selves. You can find her making ethereal covers of popular songs and pursuing other artistic outlets on her Instagram and TikTok pages (@carleeekins). Photos by: Tina Zhang (IG: @tinazhang0401)