Manifesting With KALIII
'Cos I'm a baddie, okay?
A
nd I’m a rap star.
In an era of online, always, those craving realness need look no further than Kaliii, a rising star whose fierce blend of sharp lyricism and Southern rap sensibilities pulse with braggadocio. The kind of songs that hit like a shot of tequila — all brassy confidence, take no prisoners. She’s the kind of rapper who’ll spit unapologetic bars over a New Jersey drill track that samples Beethoven’s “Fur Elise.” The kind of rapper who’s collaborated with Missy, Sia, Coi Leray, and Tierra Whack, not to mention an unexpected turn on the Barbie soundtrack with the frothy “Barbie Dreams” with K-Pop girl group Fifty Fifty. Slot the 24-year-old alongside Megan Thee Stallion, Flo Milli, Cardi B, and ’90s-era Lil’ Kim too — this Atlanta-based star holds her own.
The 24-year-old first popped off on TikTok thanks to the minimalist, bassy, bossy-bitch and brooding “MMM MMM” (ft. ATL Jacob) back in 2021, dropping a couple of mixtapes, before 2023’s “Area Codes” saw her go viral again (248 millions Spotify streams to date), climb the streaming charts, signing to Atlantic and dropping her Fck Girl Szn EP later that year. And to think she once had dreams of being a pro soccer player. But for a girl who started rapping at 12-years-old — completing a clutch of songs to win a bet with her stepdad so she could secure her own bedroom without her brother in it — it seems perfectly appropriate that she’s betting large on her music. We caught up with her on a recent trip to NYC to see what’s up.
Good Call: Thanks for meeting up. Congratulations on everything going on. Big things! Tell me a little about your mindset right now.
Kaliii: Yeah, I feel like we're dominating, like we took over. You just gotta have tunnel vision. Be authentic to yourself, nobody owes you anything. You have to believe in yourself before you expect anybody else to believe in you — really prove to yourself that this is what you want and this is what you love so the world can see it and it's genuine.
I wouldn't do anything over. Everything is a lesson. You grow from everyday experiences. So I honestly like the path that I'm on. I like the success that I have, even the L's that I've taken because I've grown into the person that I am. 'Cos I'm a baddie, okay? And I am a rap star.
What was your early life like?
Before TikTok, before everything, I was just moving around like house-to-house. Then I ended up moving to Midland, Texas in the middle of nowhere — literally tumbleweeds rolling across your foot. I was gonna go back and play soccer in college and I tried, I got back out there, I'm like, ‘Ooh, girl, you still got it,’ the footwork's still there, you know? But the endurance, I couldn't do all that running no more. It was just over with for me. After the whole workout with the soccer team for Fullerton College, I was like, I'm going to the studio. I'm sure they're looking back now, like this girl was out here about to play soccer with us, and then now she's on Billboard, okay? Ha!
“My favorite part about being an artist is getting to make good music that people love and I get to just live my life every day, having fun. It's not a job.”
Beautiful. What’s your experience with manifesting?
One of my godmoms was a singer, so she'd come in the house and I'd be there listening and watching them make music. One day I was like, teach me, I want to know. I had a journal, I used to write stuff down and we used to write random raps about nothing, we would just be having fun, turn on beats. I was on pop music. I was on my Miley Cyrus, my Nicki Minaj sometimes, you know. Missy Elliott, “Work It,” Aaliyah, those were what we were playing in my house. R&B like Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, Rihanna.
That's kind of what I want to embody: being creative like Missy and not being closed into one box. I feel like those artists are huge because they can do anything. But back then I was in a space where I'm like, I don't have any friends, I'm in a strict household, I don't know what I'm about to do, you know? I'm just doing life. And I visualized my bank account because I had $19 in my bank account during that time. I was living my best life, looked like I was a rich girl. So I visualized more money in my bank account, I put a hella zeroes at the end. I just had so much fun. I feel good, my energy is high, what am I doing? Why am I not dropping this song? There's nothing stopping me.
That’s the move: doing instead of overthinking and staying in stasis. So what was the next move?
My best friend gave me the money to get my cover art done, I did my video, and then my friend Ali, she's like, you need to make a TikTok account. Like, why are you not on TikTok? I got on TikTok and I seen people like putting their music on there, and one day I just did it. And then I woke up and it was viral. I was like, oh my God! All it took was for me to believe in myself and then actually do it.
We was watching it every day, it's going up. A hundred views in a day, then a thousand in a day, then 4,000, then 17,000. It just kept going up. And everybody was calling. It felt good, like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. My confidence and my self-esteem has already been there: My achievement just solidified my belief in myself.
Amazing how that happens…
The girls are lit. We're collabing, we're working hard, we taking over. Right now, when you listen to a good song or a song that's going up in the club or randomly on the streets, it's a girl. Honestly, I feel like we got the game on lock. The success from “Area Codes” is literally ridiculous. To me, that's my first hit, my baby for real. And “Area Codes” separated me from TikTok —Kaliii is here, she's in the game, she's an artist. I'm at award shows with “Area Codes.” I'm on the Billboard Hot 100. I got my second gold plaque, and I'm sure it'll be platinum soon. Ended up being on the Barbie soundtrack. You have to have goals, I accomplish them. I needed to make a new set of goals, and then “Area Codes” happened before I could even do that.
What’s been the highlight so far?
My favorite part about being an artist is getting to make good music that people love and I get to just live my life every day, having fun. It's not a job. I get to be myself and people love me. When I go on stage and I see the audience’s reaction to me, it's so surreal. Every time my DJ says my tag, the crowd goes insane. Now I got to go out there and I got to give — full energy, because I need people to be like, Kaliii was lit, she got that energy, she got that confidence, and I would come see her again. I just know I'm gonna kill it.
I work hard every day for these things. I love performing, so it's not something I have to overthink. I visualized it for myself, I seen it for myself, so eventually it happened.
What's next for Kaliii?
We're gonna win some awards, okay? I'm talking Grammys, okay? We're gonna go international, like crazy. I just wanna be a household name. I want females who look like me to be like, “I can do it too, because Kaliii did it.” Song blew up on TikTok. My pages are going up, my music is streaming. I'm signed, I'm able to buy my own car, have my own place. financially independent, I feel good, I'm happy. I knocked out every single thing that I said. I literally did it.
