In 2007, Malaysian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and ukulele player “KokoKaina” stormed YouTube when she posted a video of her first song. As her good luck and great talent would have it, she received a rush of positive feedback which inspired her to upload more videos, which eventually put her (featured) on the main page of YouTube.
Through various channels, she was discovered, and her link was passed on, and finally, she was signed to Bushfire Records (a record company which is partly owned by none other than Jack Johnson!) by Emmett Malloy. Today, her YouTube handle, “KokoKaina” remains but we all know her better now as Zee Avi.
In 2009, two years after she was discovered, Zee Avi released her full self-titled album. For months after her album release, she toured the United States. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Making music was clearly her calling as she went on to rack up hits after hits with her retro-ish, unique voice on both traditional channels as well as online. Who would’ve thought that our homegrown pint-sized star’s efforts could shoot her up to international stardom in just a few years?
As if that’s not enough, our “KokoKaina” is soon to return to charm us one more time with her second album, scheduled for release on the 23rd of August 2011.
Zee Avi, we’re ready for you! You go, girl!
For more information visit her Facebook page or her website.
