Heera grew up in a town known as Appleton, Wisconsin. Located in the Fox River Valley, the area is known for it’s history of industrial production and the Green Bay Packers. This unique singer-songwriter embraces her humble background but has big city dreams. Big things do indeed come in small packages.
The young artist recently moved to Fond Du Lac, bringing her much closer to Milwaukee – a city glowing up for it’s success as an independent music scene. “It’s hard when you’re in a small town that isn’t heavy based on the arts,” she says, and she’s right – it’s harder to make it from a small town than it is from a big city. In other words, it takes a particular caliber of work ethic and personality to achieve what Heera has at such a young age. She has a beautiful brain with an even more brilliant outlook on life.
“I think for us Midwest women, when it comes to our gauge of beauty, we see beauty very different than West Coast or East Coast women. I think we see beauty based on more of how we influence the ones most important to us. It’s less about our own vanity and more about how we hold up our loved ones… We’re very family-based here, so I think that how we can affect someone’s day, reflects on our own beauty, and I think that’s how we find value in ourselves.”
Heera also looks different than most Hip Hop artists. She’s a gorgeous mix of Hmong-Chinese, and embraces her ethnicity through her music.
“I think our culture is very influenced by storytelling. We don’t have documents, we don’t have a history book, so everything is passed down through stories. I kinda format every song is that sense. I make it into its own little movie in my head. And then I just portray it in that sense. Knowing what my family went through to get here, kind of pushes me to take advantage of all the opportunities I have here. So that gives me a different perspective. That gives me a different drive.”
The young artist didn’t start listening to R&B and Hip Hop until she met Devon Alexander, but she’s has been rocking stages for years. She used to be the lead singer of a rock band called Lokbox, and once opened up for Vic Ferrari at Octoberfest. “I did more of guitar, bass playing… I was a wedding singer for a while,” she says with a sexy little laugh, remembering her musical past. This artist has been on her grind. “I think when it comes to artsy people, it’s easier to be fluid moving to different kinds of art,” she says. Listen to her debut collab “Live It Up” :
Also known as Liz Ho, the intelligent and hardworking woman also made a name for herself at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville. “I graduated 2014, so I graduated early,” she told Basement Made in a chat. “I was a huge nerd, I guess, in college and high school and graduated at the top of my class for Psychology. And that’s what I’m going for grad school – for Clinical Psychology.” She’s humble. Liz is now in contact with Palo Alto in California, and looks to attend graduate school there in the Fall of this year.
We talked about the stigma against monogamy in Hip Hop, and some issues that arise when intimate artists choose to collaborate artistically. The Psych grad explained how she felt the need to hide her current relationship for a while, because folks would’ve thought that she was using her partner’s platform to get ahead. Eventually, Heera opened up about her life outside of music with Devon, and although she does hear a lot of noise for it – especially from other female artists – the young queen doesn’t give into the negativity.
Now, she’s writing her own music and looks to keep her sound moving forward. “It’s heavy on lyrics,” she explains. “And I decided to tap into something different, because I never had the opportunity to record this type of music.” Heera certainly has plenty of story to tell. She’s plotting to release a solo track in the near future, and will appear on Devon Alexander‘s upcoming project.
“I’m a horrible model when it comes to being on camera,” she says. I disagree. This bitty comes in a little package, but damn she’s thick. Enjoy this very rare gallery from Heera x Basement Made.
