The Rise Of Nastiya Kai, A Natural-Born Musician

“I’ve always made music,” said Nastiya.

On October 27th, 2023, Nastiya Kai’s new song “Bury Me” was released, but according to her, it wasn’t even supposed to be a song. The idea came to her after she wrote about a distressing encounter in a phone diary entry. Feelings seized her as she reread her own words, and soon, a hit single was born, created by humming random melodies to the lines written on paper and bouncing ideas around.

Only her fifth release, “Bury Me,” has an experimental low-fi sound, and it takes listeners through not only a musical journey but also an emotional rollercoaster. The track gives the impression it was written by a practiced, weathered electronic artist with an established voice in the industry — not an up-and-coming artist yet to release her first album.

But, as stated by the singer-songwriter herself, Nastiya isn’t new to creating music.

A Russian native, Nastiya has traveled the world extensively. Currently, she splits her time between New York City, Los Angeles, and Paris.

Although she attended school in Switzerland, London, and Paris, earning a degree in Psychology, Nastiya has wanted to be a musician since she was about nine years old. Her passion stems from a childhood where she would constantly listen to her father play the piano and sing.

“My first memory of actually deciding that this is what I want to do was when my dad brought a digital piano home that I still play to this day,” she said.

Nastiya began creating her own songs when she was around ten years old. This was a very difficult period for her because she was being tormented at school and trying to cope with her BPD, a condition she is very open about with her fans. After trying various musical classes, she dropped out because she felt depressed and lonely. She stopped playing once she moved away from home.

After going to therapy and learning to better manage her BPD, Nastiya finally began to overcome the roadblocks that had prevented her from making music. Last summer, she found a producer who happened to be an old friend, and the two hit it off and got to work.

And they wasted no time. In July alone, they wrote and recorded four songs. To make up for lost time, Nastiya plans to release a new song every month.

Taking inspiration from top artists in the 1970s and 1980s, like David Bowie and Fleetwood Mac, Nastiya creates electronic music eloquently paired with other genres such as country and indie. Without holding anything back, she intends to “express [her] thoughts in a very raw and blunt way.”

In fact, Nastiya plans on releasing a new album called “Demons” in February, describing it as her autobiography.

“Every song is going to be related or about an experience of a story [of] mine that I used to keep secret,” Nastiya said.

She went on to describe how the songs on this album would be real and direct about an awful habit, event, or person from her past. Writing this record has been a liberating experience for her, allowing her to let go of the past and enter her profession with a fresh perspective.

Keep an eye out for her much anticipated new album and learn more about this up-and-coming artist on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

Written in partnership Tedfuel