Xoha Heartless

XOHA is a profound young woman of inner and outer strength, academic excellence, societal awareness, and blood that's laced with the sweet melodies of rich musicology.

Ever since she was 5, music and performance, as a whole, have been part of her being. Recognizing this, she was able to get a spot at one of the oldest independent schools in Los Angeles, which enabled her to flourish in the arts and academics in balance. Over the years, she was frequently selected to play the lead in musicals, sang at school events, performed at talent shows, and many outside opportunities. This balanced approach to arts and academics as part of her schooling engrained a daily discipline. Aside from having the vocal capabilities and great mentors, from a young age, she learned that the confluence of instruction, research, practice, daily time commitment to her craft, health, diet, etc. would allow her to be the best version of herself as an artist.

Along with her passion for music came the natural talent of writing and poetry, which opened the door to songwriting very early on, enabling her to release her thoughts to the world through intentional sounds. She recalls being influenced by a wide variety of music from choir & theatrical music, to jamming out to Guns n Roses and Dire Straits on full blast down the freeway with her dad. Whether analyzing the lyrics of Lauryn Hill's greatest hits, or dancing to the sweet tones of Whitney Houston in her bedroom, XOHA has always been a sucker for 80's inspired music. These influences appear in her creations, as her catchy, retro-contemporary pop tunes are interlaced with vibrations of the past with inspirations from the last several decades.

Coupled with the pursuit of her musical skills came her development as a martial artist, which she began at the age of 4 and continues today. She believes that it's necessary for every woman to feel empowered physically for self-defense, especially considering the patriarchal society we live in which can be a challenge for vulnerable young women. An area of interest which has influenced her current thinking and impacted her permanently is the area of social justice. Over the last several years, after studying multiple generations of societal practices and the overall imbalance in society for the marginalized, she has led numerous forums and presentations with the goal of educating others about topics such as institutional racism, the cycle of oppression, intersectionality, the gender pay gap, and much more. Her growing knowledge of these subjects even compelled her to a passion project. She wrote the original song titled "Outsider," which touches on the sensitive topic of how different the opportunities are in America, in the face of prejudice and discrimination. As a proud feminist, LGBTQ+ ally, social justice and human rights activist, XOHA hopes to utilize her platform as a musician as a catalyst for change. In her core, she believes musicians can be both entertaining and still use their platform to be transformative via their message.