KIRBY Officially Announces Miss Black America, First New Album In Four Years Out August 29th

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15 August, 2025Print

KIRBY Officially Announces Miss Black America, First New Album In Four Years Out August 29th

A Love Letter To The Rural South & Audiovisual Experience of The Mississippi Delta, Showing How The Fight of Your Ancestors Shapes The World

Title Track Arrives Today, Featuring Mississippi Pioneer BIG K.R.I.T.:

LISTEN

"I see the future and Wakanda ain't a movie. I talked to God, he said my skin was such a beauty"

-KIRBY

Today, KIRBY announces the release of her first new album in four years: Miss Black America. Arriving August 29th, and short for Mississippi Black America, this 12-song collection is "an album about growing up in Mississippi and understanding how the fight of your ancestors, the love of your family, the blood on the land and the joy of the Sunday choir shaped how you see the world," says the Memphis-born, Mississippi-bred hitmaker. "It is an audiovisual experience of the Mississippi Delta, and a love letter to the rural South."

Further expanding her mission to reclaim her roots and bring Mississippi music and culture to the masses, KIRBY has joined forces with Mississippi pioneer and rapper BIG K.R.I.T., to share the album's title track. Backed by a lush bed of strings, ornate piano melodies and a deep groove of bass and drums, "Miss Black America" pleads the case for equality as KIRBY and BIG K.R.I.T. pray for a bright and beautiful future. "Wakanda ain't a movie," sings KIRBY. "I talked to God, he said my skin was such a beauty." In the track's accompanying artwork, KIRBY and BIG K.R.I.T. pay homage to their vision of the First Black Presidential family.

Listen to "Miss Black America" (feat. BIG K.R.I.T.):

https://kirby.lnk.to/KRIT

"Traditionally dressed in red, white and blue, and posed in front of a perfectly mowed lawn and a 'White House' styled mansion, the symbolism is layered and poignant. Instead of traditional bright white smiles, each member of the family is wearing a gold grill. Begging the question, 'Do my grill, hair texture, braids and jewelry make me any less American?' Any less worthy of the highest point of office in our nation?' If indeed, our first Black family had adorned themselves with grills and braids while in office, would their perception or reach be the same? Why are certain expressions of black culture acceptable while others signal alarm? With Miss Black America we seek to deconstruct, juxtapose and challenge these stereotypes, all while showcasing the beauty of the Black Southern family with dignity."

-KIRBY

Hailed as "the epitome of Southern Soul" (VIBE) and a "stroke of genius" (Okayplayer), with "a voice molded by the gospel church and a near preternatural handling of the deep-down intensity of the blues" (KCRW), previous Miss Black America singles like "The Man" and "Thick n Country" (feat. Akeem Ali) show why KIRBY is one of the most in-demand vocalists, writers and collaborators of the century.

As Elton John said in a recent episode of his Rocket Hour, KIRBY is "destined for great things," and her ability to translate candid stories into unforgettable music and universal truths has been heard in her work on Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney's "FourFiveSeconds," Beyoncé's "Die With You” and Ariana Grande's "Break Your Heart Right Back"; in voicing the pop star Ni’jah in Donald Glover and Janine Nabers' Amazon Prime Video series Swarm; in touring with John Legend, Leon Bridges and Pink Sweat$; in landing tracks in HBO's Insecure and FX's The Bear; and in cultivating viral fandom, millions of followers and hundreds of millions of streams with heartrending songs like "Black Leaves."

With Miss Black America, KIRBY turns the page on a profound and personal next chapter, daring listeners to hear the foot-stomping, humming and yearning, and transform those sounds to purpose and power. Choosing hymns over hits, stories over samples, and truth over trends, this project marks the most inspired work of her career, taking you from the Saturday cookout to the Sunday church service, while getting you through working for “The Man” on Monday. It is blues and soul music for the future, steeped in heritage, history and tradition, and made for those who came before her: the ancestors who danced, cried and sang on the land of the Dockery Plantation where she descends from, and where many credit as the birthplace of the Delta blues.

"When I go to the Dockery Plantation, how can I not feel a responsibility to tell their story? I believe that by shedding light on the heaviness in the soil—and in the beauty—something new can grow. You visit places where ancestors toiled, died, and bled, and somehow the grass is still green. There's sadness, yes. But also resilience. I want to reclaim what has been linked to oppression. I want to say: Today, this empowers me."

-KIRBY

As her first full-length project since 2021's Sis. He Wasn't The One, Miss Black Americawas produced by Thomas Brenneck (Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones) and Homer Steinweiss (Amy Winehouse, Lee Fields). In addition to Akeem Ali and BIG K.R.I.T., it features a wrecking crew of like-minded musicians such as Big K.R.I.T., Victor Axelrod, Nick Movshon, Paul Spring, Leon Michels, Dave Guy, Dan Edinberg, Robin Hannibal and more.