Kirby Lauryen Dockery, also known by the stage names Kirby (stylized as KIRBY) and Kirby Lauryen, is an American singer-songwriter. She has written pop songs such as "FourFiveSeconds" performed by Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney. Kirby is an independent artist and released her first album, Sis, in 2020.[2]
Kirby Lauryen | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Kirby Lauryen Dockery |
| Born | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Genres | R&B,[1] soul, funk |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Labels | Roc Nation |
| Website | https://www.instagram.com/singkirbysing |
Dockery was born October 24[when?] in Memphis, Tennessee and raised in Southaven, Mississippi.[3][4] She studied music at Stax Music Academy,[5] and enrolled at Berklee College of Music after high school but left in 2012 to pursue music full-time. She was influenced by Kanye West's The College Dropout.[4][6]
She began a YouTube challenge where she posted videos of herself singing a new original song for 275 days.[5] She was contacted by Joy Brown of Roc Nation on day 302 of the challenge and signed to the label.[5][7]
She has worked with artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Brandy, and Timbaland.[8][9] Kirby co-wrote the track "FourFiveSeconds", which went through several rounds of edits as directed by Kanye West.[2] She also wrote the song "Die with You" performed by Beyoncé and "Break Your Heart Right Back" by Ariana Grande.[2]
She released her first album, Sis, in February 2020.[2] Robyn Mowatt of Okayplayer referred to it as "a mashup of refreshing deep cuts."[4] Two singles from the album were featured on the soundtrack for the fourth season of Insecure.[7]
In June 2020, Kirby posted a viral TikTok video about the racist origins of the pancake brand Aunt Jemima, and amid other online critiques taking place, the brand announced that they would retire the racist imagery.[1]
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Loved by You" | 2016 | Non-album single |
| "Vain" | 2017 | |
| "Kool Aid" | 2019 | Sis. |
| "Don't Leave Your Girl" | ||
| "We Don't Funk" | 2020 | |
| "Velvet (Remix)" (featuring Lucky Daye) (from Insecure) |
Non-album single | |
indicates a credited vocal/featured artist contribution
| Title | Year | Artist(s) | Album | Credits | Written with |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "J'irai te chercher" | 2014 | Amel Bent | Instinct | Co-writer | Amel Bent, Simon Cohen, Aymeric Mazaudier, and Kore |
| "The Game" | Kelly Rowland | Pepsi Beats of the Beautiful Game | Jake Troth, and Sia Furler | ||
| "Let It Be Me" | Jennifer Lopez | A.K.A. | Harmony Samuels and Jennifer Lopez | ||
| "She" | Keyshia Cole | Point of No Return | Keyshia Cole, Sean Fenton, Dijon McFarlane, and Priese Board | ||
| "Hustle Harder" (featuring Snoh Aalegra and Dreezy) |
Common | Nobody's Smiling | Lonnie Lynn, Ernest Wilson, Snoh Nowrozi, Seandrea Sledge, Alexander Izquierdo, and Leon Michels | ||
| "Break Your Heart Right Back" (featuring Childish Gambino) |
Ariana Grande | My Everything | Andrew "Pop" Wansel, Warren "Oak" Felder, Donald Glover, Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers, Steven Jordan, Christopher Wallace, Sean Combs, and Mason Betha | ||
| "Only One" (featuring Paul McCartney) |
Kanye West | Non-album single | Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Mike Dean, and Noah Goldstein | ||
| "Crazy" | 2015 | Kat Dahlia | My Garden | Glass John | |
| "FourFiveSeconds" | Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney | Non-album single | Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Mike Dean, Tyrone Griffin, Jr., David Longstreth, Robyn Fenty, Dallas Austin, Elon Rutberg, and Noah Goldstein | ||
| "Die with You" | Beyoncé | Non-album single | Beyoncé | ||
| "If I Have To" | Avery Wilson | Non-album single | Avery Wilson, Rodney Jerkins, and Sean Garrett | ||
| "The Otherside" | Elijah Blake | Shadows & Diamonds | Sean Fenton and Carlo Montagnese | ||
| "Rockabye" | Sean Fenton, Christopher Crowhurst, and Anthony Charles Williams II | ||||
| "Aquaria" (featuring Deradoorian) |
Boots | Aquaria | Jordan Asher and Angel Deradoorian | ||
| "Over Getting Over" | Fleur East | Love, Sax and Flashbacks | Andrew "Pop" Wansel, Warren "Oak" Felder, and Trevor "Trevorious" Brown | ||
| "Never Say When" | Fleur East, Andrew "Pop" Wansel, and Warren "Oak" Felder | ||||
| "Love Just Ain't Enough" (featuring Timbaland) |
Monica | Code Red | Monica Brown, Nick Brongers, Jocelyn Donald, Timothy Mosley, and Jonathan Solone-Myvett | ||
| "Call My Name" | Monica Brown, Jocelyn Donald, Daniel Jones, Jamal Jones, Timothy Mosley, and Jonathan Solone-Myvett | ||||
| "All Men Lie" (featuring Timbaland) |
Monica Brown, Nick Brongers, and Timothy Mosley | ||||
| "Beggin & Pleadin" | 2016 | Brandy | Non-album single | Ronald Colson, Andrew "Pop" Wansel, Warren "Oak" Felder, John Lee Hooker, Steve Mostyn, and Brandy Norwood | |
| "Wolves" | Kanye West | The Life of Pablo | Kanye West, Sia Furler, Victor Mensah, Magnus August Høiberg, Alan Stanley Soucy Brinsmead, Noah Goldstein, Elon Rutberg, Cydel Young, Ryan McDermott, Mike Dean, Caroline Shaw, and Pat Reynolds | ||
| "Nothing Even Matters" (featuring KIRBY) |
Kevin Ross | Non-album single | Co-writer/Featured artist | Kevin Ross | |
| "Will You Fight" | 2017 | La'Porsha Renae | Already All Ready | Co-writer | La'Porsha Renae, Edgar "Johnny Velvet" Etienne, and Harmony Samuels |
| "Tell Me You Love Me" | Demi Lovato | Tell Me You Love Me | Ajay Bhattacharyya and John Hill | ||
| "Twice" | 2018 | Christina Aguilera | Liberation | Writer/Producer | None |
| "Accelerate" (featuring Ty Dolla Sign and 2 Chainz) |
Co-writer | Christina Aguilera, Kanye West, Mike Dean, Che Pope, Ernest Brown, Carlton Davis Mays, Jr., Bibi Bourelly, Ilsey Juber, Tayla Parx, Tyrone Griffin, Jr., Tauheed Epps, and Ronald Brown | |||
| "Thank You" (featuring KIRBY) |
Black Thought | Streams of Thought, Vol. 1 | Co-writer/Featured artist | Tariq Trotter and Patrick Douthit | |
| "Don't Walk Away" | 2020 | John Legend | Bigger Love | Co-writer | John Stephens, Stephen McGregor, and Mikyala Simpson |
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