Grammy-nominated rapper CHIKA has announced her retirement from the music industry.
The 24-year-old star – who was in contention for Best New Artist at the 2021 awards ceremony – has decided to step back from her music career due to the impact it was having on her mental health.
In a statement, she told fans that “the mental toll being in the industry has taken on me is not something you bounce back from easily.”
The poet and songwriter – who signed to Warner Records in 2019, after garnering attention on social media – went on to issue a lengthy statement hitting out at those who were “rejoicing in the decline of her mental health” following her news.
She wrote: “Today I told Twitter [about retiring].
“What followed was a hoard of psychotic fans rejoicing in the decline of my mental health, harassing me as if I spoke to them first. It’s not f****** cool, it’s not “trolling” or “stan culture”, you’re pushing people to a point of no return. (sic)”
CHIKA only dropped her most recent EP, ‘Once Upon A Time’, last month, which followed 2017’s ‘Full Bloom // A Poetry’ and last year’s ‘Industry Games’.
As well as featuring on tracks for the likes of JoJo and Stevie Wonder, CHIKA – whose real name is Jane Chika Oranika – also found a fan in Snoop Dogg, who asked her to write him a song.
He told her: “I’m here to tell you I f*** with your music. I love your s***.
“I play it, I enjoy it. I wanted to tell you that. I didn’t want to, like, let you hear about it. I want you [to] hear it from me, from the Dogg’s mouth.”
CHIKA is known for being vocal about political and societal issues and was detained by police at a Los Angeles protest over the police killing of George Floyd last year.