BIO

 

The term starving artist may be a cliché, but this artist is truly starving if music is not in her life.  N’Qya, better known as NaQuiyah (nah-kee-yah) Hodges, was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. As a child no one ever knew she could sing.  The singer/songwriter speaks of holding in her talent as a way to hold on to something she held so dear and personal.  “I was really bashful about letting anyone know I could sing.  I was so self-conscious and scared,” says the artist of her uncomfortable feelings about her talent as a child.  While other children her age crooned over young R&B and Pop boy bands, this lover of music studied the vocal styles and imitated the likes of Anita Baker, Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Sade, DeBarge, The Gap Band, and Earth Wind and Fire.  Years of singing and humming in secret around family grew old as N’Qya’s confidence grew strong enough to come out of hiding.  She slowly began to let her close circle of friends know she could sing.  It was not until she was in middle school that she revealed to a crowded auditorium of peers and her mother and grandmother that she had a secret to share.  It was winning second place in that middle school talent competition after performing a duet with a friend singing K.Ci and Mary J. Blige’s “I Don’t Want To Do Anything,” that N’Qya gained more confidence and a new found motivation to pursue a lifetime dream as a recording artist.

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After entering and placing in several more talent competitions, N’Qya soon discovered that not only did she have a passion for singing, but also a natural ability and love of songwriting as well.  A collaboration with a longtime friend proved to be an early start to what would continue to become a career ambition.  Along with an inherited singing ability came the skill of penning memorable melodies, writing  catchy hooks and choruses, and coming up with meaningful lyrics that made her songwriting standout just as much as her voice.  Her creative songwriting methods range from shower composing and freestyle writing on the mic in the studio or into her phone in the car while driving in order to catch good lyrics on the dime….even if it means getting up out of a comfortable bed to capture a melody.  

Having lived a young life, but a full life, N’Qya writes what she calls “Pop ‘n B” (Pop and R&B mixed).  She sings and writes of love’s inevitable pains and optimistic joys, real lyrics of personal ups and downs,and depending on her mood and where the beat falls, fun songs full of wit and playful flirtation that will make your great-grandmother want to get up and dance.  Her latest projects, include EP's with Chicago's DJ Jeff Da illest, industry professional Michael “Mic 360” Brooks, producer and member of the ENT DISTRIKT whose hit song “SAME OLE 2STEP”, and producer Cedric McFarland. 

 

N'Qya has birthed authentic and original sounds that music lovers and party people are thirsty for.    The single, “You Still Got It,” was written at the start of the national quarantine and was inspired by a need to uplift people’s spirits and make them want to dance and look forward to the next opportunity to get on the dance floor to show that they “still go it.”

 

N’Qya has also had the awesome opportunity to have her song, “Grown,” be chosen to play in a background scene on the hit Fox drama series “Star.”   "No Time Like Tonight" piggybacking off predecessor single "You Still Got It"", found itself on television's Chicago PD in 2021. She has also performed live with local cover bands in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and has worked with several writing teams and producers such as Femi Ojetunde, Afolabi Solomon, Gilbert Walker, Vic Martin, Rickey Offord, and Michael Hubbard, many of which are known in the industry for their credited work and input on projects such as Brandy, T-Boz, Ludacris, Omarion, Tupac, Chamillionairre, and Ariana Grande to name a few.  Her grateful opportunities to work with these talented industry professionals have enhanced her skills, experiences, musical knowledge, and business sense as an artist and a songwriter, thus making it easy for her to do what she loves best and that’s making good music with good people who appreciate the art.