H.E.R.

Gabi Wilson (born June 27, 1997), better known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her", acronym for Having Everything Revealed), is an American singer and songwriter. Before being known as H.E.R., Wilson rose to fame by participating in Radio Disney's Next Big Thing in 2009. She later signed to RCA Records at the age of 14 and released a single, "Something To Prove", under her real name in 2014.

Wilson re-emerged in 2016 with the H.E.R. persona, releasing her debut EP H.E.R. Volume 1. She then released subsequent EPs H.E.R. Volume 2 (2017), The B Sides (2017), I Used to Know Her: The Prelude (2018) and I Used to Know Her: Part 2 (2018). Her compilation album, H.E.R., was released in October 2017, consisting of tracks from the singer's first two EPs plus six additional songs. H.E.R. was nominated for five Grammy Awards at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019, winning for Best R&B Performance and for Best R&B Album.

Background

Wilson was raised by a Filipina mother and an African-American father. She also has a little sister as well. She was initially introduced to the public as a child prodigy, covering Alicia Keys on piano on the Today Show, before competing on Radio Disney's The Next BIG Thing when she was 12 years old.

Addressing the secrecy over her identity, H.E.R. has said: "The mystery is a metaphor for who I am, or who I was at the time of creating the project [...] I feel like oftentimes we don't like to be open as people about our emotions or things that we are going through. At the time [of recording], I was very closed off except for when I was writing or when I was in the studio."

She explained further, "I am a voice for women who feel like they're alone in these situations. This project came from emotion, and that's what I want it to be about – not what I look like or who I'm with, but the raw emotion and support for women." To NPR she added, "I feel like this is the era of the anti-star. I really just wanted it to be about the music, and get away from, 'Who is she with?' and 'What is she wearing?'"

Career

After being signed to RCA under Sony at the age of 14, she released a single in 2014 called "Something To Prove" under her real name.

Re-emerging in late 2016 with a new persona and her debut EP, H.E.R. Vol. 1 was released September 9, 2016, executive produced by producer and songwriter David "Swagg R'Celious" Harris, Wilson received support from Usher, Tyrese, Pusha T, and Wyclef Jean; labelmates Alicia Keys and Bryson Tiller helped get the word out through Twitter co-signs, shoutouts, and re-posts. In April 2017 Rihanna posted an Instagram clip with H.E.R.'s track "Focus" playing in the background. The clip has been viewed over five million times. Additional public support came from Issa Rae of HBO's Insecure, Taraji P. Henson of Empire, Kylie Jenner, and Kendall Jenner. The tracks on H.E.R. Vol. 1 have collectively been streamed over 20 million times on Spotify and over 65 million times across all streaming music providers worldwide.

NPR listed H.E.R. Vol. 1 as the first selection in its "5 Essential R&B Albums You Slept On" roundup. Calling the music "Slow-burning R&B that zooms in on emotional highs and lows," Rolling Stone included H.E.R. in its March 2017 "10 Artists You Need To Know" roundup. And Forbes named her one of "5 Alternative R&B Artists To Look Out For In 2017", reporting: "In the same vein as The Weeknd's enigmatic introduction to the world, H.E.R.'s image remains a mystery. The irony, though, is that her moniker is an acronym for Having Everything Revealed."

Her follow-up EP, H.E.R. Vol. 2 (2017) also executive produced by Harris, was released on June 16, 2017 and includes the single "Say It Again".

Her notable live performances include the 2017 BET Experience concerts at the Staples Center in Los Angeles with Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Kid Cudi, Lil Yachty, Rae Sremmurd, Bryson Tiller, and Khalid.

She was recently on tour with Bryson Tiller for the Set It Off tour, and recently concluded her first headlining tour, the Lights On Tour, in support of her most recent effort H.E.R. Vol. 2.

She released H.E.R. Vol. 2, The B Sides (2017), also executive-produced by Swagg R'Celious on October 20, 2017 along with the single titled 2, released on October 13, 2017. The music on Vol. 1 was produced by an anonymous person from YouTube who creates video game music and remastered songs from the past.

Wilson announced on the 12th of September 2018 that she will be embarking on the "I Used to Know H.E.R. Tour" in support of her latest EP "I Used to Know H.E.R.: The Prelude", which Wilson has stated is a prelude to her upcoming debut album.

Musical style

Consisting mostly of contemporary R&B ballads, H.E.R's songs have been described as "downcast post-breakup material that sounded vulnerable and assured at once" by Apple Music.