London based R&B artist Nia Chennai continues her new musical era with ‘Is What It Is’, a warm, nostalgia tinged slice of R&B and neo-soul that finds strength in accepting life’s chaos rather than trying to control it.
Produced and recorded alongside longtime collaborator KYA, the track pairs bright, easy going instrumentation with some of Nia’s most personal songwriting to date. Drawing on her experiences of living with endometriosis, fibromyalgia, autism and seizures while pursuing a career in music, she turns the familiar phrase “it is what it is” into something far more meaningful.
“I wanted to write about the chaos in my life instead of constantly trying to fix, understand or control every little thing,” Nia explains. “Sometimes it isn’t about pretending something doesn’t hurt, it’s about accepting where you are and carrying on anyway.”
It’s an approach that sets the tone for Nia’s next chapter: fun, feminine and full of personality, but increasingly unafraid to tackle the uncomfortable stuff. As she puts it, she’s firmly in her “tell the truth, but make it cute” era.