KAINA is a first-generation Latina, born and raised in Chicago. Since the release of her debut EP sweet asl in 2016, she has created generational music that surpasses borders, a unified expression of her native Chicago coupled with her Venezuelan and Guatemalan heritage. From collaborating with peers like Saba, The O’My’s, and Sen Morimoto, and through multidisciplinary work around the city with various organizations, she has found a sound for herself that is gentle, yet full of intent. A listener can feel the intimacy resonating in her lyrics, as she pens odes about love, legacy, and ancestry, and how those concepts become more complex as one grows older. Her 2019 album Next to the Sun (Sooper Records) was featured in Pitchfork, Fader, Teen Vogue, and NPR and resulted in her touring as support with Cuco, Sleater-Kinney, and Durand Jones and the Indications. Her forthcoming album, It Was a Home (City Slang Records), releases March 4, 2022 and will be followed by both North America and European headline tours.

“KAINA delivers soothing reflections on Latinx identity and feelings of purposelessness atop music that fuses pop, R&B, jazz and salsa, the album feels as expansive as countless longer collections.” – Paste Magazine

LI & the Little Idea is a true music lover’s dream band offering listeners an experiential journey across various regions and eras of American music. It’s lyrical, it’s “dancy,” it’s authentic, and it’s real.