#OnTheRise
From creating her own music to producing her own music videos, Stina, whose real name is Mary-Christina Battle, is in her own universe.
The 21-year-old Los Angeles artist hopped on Instagram live with RoyalTee Magazine.
Like most of us, Stina has been home due to the coronavirus. But staying in the house has not dimmed her bubbling and ambitious vibe.
“I’m naturally the kind of person that likes to stay at home anyway,” she says.
Instead, the San Diego native has been using her time to write songs for her much-anticipated album. When the pandemic happened, Battle was in the middle of recording it.
Stina has been ‘hooked’ on the industry since her first talent show appearance in the second grade at about 7 years old. She has appeared in commercials, musicals, and television shows, such as Disney Channel’s “Bunk’d”. But her true passion is music.
“I love singing and I love writing my own music and being able to be creative and create your own world,” she says.
She and her mother, Lori Battle, who is also her manager and influencer in her own right, love watching Aretha Franklin. The RESPECT Queen is an icon that Stina looks up to.
“Me and my mom would just sit and watch hours of her videos,” she says. “And she just has so much confidence and she always had such a great message in all of her songs. She was talking about things a lot of women in music weren’t talking about.”
The boldness and transparency are elements that Stina conjures in her own music, which tends to be fused with pop, hip-hop, soul, funk, and rock. Her music touches on topics like friendship, empowerment, and self-awareness. In other words, not only are you able to vibe with Stina but learn something about yourself as well.
“I love singing and I love writing my own music and being able to be creative and create your own world.”
“A lot of my songs come from my own personal experiences, things I’ve gone through,” she laughs. “I’m still pretty young so I haven’t gone through everything you know.
Her single, “Uninvited”, for example, stems from a real-life experience of feeling isolated. It’s the ‘oddball, out of place’ universal feeling we can all experience at one time or another.
“Just feeling like you got invited somewhere but you still don’t feel like you fit in all the way,” she explains. “You can be in a room full of people and still feel very alone. And I think that’s why the song spoke to people because a lot of people feel that way.”
“Uninvited” was released at the beginning of this year and has blowing up on Spotify with over 100,000 views. Her music video for the single has over 15,000 views on YouTube.
Check out the video below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfUu959g2Vg]
Stina aspires to work with artists such as Beyoncé and Travis Scott. And although Hollywood is in her backyard, her humbleness remains, and it is definitely going to take her far.
What makes Stina a Royal Woman?
“Just studying my history and knowing I come from royalty. That I am royalty!”
To learn more about Stina click here
Stina will be featured in our upcoming summer edition. Details coming soon!