Bonny M | May 15, 2026
Before the music, before the confidence, before the boldness of Persona: Unfiltered, there was simply a little girl trying to make sense of life through sound. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Mizz Kim describes herself as an ordinary city girl who once believed life was simple. But life shifted quickly. After the passing of her father in 2005, her family relocated to Columbia, South Carolina, where she faced a series of painful transitions, adjusting to unfamiliar surroundings, family instability, heartbreak, foster care, and eventually the devastating loss of her mother in 2012.
Through it all, music became more than passion. It became survival. Long before she fully understood the weight of her experiences, music gave her a place to process emotions too heavy to carry alone. Singing and songwriting became her therapy, her escape, and eventually her voice. By the age of five, she had already fallen in love with music, inspired by legendary voices like Luther Vandross, Kelly Price, Kelly Rowland, and Jennifer Lopez. Writing came naturally alongside it, growing deeper and more personal as she got older.
Life continued to challenge her in ways many never see publicly. From domestic violence and homelessness to single motherhood and betrayal, Mizz Kim’s story is layered with pain, resilience, and reinvention. Yet somehow, even after everything, she learned how to survive while still holding onto softness, humour, and hope and that duality lives deeply inside her music.
As an R&B artist and songwriter, Mizz Kim creates from what she calls “the emotional in-between”, the quiet late nights, heartbreaks, healing moments, and unspoken emotions many people struggle to express. Her sound blends contemporary soulful R&B with afrobeat, dancehall influences, and modern textures, creating music that feels both deeply vulnerable and empowering at the same time.
Rather than simply performing emotions, she allows herself to sit inside them fully, and invites listeners to do the same. Her sophomore album, Persona: Unfiltered, released on May 10th as a personal Mother’s Day gift to herself, represents one of her most honest chapters yet. The project reflects her transition into her thirties, embracing confidence, individuality, and the understanding that she was never meant to fit neatly into one category because Mizz Kim is not interested in becoming digestible, she is interested in becoming fully herself.
The title Persona: Unfiltered speaks directly to the many layers that make up Mizz Kim both as an artist and as a woman. Funny, spontaneous, loving, outspoken, sophisticated, emotional, edgy the album embraces every version of her without apology.
Inspired by the energy of late 90s and early 2000s music, the project carries nostalgia while still sounding fresh and personal. Sonically, listeners are taken on a journey through contemporary R&B, afrobeat, and dancehall influences, balancing laid-back emotional storytelling with moments that feel vibrant, rhythmic, and liberating.
But beneath the sound lies something even deeper, truth. Every song on the album is shaped by lived experience. Mizz Kim openly admits that nearly all of her music draws directly from her personal life, emotions, and lessons. The result is a body of work that feels raw and emotionally transparent rather than manufactured.
One of the album’s standout tracks, Stand Tall, holds especially deep meaning for her. Written as a tribute to men, the song offers appreciation and recognition for their strength, determination, and perseverance, a perspective she felt deserved more space in music conversations.
Creating Persona: Unfiltered also marked a major evolution in her artistry. Compared to her earlier work, Mizz Kim describes this era as more sophisticated, confident, and fearless. Entering her thirties has shifted the way she views herself creatively, allowing her to embrace sensuality, maturity, and individuality without hesitation.
Outside of music, however, there is still simply Kim, a mother of three, a mentor, a chef, a gamer, a sister, and a woman wearing many different hats at once. While music remains central to her identity, it is motherhood that continues to ground her and remind her why resilience matters.
At the core of everything she creates is a message of survival, she hopes listeners walk away from Persona: Unfiltered understanding that no matter how difficult life becomes, survival itself is powerful. That people can endure heartbreak, loss, rejection, and uncertainty, and still stand tall in the end.
Mizz Kim’s journey is only expanding. Beyond music, she is currently working on a memoir and exploring future opportunities in film, sync placements, and multiple genres of music. Her vision is intentionally limitless because if there is one thing Mizz Kim wants people to remember, it is this: She was never meant to fit inside anyone else’s category. She is building her own lane entirely.