Lauren Akainyah

From Chicago, Lauren Akainyah has been exposed to music since birth. A product of mixed heritage, Ghanaian and Korean, Lauren was raised to be open-minded and embrace being different. Her father, an artist and composer, taught Lauren to play the piano at an early age, indirectly strengthening her appreciation and ear for classical music. She continued piano lessons and violin lessons well into elementary school before abandoning the two for what she called "a normal" childhood. Interestingly enough, the musical interest never left; Lauren spent hours singing along with the radio and developing a fascination for Motown and classical music. Eventually her mother ignored her resistance and placed her in voice lessons. While studying with world renowned music teacher and composer Lena McLin she was told that her calling was definitely music; she will become an accomplished opera singer. After this prediction, Lauren, unhappy and frustrated, abandoned music for good, or so she thought.

It wasn't until Lauren attended North Side College Preparatory High School that she allowed her musical interests to flourish. She participated in orchestra, well beyond the 2 years required by the Chicago Public School system. In addition to violin, she developed an appreciation for bass guitar, and joined the schools Latin Jazz Ensemble as the bassist. Lauren also became an accomplished vocalist, singing the National Anthem at the schools basketball games as well as representing her high school in the Chicago Sports Idol competition. Alongside six other citywide winners, she was given the opportunity to sing the anthem at several professional sporting events around the city. Despite her musical presence, the single most important moment in her musical career was the opportunity to take a special course in 4-track recording. Lauren developed a fascination for multi-track recording, isolating instruments, and the individual mixing of sounds and voices. With this in mind, she applied to Indiana University with aspirations of joining the Jacobs School of Music.

Ironically, while studying Classical Voice Performance at the Jacobs School of Music, Lauren was exposed to a world of harmonies, counterpoint, and chord progressions that heavily influence her production style today. She is now a classically trained vocalist, instrumentalist and music producer with aspirations of doing one thing; to make relatable music that "refreshes the ears, and resonates with the soul." Her music is heavily centered around the musical expression of raw and personal feelings.

In 2009, alongside two business partners, she began Rare Intellect Productions LLC, a music production company that provided music for your mind. It was with Rare Intellect that Lauren was able to fully utilize her production skills. Building a portfolio of hundreds of instrumentals, Lauren quickly became recognized as a legitimate female producer, shocking listeners with heavy drum patterns, classically influenced instruments and riffs, and thoughtful and creative musical lines. Despite her personal development, Lauren still hadn't made an effort to outwardly promote her music.

She decided to participate in a competition sponsored by Talenthouse.com providing the winner with an opportunity to spend a day in the studio with Ryan Leslie, one of her favorite producers. After several weeks of voting Lauren earned a spot as a hand picked finalist by Ryan Leslie and decided to make production her primary goal. It wasn't until an unfortunate breakup that Lauren channeled her inner songwriter and vocalist, and embarked on her first project "Facets of Love." The project was an exploration of her thoughts and talents both vocally and instrumentally, and opened the doors to consistent production (under the name "LA Kain") and performing. Lauren now lives in Chicago where she continues to produce and perform and plans to take the music industry by storm.