Artist
“Music has granted me the freedom to showcase my Arab heritage, embrace the intersecting pillars of my identity, and assert my nuanced independence as a daughter of immigrants navigating a new world. To translate pain into life-affirming visibility.”
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Leila Milki is a Lebanese-American singer, songwriter and instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, California. As a multilingual pop-fusion musician, she integrates her classical piano training with her Arab heritage to create thoughtful instrumentation, engaging melodies, and heartfelt harmony. She strives to translate her artistry into a healing platform for emotional and cultural empowerment.
A graduate and Renaissance Scholar of the University of Southern California's Communication, Songwriting, and Music Industry programs, and a recipient of The Royal Conservatory's ARCT Diploma in Piano Performance, Leila now pursues a full-time career as a vocalist, pianist, composer, lyricist, educator, recording artist, and performer. In March of 2017, she released her debut album, “Promises,” a collection of her original songs rooted in personal stories and cultural histories. With themes of nostalgia, empowerment, heartbreak, belonging, and a yearning for home, her lyric-driven work relies on intimate storytelling and sensory writing, woven together through intricate piano and guitar arrangements, full-band layers, soulful vocals, and a powerful yet honest delivery.
Leila also draws from the musical and poetic traditions of her Lebanese roots, seeking to merge the vivid nuances of her middle-eastern background with the Western stylings of her contemporary pop-alternative influences. This union of East and West is captured in “Leil Ya Leil,” the Arabic/English fusion single she wrote as a special tribute to El Koura, Lebanon. Arab America deemed it "an endearing combination of her two worlds,” and claimed that "the traditional Arabic music, paired with the energy of modern pop music, provides listeners with bone-chilling excitement as they listen to Milki’s story-based lyrics.” This track earned her the Lennon Award and Grand Prize in the World Category of the 2017 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Also included on “Promises,” her song “See You Tonight” won her the Grand Prize in the Adult Contemporary Category of the 2017 West Coast Songwriters International Song Contest (along with "Hit and Run" as Honorable Mention), and "Our Eyes Close" was an Honor Finalist in the Singer-Songwriter Category of the 2017 Great American Song Contest.
In March of 2018, Leila released "New Year," an intimate meditation on the illusive ideals, ever-changing circumstances, and smallest hints of light that drive us in our most ordinary and extraordinary moments. The music video was featured as a Viral Video release through Radio One Lebanon, a global media publisher with a multimillion fan following.
Her 2019 single, “All That Remains,” is a tribute to a loved one lost. All streaming proceeds will continue to benefit The Stanford Hospital Duodenal Cancer Research Fund, In Memoriam of Sami Hamade. Leila hopes that the song can provide an outlet for those who have experienced loss, both in its life-rupturing enormity and in its unparalleled ability to highlight love, light and the healing power of community.
In January of 2020, Leila contributed an original Arabic/English composition to Disney Junior’s Emmy-nominated animated series, “The Rocketeer” (Episode 9A, “Recipe For Disaster"). The song, “Enjoy Your Meal,” is an upbeat tribute to Lebanese cuisine, playing as the show’s protagonist (Kit) prepares baba ghanoush with her Lebanese mother, Sareena (voiced by Kathy Najimy). For the full press release, please visit this link.
Leila's newest original single (March 2021), “Fall Asleep,” is now available worldwide - honoring Women’s History Month, elevating vulnerability as strength, and capturing the hazy push-and-pull of asserting our femininity in a world that teaches us to keep the peace. Through this cinematic, orchestral ballad, she hopes to champion visibility for fellow first-generation daughters of immigrants whose dual-identity limbo often intensifies their experience of early adulthood.
Most recently, Leila had the opportunity to record Arabic vocals for the 2022 World Cup track "The World Can Be Ours," a duet with Grammy-winning artist Louis II. You can stream this upbeat anthem (which aired on official FOX highlight reels) HERE!
Leila performs regularly in the greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area (where she was born and raised). She incorporates English, Arabic, French, and Spanish into her captivating performances, and finds that these separate, yet beautifully cohesive narratives enrich our creative palettes and inspire our multilayered perspectives.
She is currently producing her next full-length record, a quest to find beauty in the complex spaces between. In the meantime, her music is available on iTunes, Spotify, Youtube, Anghami Amazon, CD Baby, Soundcloud, and many other digital platforms.
Testimonials:
“Undeniably, Leila is a true-blooded artist and her spellbinding talent is something that the world should watch out for.”
“Leila Milki is on fire. She is writing, playing, and performing in the most beautifully connected way. It is so rare to come across young talent that has really done the work. I look forward to following her artistry and enjoying her music for years to come.”
“Leila is a brilliant, creative, innovative singer-songwriter, pianist, and a world class, classy performer of the 21st century and digital age.”
“[Leila Milki] is a gorgeous talent. (...) One of the most amazing Arab-American singer- songwriters I’ve ever heard.”
“Leila Milki, a shining star, (...) is truly creating an artist’s life for herself.”
“Leila’s talents as a vocalist, songwriter and musician are not only compelling and honest but also wholly original. She artfully crafts music that crosses genres, cultural lines and sonic landscapes to take the listener on a captivating journey of the spirit. With her diverse cultural identity she has a beautifully unique perspective on how she interprets her art and how she then shares it through an inviting, educating and inspiring lens.”
“There are two things you should know about Leila: 1) she is FABULOUSLY talented — singer, writer, multi-instrumentalist, and 2) she’s one of the nicest people you’d ever care to meet. That’s a big-time winning combination in my book!”