Kina

And if it wasn’t for Kina’s longtime friend Nicole Gilbert in the now-defunct group Brownstone, her big break may have come years later. Frontwoman Gilbert needed a replacement singer for the En Vogue-like act in 1991 and asked the Detroit native to join as a permanent member. About six years later, Kina, who has since dropped her last name, left the L.A.-based ensemble in search of a new creative outlet.

She found it but not before encountering hard times. “The biggest struggle has been getting over the idea that most people don’t have your best interest at heart,” the singer said. “Some of the people who said I wouldn’t make it are now saying, ‘We’re so proud of you. We knew you could do it.’ … I just smile and take the high road.”

The tough lessons led to an album of 10 angry, self-penned rock/pop/soul songs with titles like “Hurt So Bad,” “Have a Cry,” “You Don’t Know,” “Insanity,” “Still Here” and “Loser.” The overall theme is karma and in-your-face payback for those who purposefully hurt her and tried to quash her dreams. “It’s all about people in the music business,” the 5-foot-9-inch singer said. However, she added that the subject easily applies to other life experiences, such as failed relationships.

Among her successful relationships, however, is the one with DreamWorks Records. Kina signed with the label in 1998, and last month, her first single, “Girl From the Gutter,” was released and quickly entered the Top 40. The track “is about me being mad as hell and about feeling disrespected and counted out,” she said. “When I wrote that song, I was definitely coming from the point of view of ‘I’m going to show you all.'”

Her self-titled debut album hit stores less than two weeks ago, just as Kina was finishing the last leg of her three-part tour of the U.S. and Canada. Her shows have elicited comparisons to Tina Turner, Alanis Morissette, and Lauryn Hill.

The tour began in February, four months before “Girl From the Gutter” was released. By the time Kina completed the entire solo outing July 19th, she had performed 49 shows in 22 cities with each leg lasting 17 to 18 days.

The three-tiered tour to “break Kina is new and it’s different and not a lot of artists do it and not a lot of record labels support it, but … we have had an overwhelmingly huge response,” said Nikki Wheeler, Kina’s booking agent at Principal Artists Group. “We went into Vancouver and we were going to play a 250-capacity room and by the time they sent everything out to retail, I had to do a change of venue the day before the show to a 500 room.”

After a short two-day reprise from her headlining club tour, the L.A.-based artist began her stint as the opening act for Savage Garden’s summer tour July 22nd. She’s scheduled to do the full 30 dates throughout the U.S. and Canada, where she’ll appear in Montreal and Toronto. She wraps up the tour at the House of Blues in Las Vegas September 10th, Wheeler said.

Regarding future tours, “I’m cool with Kina going out and doing an entire headlining club tour on her own again,” she added.

In the artist’s viewpoint, hitting the road “is the best part. It’s instant, it’s still creative, it’s crucial.” Along with her affinity for the stage, the singer/songwriter said she also brings more energy and experience to the table than most up-and-comers, having toured with Brownstone for three years.

Marketing these valuable assets to help Kina achieve her goals, which the singer said include “selling a billion records and maybe get into acting,” Wheeler has deployed a strategy to build long-term relationships.

“In terms of touring, I try to incorporate promoters that we use so that we can build a history with them. In going back to the marketplace, we’re secure in terms of someone being there that knows the market, that knows the different rooms to play, and what is best for the artist in terms of building her up from a club act to a theatre act to an arena act. … Basically, we’ve pushed really hard … and she’s really started to build,” Wheeler said.

As success looms, the artist revealed that her biggest fear is “keeping control. So many people have different opinions.” And contrary to her tough-talking lyrics, “I worry about offending other people,” she said, adding that she strives to “maintain my view without a struggle.”

What is her view? “I don’t need a big bang. I like to keep it simple, and it’s working now.”