Liv.e

Hailee Olivia Williams (born January 8, 1998), known professionally as Liv.e (pronounced 'Liv'), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer. Originally from Dallas, Texas, her sound has been described as 'defying categorisation',

Liv.e began her career with a series of EPs in 2017 and 2018. After collaborating with artists such as Earl Sweatshirt and Pink Siifu, she released her solo debut album Couldn't Wait to Tell You in 2020 to critical acclaim. Liv.e's most recent solo release was the synth-punk and synthwave-influenced Past Futur.e (2024). In 2025, she formed the supergroup GENA with drummer Karriem Riggins, releasing the album The Pleasure Is Yours in 2026.

Liv.e produces music under the alias HayLee, and also raps under the name Jade Fox as part of the music group Kryptonyte. Her family is highly musical: her father, Norman Williams, played piano for several blues and gospel ensembles, her mother sang in the local church choir, and her brother, drummer TaRon Lockett, has played with artists including Erykah Badu and Prince. She attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, graduating in 2016, and then studied architecture and object design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for a year before dropping out.

Career

2017–2019: Early career Liv.e began experimenting with DJing in 2014, uploading several chopped and screwed mixes to SoundCloud. However, seeking to move away from her family's musical background,

After meeting Ben Hixon, president of Dallas-based record label and music collective Dolfin Records, at a jazz show, Liv.e began working with the label and several of its members. She released her debut EP, Frank, in 2017 under Dolfin. Her EP Raw Daybreaks, Vol. 1 was recorded in a single night and released later that year; its follow-up, entitled Raw Daybreaks, Vol. 2 (a collaboration with producer Swarvy) She subsequently opened for Earl Sweatshirt on his Fire It Up! tour, in support of his album Some Rap Songs. Liv.e also featured on the track 'Mtomb' from his 2019 EP Feet of Clay.

2020–2022: Couldn't Wait to Tell You On July 31, 2020, Liv.e released her debut studio album as a solo artist, Couldn't Wait to Tell You, under the label In Real Life. The album was recorded in Liv.e's bedroom in her mother's house in St. Louis, Missouri. Liv.e worked in Urban Outfitters during the writing of the album.

The album debuted via livestream on singer Erykah Badu's website as part of her Quarantine Concert Series project. Badu, who attended the same high school as Liv.e over a decade prior, has described Liv.e as 'family since forever' and termed her work 'an extension of what I am creating'. The album received critical acclaim from music journalists, with Liv.e being named 'one to watch' by The Guardians Kate Hutchinson. She continued to collaborate with other artists in 2020 and appeared on Black Noi$e's track "The Band", released in June that year.

Liv.e released an EP composed of six leftover songs from Couldn't Wait to Tell You, entitled CWTTY+, in 2021. CWTTY+ was named one of the best R&B albums of 2021 by NPR. Later that year, Liv.e released the single “Bout It”, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with New York-based rapper MIKE.

2023–2024: Girl in the Half Pearl and Past Futur.e Ahead of the release of her second studio album, Girl in the Half Pearl, Liv.e was named one of 25 "New and Rising Artists Shaping the Future of Music in 2023" by Pitchfork. Preceded by three singles, "Ghost", "Wild Animals" and "Find Out", the album was released in February 2023 to critical acclaim. It was named as one of the best albums of 2023 in year-end lists from publications including Clash, Pitchfork and Slant Magazine. GITHPRemixEdition, a remix album of Girl in the Half Pearl in collaboration with Ben Hixon, was released later in 2023. Liv.e performed at Tyler, the Creator's festival Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival in November that year.

In 2024, Liv.e surprise released the record Past Futur.e. Its condensed recording process was inspired by her 2018 EP Hoopdreams.

2025–present: Gena Liv.e formed Gena, a duo with drummer and producer Karriem Riggins, and released their debut single, "Circlesz", in November 2025. The name is short for "God Energy, Naturally Amazing".

Influences Growing up, Liv.e listened to artists including The Clark Sisters, Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Herbie Hancock, Outkast, N.E.R.D., and Kanye West. She is bisexual.

Discography Studio albums Couldn't Wait to Tell You (2020) Girl in the Half Pearl (2023)Albums with Kryptonyte Kryptonyte (2018)Albums with Karriem Riggins The Pleasure Is Yours (as Gena, 2026)EPs Frank (2017) Raw Daybreaks, Vol. 1 (2017) Raw Daybreaks, Vol. 2 (2018) (with Swarvy) Hoopdreams (2018) CWTTY+ (2021) Past Futur.e (2024)Remix albums'''

GITHPRemixEdition'' (2023) (with Ben Hixon)