KIRBY—Kirby Lauryen Dockery, self-styled “Granddaughter of Soul”—channels Mississippi’s profound musical inheritance in her latest album, Miss Black America. Drawing from the blues-worn endurance of Dockery Plantation and the raw, vulnerable soul of Stax, she crafts work that honors history while pointing resolutely toward the future. Raised in Southaven and trained at the Stax Music Academy and Berklee College of Music, KIRBY built her reputation as both a songwriter for icons—Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Beyoncé—and a solo artist whose voice has carried across Tiny Desk Concerts, The Bear, and SWARM on Amazon, where she co-wrote the soundtrack with Donald Glover.

Her album celebrates the Mississippi she knows: a land of grief and rage, humor and deep love, where the overlooked histories of everyday Black Mississippians rise to the surface in powerful, genre-blending expression. From the blues protest of “The Man” to the funk-driven “Thick N Country” featuring Akeem Ali, KIRBY’s music moves through soul, country, hip-hop, gospel, R&B, and funk—an emotional reconstruction of identity and memory.

Read the full story on Oxford American: KIRBY Claims Her Legacy