Kirby Lauryen Dockery, also known mononymously as Kirby (stylized as KIRBY), is an American singer and songwriter. She has written pop songs such as Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney's 2015 single "FourFiveSeconds". As a recording artist herself, she released her first album, Sis, in 2020.
Dockery was born October 24 in Memphis, Tennessee and raised in Southaven, Mississippi. She studied music at Stax Music Academy, and enrolled at Berklee College of Music after high school but left in 2009 to pursue music full-time. She was influenced by Kanye West's The College Dropout.
She began a YouTube challenge where she posted videos of herself singing a new original song for 275 days. She was contacted by Joy Brown of Roc Nation on day 302 of the challenge and signed to the label.
She has worked with artists such as Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, Brandy, and Timbaland. Kirby co-wrote the track "FourFiveSeconds", which went through several rounds of edits as directed by Kanye West. She also wrote the song "Die with You" performed by Beyoncé and "Break Your Heart Right Back" by Ariana Grande.
She released her first album, Sis, in February 2020. Robyn Mowatt of Okayplayer referred to it as "a mashup of refreshing deep cuts." Two singles from the album were featured on the soundtrack for the fourth season of Insecure.
In June 2020, Kirby posted a viral TikTok video about the racist origins of the pancake brand Aunt Jemima, and amid other online critiques taking place, the brand announced that they would retire the racist imagery.
Her second album, Miss Black America, was released in August 2025. The album is deeply influenced by Kirby's enslaved ancestors and their collective roots in Mississippi.
On November 26, 2025, Kirby appeared on the Tamron Hall show on ABC, as part of their Friendsgiving episode, discussing her âÂÂA Song A Dayâ challenge, and her first album, Sis, from 2020. She also performed on the show, live in the studio.
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