Vocalist, songwriter, DJ and producer Kaleena Zanders has a unique ability to instantly dial up the energy on any dancefloor with her genre-defying blend of house, pop and soaring, gospel-inspired vocals, and she’s truly making 2026 her year.
She released her debut album, Anything Goes, earlier this year before performing at Dirtybird Campout x Northern Nights in July, and last month was an especially big one for the star. The San José-raised artist recently joined Dirtybird’s second annual Flight Week, which took place in San Francisco between Aug. 17 and 21, where she joined a number of artists at EMPIRE Studios for a collaborative writing camp, in addition to performing a family-style set at Dirtybird’s Farmer’s Market on Aug. 20.
Kaleena was generous enough to document the experiences of writing, collaborating and performing just for Sweety High. Check out her photo diary of the event below.
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‘Got to work on this with my long time friends Bijou and Will. We’ve been friends since like 2016 and we all made a banger this day.’
(Image courtesy of Kaleena Zanders)
‘There’s nothing I love more than being able to work with extremely creative people. I am so inspired by this group.’
(Image courtesy of Kaleena Zanders)
‘This was a magical little session. I got to work with brilliant artists I’ve never worked with before. Tima Dee, Tobehonst and Guitarist ADM are beast in the studio.’
(Image courtesy of Kaleena Zanders)
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‘I am a ham at heart and during the listening back sessions, I had to get up and dance to the track we had just made.’
(Image courtesy of Kaleena Zanders)
‘Dude working with Nikita The Wicked was incredible! I respect his focus and vast music knowledge in things you wouldn’t expect like jazz. We bonded over that a lot.’
(Image courtesy of Kaleena Zanders)
‘Always with my partner in crime No Bills. He’s so versatile in every style of music.’
(Image courtesy of Kaleena Zanders)
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‘I just love the aesthetic of EMPIRE Records label. Getting a pic with the logo was a must.’
(Image courtesy of Kaleena Zanders)
‘It’s not every day you get to sing happy birthday to your friend at an epic b2b party in the middle of the street in San Francisco. s/ out to VNSSA one of the baddest woman DJs our there!’
(Image courtesy of Kaleena Zanders)
For even more on Kaleena, click HERE to discover everything we learned about her as our Woman Crush Wednesday.
