By now, the song “Hrs and Hrs” is probably ingrained in your brain. With over 169.2M video views on TikTok, the song, written and sung by Muni Long, has become one of the most used sounds to ever touch the app.
Nonetheless, whether or not you’re aware, this isn’t the first time you’ve heard from the artist. Her poetic lyrics have been sung by artists like Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Madonna, Demi Lovato, and countless others.
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As she’s coming out from behind the scenes and the spotlight is beginning to shine on her (again), we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about the YouTuber-turned-TikTok sensation.
Read on for all the details.
Origins
Born Priscilla Renea Hamilton in Vero Beach, FL, music has always been a huge part of Priscilla's life. Her mother was a singer and her biological father played the trumpet. She began singing at age two. Once her family got wind of her talent, they volunteered her to sing at church events like weddings and funerals— and apparently, she hated it, as she mentioned to American Songwriter. She divulged that she wanted her talent to come from a more personal place, rather than being something that was forced upon her by her various family members.
Nonetheless, by the time she was a young teen, Muni Long knew she wanted to be a pop star. Her main source of inspiration came from the 2000s era, so she told Flaunt Magazine. Seeing artists like Aaliyah, Toni Braxton, and Whitney Houston on her television fueled her inner desire to become the next big thing.
When Priscilla was 18, she got a taste of what social media could do for her career. She began posting videos of herself covering songs like Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River” as well as her own original tunes onto YouTube. These clips would get her a million views. She told MTV, "I got the majority of my fanbase from YouTube, because I was on there for a year and a half before anyone saw me from a label."
One of her most popular videos is still on YouTube to this day– it’s her singing words from the dictionary to the beat of Fergie’s "Glamorous" (below).
With her YouTube fame came recognition from some of the greats. After performing “Best I Ever Had” by Drake on guitar, Priscilla got in touch with the Degrassi actor. In an interview for R&B Radio Now, she stated, "That went viral so much so that Drake reached out to me and he was like, "Yo, I love what you did with the song." He gave me his number, we're talking. Mind you now, I'm just out of high school. You know? And I was watching him on Degrassi when I was in middle school and high school. So I'm like, "Oh my God, this is Aubrey Graham. This is amazing! Wheelchair Jimmy."
While she gained a decent amount of fans through the social media platform, she still wanted more. She went on to sing Cassie’s “Me and You” on MTV’s Say What Karaoke. The network played it every Sunday for an entire month straight bringing in over two million views.
Songwriting
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Priscilla’s early rise to stardom earned her a record deal with Capitol Records at the age of 18. Her first single, “Dollhouse,” was released in August of 2009.
After the song dropped, Priscilla admitted that “s**t stalled.” She didn’t know what was going to happen, but she knew she didn’t want to go back to Florida where she had grown up-– she had to make something work when it came to her music career.
After being consistent with her hustle, singer and producer Akon asked her to go on tour with him to write songs. It was while touring with him that she decided she would go back to Los Angeles and make songwriting her new path, she told Flaunt.
From there, Priscilla began attending five writing sessions per day, according to American Songwriter. The first song that jump-started her career as a songwriter was “Promise This.” The song, written for UK artist Cheryl Cole, went on to be covered by Adele on BBC and charted at number one for a month in the United Kingdom.
“I rode that wave and started saying yes to everything,” Priscilla told Flaunt about her UK hit. Fast forward a decade later, Muni’s writing can be attributed to some of the biggest artists in the industry like Fifth Harmony, Selena Gomez, K. Michelle, Mariah Carey and more.
Alter Ego
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She coined the name Muni Long (pronounced “money long”) as a way to explore the spotlight in a new, fresh way. She told Vogue, “Muni Long is the part of me that I always needed. She’s the protector of Priscilla.” After serving others in the industry for over 12 years, she knew it was time to focus on herself. As Priscilla, she felt unappreciated and held hostage.
She recently described this new persona as a boss who is carefree, fly, and goes after what she wants. She called this chapter of her life the "reintroduction process"-- she can’t wait for everyone to meet (the new) her.
Autoimmune Disease
One thing that has driven Muni to chase her dreams as a solo artist is her diagnosis of Lupus. The inflammatory disease causes her frequent pain like body aches and fatigue. In the same interview with Flaunt, she stated, “The pain isn't that bad when you get to do what you love. If this is the worst thing I gotta deal with, okay. Maybe everybody isn't like that. Not gonna lie, the shit really does hurt sometimes, but it's what I gotta deal with.”
Having Lupus put a lot of things into perspective for the artist. When asked about her health, she said, “If I die, I will be so pissed, having never gone after the things that I wanted.’ That's really what set it off.”
In the future, Muni hopes to be 100% healthy. Until then, she is grateful that she gets to wake up every single day and live out her dreams.
Much can be expected from Muni Long given her history of hits. As she begins to take the world by storm under her new name, we wish her nothing but success.
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