Ahya Simone

Ahya Simone (born September 4, 1992)^[1] is an American multidisciplinary artist. Based in Detroit, she is best known for her work as a harpist and for creating and starring in the web series pilot Femme Queen Chronicles.^[2]

Early life and education

Simone was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan.^[3] She grew up singing in the church choir and started to play harp as a student at Cass Technical High School when she was 16.^[3]

While attending college at Wayne State University she came out as transgender.^[3] She was the principal harpist for the university's symphony.^[4]

Career

Music

After college Simone sought out ways to perform outside her previous experience as a classical musician. She began to cover r&b and soul music, and named Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, and as one of her biggest influences.^[4] This led her to collaborate with fellow Detroiter dream hampton, to co-score hampton's short film Treasure (2018).^[1] Simone received a Kresge Artist Fellowship in 2018 and was the first Black trans woman recipient.^[5] That year she also teamed up with Kelela on Take Me a_Part, the Remixes.^[1]

In addition to her work as a harpist, Simone is a singer-songwriter whose music fuses r&b, jazz, experimental, and electronic.^[6] Simone released the single "Frostbite" in 2020.^[7] She later released a music video for the song featuring local artists Kesswa and Supercoolwicked.^[8] In 2021, she collaborated with cktrl on his single "mazes".^[9]

Singles from Ahya Simone

1. "Frostbite" released June 2020
2. "Liminal" Feat. Tapiwa Svosve released December 31, 2024

Neptunian Blue EP

• Released: January 8, 2025
• Singles: Liminal feat. Tapiwa Svosve

Other work

In 2015 she co-founded the Trans Sistas of Color Project Detroit to provide support to trans women of color after the murder of Amber Monroe.^[10] Through the organization she launched the comedy web series pilot Femme Queen Chronicles that follows four trans women in Detroit, which she likened to Living Single and Chewing Gum.^[2] Simone developed the series in part to "disrupt the narrative of black tragedy without sanitizing the very real tragedies that happen to us."^[10] She is the director, writer, and stars in the series.^[2] Femme Queen Chronicles debuted in 2018 and received positive critical reception.^[10] She received

financial support from the Knight Foundation to develop the series.^[2] As of 2021, she is working with Janet Mock to adapt the show for television.^[1]