Japan | 1990-09-27

Mitski Miyawaki (born Mitsuki Laycock; September 27, 1990), known mononymously as Mitski, is a Japanese-American singer-songwriter. Mitski Miyawaki was born Mitsuki Laycock on September 27, 1990 in Japan to an American father and a Japanese mother. While growing up she moved frequently due to her father's job at the United States Department of State, living in many countries, including Turkey, China, Malaysia, Japan, the Czech Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, before eventually settling in the United States. After enrolling at Hunter College to study film, Mitski decided to pursue music instead and transferred to Purchase College's Conservatory of Music, where she studied studio compositions. During her time at Purchase College, she recorded and self-released her piano-based first and second albums, Lush (2012) and Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013), as student projects. Mitski reflects her cross-cultural identity as "half Japanese, half American but not fully either", a feeling that is often reflected in her music, which occasionally discusses issues of belonging. In a 2016 interview with The New York Times, Mitski expressed the tension of being a private person and her discomfort with the attention that comes with being in the public eye, therefore preferring to keep her personal life private. The above information is sourced from Mitski's Wikipedia page.