April Kae: The Bass Queen Shaking Up The Scene

April Kae is leading a new wave of women bass players, joining the ranks of Mohini Dey, Esperanza Spalding, Blu DeTiger, Adi Oasis, Georgia South, and more—powerhouses who are redefining the bass world and building devoted fan bases along the way. April’s “welcome to the stage” moment sparked debates across the internet, with some pointing to her viral covers of Cardi B’s “Up” and Grover Washington Jr.’s “Just the Two of Us” as the start of her rise. But what’s undeniable is that 2021 marked April’s breakthrough, introducing us to a multifaceted force—model, activist, financial whiz, influencer, and one-half of the band Imanigold with her twin sister Niki.

Since then, April’s been everywhere: featured in Nylon, Ladygunn, and Bass Player, dropping fire social media clips of her bass skills from pop hits to anime intros, and collaborating with brands like Nike and Dove. Recently, Fender tapped April as a standout in their Player II series campaign, a natural evolution of their ongoing relationship. April had already been part of the Vintera series, but this new campaign sees her stepping fully into her creative power.

In the launch video, April shines alongside Julien Baker, DIIV, and Wallows, shredding The Kinks’ classic “All Day and All of the Night.” April’s clip stands out—she commands the stage as the frontwoman of her all-woman band in a high-energy, vibrant performance that leaves us hyped for a full release. We caught up with April to talk about the campaign, her community, and how she’s navigating social media stardom on her own terms.

AFROPUNK:  Why did you decide to take your talents to social media? 

April Kae: That’s a great question. Honestly, I first got on social media just to connect with other creatives. I started as a kid model, and then that quickly morphed into making art with my friends. I would be the model, but I’d also help produce and do makeup and becoming these artistic collaborations and videos. I started posting to social media from that perspective as a visual artist. Then, the people that gravitated toward me, like yourself, and that’s why. To be embraced by an Afropunk within the first year of putting myself out there, I’m like, “Again, there really is this place for me.”

I think I was trying to find that place on Wall Street, and that was around the same time I actually first got on social media, right about a year before I started working in Finance. I think subtly that really inspired me and showed me that there is another space for what I do. Social media has been the place because I think, like you said, Black nerds, outside of New York City, especially, or maybe other hubs, it can be really hard to find your people.

Another big part of my community is we love animation. We love anime, we love cartoons, we love movies, we love horror. We are big Black media nerds in our own way, too. I got my anime poster that I have at the back of my video. People see it. 

We found each other there. I went there because it was a place where creatives were, and I stayed because I really found a home there, and it’s been so cool over the years, and especially as I’ve been able to do music and social media full-time to bring that into the real world, and now touring all over the world with an all-Black band, people living in different states. It’s almost like, naturally, that’s where it went.

Again, you and I talking, reflecting. I’m like, “Of course, now I’m back at that same place.” Really, I was like, “Oh, there’s more of me. There’s more of us.” Just even other girls with natural hair back then. That’s why, after all the day, it seems like, oh– now it’s like, “Oh, that’s what–” It was so important back then. I found the first other women who were doing their hair natural and wearing their hair natural openly, without it being a big deal, just living that way through that. Those little things really added up to create a space where I’ve been able to have a career and thrive and give other people a platform too.

AFROPUNK: From social media, how did you get aligned with Fender?

AK: It was, again, really cool. You probably know her, Guitar Gabby. She’s done a lot with Afropunk and she’s just an incredible Black woman who plays guitar in this space. I had been a fan of hers and was just following her. Then she reached out to me to do an article for Guitar Girl Magazine. She asked me, “Who would you want to work with? Now you have this platform, you should try to get an endorsement.” I said, Fender, of course. That was the first bass I played. I’m obsessed with the P bass. I play other basses, but it’s like babysitting– I don’t even have kids, but it’d be like babysitting someone else’s kids if I had kids.

It’s completely different. That was such an easy answer for me. From the beginning, they’ve been really supportive of giving me a lot of creative freedom and access to both create my own instruments with them and try out whatever is new. I’ve been working with them for about three or four years. I did a campaign last year for Vintera with them. It was a demo video. I’ve done other things like that, social videos, but they’ve really continued to give me a platform and pay me, which is, I think, important to say, especially in this space where it’s pretty rare over the years.

Then this project It really speaks to the fact that it’s a relationship because I haven’t fronted a rock band like this ever. I had my project with my sister that was more of like a Dixie Chicks acoustic type of thing, soul folk type music. For this, he’s like, “We want something upbeat. We want to do a rock song.” I’m like, “Hell yes, that’s where I’m at.” I was able to put together my own band, really bring a lot of my own creativity into the vision, choose the song I was going to cover, really co-produced this with them. I handled all the music production myself. It really, again, feels like a natural progression, but one that I’ve certainly had to work for and stay focused on all these years.

It felt so good and natural to have this platform. For this to be my first moment as a solo artist is such an honor and was really not stressful because I’ve had these existing relationships.

AFROPUNK:  I’m hyped now because I was like, “Oh.” Because I’ve seen launch videos. I’m like, “Oh, okay, it’s going to be a regular launch video.” Hearing that you’re fronting it, that’s a little different.

AK: They let me go pretty nuts and we’ll see what gets into the final take. I almost broke a camera, and they were cool. They were really cool. Basically, we have this one rig that they attached to the end of the base and they have a guy holding it. They were like, “Move,” and I was like, “You said move.” I moved and it fell off and they didn’t get upset [laughs] What I’ve seen is really– I’ve never seen anything like it.

AFROPUNK:  How does it feel to be the face of this whole Player II Series release? Because you’ve been working with Fender for a long time. 

AK: It’s wild. It feels like an honor. But also a sense of duty, in a good way. I feel a sense of responsibility. At the same time, I think it’s really cool that Fender gave a young Black woman a platform like this, but it’s also like, I do have the social following. How can I use the space that I created to create more space? I think, for me, that’s going to look like continuing to put together projects like this. It’s going to look like really working on creating April Kae music, whatever that looks like, so I can continue to have the ability to bring my own teams and to put women in front of and behind the camera.

It feels like an honor. It feels exciting. I feel a sense of responsibility. I feel like I’ve been given this platform and I have these people who believe in me. I have this audience and this opportunity. It’s important that I take that and create something that will then continue to create more opportunities for me and also for others.