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NORTH SALT LAKE — The popular social networking app TikTok has made a sensation out of scrappy, 22-year-old Alayna Thompson, a musician from North Salt Lake whose recent success has led her to Los Angeles to pursue a dream.
Thompson, known professionally as Alayna Grace, was posting to TikTok three times a day for months without breaking her 300-follower record. But her consistency paid off when one video of her singing a cover of Sam Smith's "Make It to Me" went viral. In the last year, her following went from roughly 300 to more than 840,000 people.
Before her TikTok success, Thompson tried out for "The Voice" several times, but didn't make it. However, after going viral, "American Idol" approached her and asked her to audition. After getting through the first few rounds of the show, she decided to step back and go a different direction, though she's open minded about going on the show in the future.
When other TikTok creators and music producers from Los Angeles began reaching out to her for collaborative work, she and her husband decided they would move there during his gap year before applying for physician assistant programs.
"I … love the creativeness of L.A., because everyone here is kind of doing the same thing as you … They all have these very creative passions for themselves and it's like a very go-go-go place, so it's super cool to be surrounded by that," Thompson said.
One of the musicians she has collaborated with is from Provo, with L.A. connections. Oba Bonner is part of the Bonner Family and is known by his musical artist/producer name Obeeyay.
He moved from Utah to L.A. as a freshman in high school to pursue music professionally. Every day after school, he would go to a recording studio to shadow Grammy-award winning producers and songwriters who had worked with artists such as JoJo, Queen Latifah and Lady GaGa. He even worked in some sessions with Queen Latifah and JoJo.
Obeeyay's current focus is performing at concerts and he was recently signed to a record label called Wonderwild Records. And he and Thompson collaborated on her upcoming single, "Told Me Not to Worry."
The music industry is extremely competitive, but Obeeyay said he thinks Thompson sets herself apart by posting her music so consistently on social media.
"First off, she's incredibly talented, but what's more important and most important in my opinion is just being consistent with it and continuing to grind and to work hard, and that's what she does," he said.
He also said her personality — and the fact that she's a great person — sets her apart, as well.
On a daily basis, Thompson films and posts videos online, writes music and sends out emails to get brand deals. She also networks with people and emails labels and producers. In addition to her daily pursuits, she has released several original and cover songs on Spotify and Apple Music and has filmed music videos that are on YouTube.
In the long-term, Thompson wants to sustain herself financially through music, by touring and being signed to a record label. Her next short-term goal is to get one of her original songs to go viral on social media.
A big highlight for her in her career, so far, was being able to open for Colbie Caillat at one of Caillat's concerts in November of 2021.
"Just being able to do music every single day and actually get paid for it is insane to me, so that's another huge highlight. … It's just something I never would have imagined happening," Thompson said.
Thompson said her style is a mix between Olivia Rodrigo and Tate McRae. She is also inspired by Beyonce.
Pursuing music isn't easy. Thompson said it's hard because she often compares herself to others in the industry and focuses on areas in which they're doing well and where she feels she's lacking.
If you want it bad enough, it will happen.
–Alayna Thompson, emerging artist
"I think one thing that's helped me is I actually have a thing on my white board where it says, 'Be grateful for where you're at,'" Thompson said. "And so I always try to remind myself, 'I'm here right now, and I need to be grateful for … what I've come from,' because a year ago, I would have never thought I would even have a following at all, and so I should be grateful that I have that, you know."
Thompson said she would encourage anyone trying to pursue a dream and hasn't seen it take flight yet to "keep being persistent, keep being consistent in what you're doing. ... If you want it bad enough, it will happen."
