Milck

{{Infobox person

| name = Milck

| image = MILCK closing out the Women In The World Summit at Lincoln Center, NYC (cropped).jpg

| caption = Milck performing at the Women in the World in 2017

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| birth_name = Connie Kimberly Lim

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1986|05|29}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles County, California, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| occupation = {{flatlist|

Singer
songwriter

}}

| years_active =

| spouse =

| children =

| module = {{Infobox musical artist

| embed = yes

| genre = Pop{{cite web |title=Milck |url=https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound-presents-studio-a/episodes/Milck |website=KCET |accessdate=15 January 2019}}

| origin = California, United States

| label = {{flatlist|

Atlantic

}}

Connie Kimberly Lim (born May 29, 1986),{{Cite web |title=Connie Kimberly Lim, Born 05/29/1986 in California {{!}} CaliforniaBirthIndex.org |url=https://www.californiabirthindex.org/birth/connie_kimberly_lim_born_1986_17464100 |access-date=2023-11-18 |website=www.californiabirthindex.org}}{{Cite web |last=Chan |first=Natasha |date=2018-08-23 |title=MILCK on breaking her silence and starting a movement |url=https://medium.com/the-baton/milck-on-breaking-her-silence-and-starting-a-movement-4645ec06f68 |access-date=2023-11-18 |website=Asian American News {{!}} Pacific Islander News {{!}} The Baton |language=en}} professionally known as Milck (stylized as MILCK), is an American singer. A child of immigrants from Hong Kong, she initially performed as an independent artist for several years, and rose to widespread attention after a video of a performance of her song "Quiet" at the 2017 Women's March became popular, and became embraced as a feminist anthem for the movement. She was eventually signed to Atlantic Records, and released her debut EP This Is Not The End in 2018.

Milck's second EP, Into Gold, was released in early 2020, preceded by the lead single "If I Ruled the World". She released another protest song later that year, "Somebody's Beloved", in collaboration with British songwriter Bipolar Sunshine.

Early life

Lim was raised in Palos Verdes near Los Angeles, California. She enrolled as a child in classical piano and opera class, and composed her first work "Healthy People" at age seven.{{cite news |last1=Barlow |first1=Eve |title=How Milck's Women's March Anthem "Quiet" Went Viral and Changed Her Life |url=https://www.laweekly.com/music/Milcks-connie-lim-is-the-one-woman-riot-behind-the-womens-march-anthem-quiet-8236468 |accessdate=15 January 2019 |newspaper=LA Weekly |date=May 17, 2017}}{{cite web |title=Milck: Official biography |url=http://press.atlanticrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/APPROVED-BIO-Milck-NOVEMBER-2017.pdf |website=Atlantic Records |accessdate=15 January 2019}}{{cite magazine |last1=Schiller |first1=Rebecca |title=Get to Know 'Quiet' Singer-Songwriter Milck |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8231202/Milck-interview-quiet-singer-video |accessdate=15 January 2019 |magazine=Billboard |date=March 5, 2018}} She was the child of immigrants from Hong Kong, with one sister and one brother. Her father paid his way through medical school by "flipping burgers". She was successful at school and was homecoming queen, but struggled with anorexia.

She attended UC Berkeley studying pre-medicine, where she joined the a cappella group Golden Overtones, and started a band.{{cite news |last1=Krauser |first1=Emily |title=Exclusive: Meet Milck, the Songwriter Who Unintentionally Penned the Powerful Anthem of the Women's March |url=https://www.etonline.com/features/208658_meet_Milck_quiet_songwriter_anthem_of_womens_march |accessdate=15 January 2019 |publisher=Entertainment Tonight |date=January 27, 2017}} She eventually dropped out of college and continued to perform as an independent artist for eight years.{{cite news |last1=Hilton |first1=Robin |title=Milck: 'Women Are Viral' |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2018/01/22/578578620/Milck-women-are-viral |accessdate=15 January 2019 |publisher=NPR |date=January 22, 2018}}{{cite news |last1=Alleyne |first1=Robert |title=Meet Milck, the Berkeley alum making space for herself in pop music |url=http://thebaybridged.com/2018/02/27/Milck-interview/ |accessdate=15 January 2019 |publisher=The Bay Bridged |date=February 27, 2018}} She signed to a record label and appeared on the first season of the television show The Voice. She was however eventually dropped by her management.{{cite web |title=Who is Milck and how is she Inspiring Millions Around the World to Make a Stand? |url=https://www.warnermusic.co.nz/news/who-is-Milck-and-how-is-she-inspiring-millions-around-the-world-to-make-a-stand |website=Warner Music Group |accessdate=15 January 2019}}

Lim assumed the stage name Milck, based on her first two initials and her last name backwards.

Career

Milck's career largely got its start at the 2017 Women's March in Washington D.C. She had written the song "Quiet" in 2015 along with Adrianne Gonzalez, as a way of coping with sexual assault and abuse as a teenager.{{cite magazine |title=Milck Proves This Is Not The End for Women's Empowerment |url=https://www.out.com/out-exclusives/2018/1/19/Milck-proves-not-end-womens-empowerment |magazine=Out |accessdate=15 January 2019 |date=January 19, 2018}} Prior to the march she put out requests for female a cappella groups to help perform the song at the event, a call that was answered by groups Capital Blend and GW Sirens from George Washington University. Milck separately recorded each vocal part, and sent them individually to the participants, due to the logistical difficulties involved in rehearsing in-person.{{cite news |last1=Balingit |first1=Moriah |title='I can't keep quiet': Watch this stirring performance of what some call the Women's March anthem |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2017/01/24/i-cant-keep-quiet-watch-this-stirring-performance-of-what-some-call-the-womens-march-anthem/ |accessdate=15 January 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 24, 2017}} Along with 26 other singers, she performed seven times throughout the march among the crowd, where it was recorded by film maker Alma Ha'rel, who uploaded the video to social media where it had 8 million views in two days, and shared by a number of well-known celebrities.{{cite news |last1=Blair |first1=Elizabeth |title=A Song Called 'Quiet' Struck A Chord With Women. Two Years Later, It's Still Ringing |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/01/14/683694934/Milck-quiet-womens-march-american-anthem |accessdate=15 January 2019 |publisher=NPR |date=January 14, 2019}}{{efn|In their review of the song's impact two years later, National Public Radio high listed shares of the video on social media by Emma Watson, Debra Messing and Tom Morello.}} The group was then invited to perform on the television show Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. The song was named the number one protest song of 2017 by Billboard,{{cite magazine |last1=George |first1=Rachel |title=Milck Releases Empowering New Song 'This Is Not the End' |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8092604/Milck-this-is-not-the-end |accessdate=15 January 2019 |magazine=Billboard |date=January 4, 2018}} and was widely embraced as an anthem for the movement.{{cite magazine |last1=Haplerin |first1=Shirley |title=Milck Puts #MeToo Movement to Music With 'Quiet,' Featuring Assault Survivors |url=https://variety.com/2017/music/news/Milck-puts-metoo-movement-to-music-with-quiet-featuring-assault-survivors-1202606225/ |magazine=Variety |accessdate=15 January 2019 |date=November 3, 2017}} The same year she performed the song with Choir! Choir! Choir! at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto, with proceed from the event donated to the American Civil Liberties Union.{{cite magazine |title=atch a 1,300-voice choir sing an anti-Trump protest song with Milck in Toronto |url=https://torontolife.com/culture/music/choir-choir-choir-Milck-cant-keep-quiet-donald-trump-protest-song/ |magazine=Toronto Life |accessdate=15 January 2019 |date=February 17, 2017}}

In 2018, Milck returned to the Women's March to perform "Quiet". She also released her debut EP This Is Not The End EP, which she promoted with a performance on The Today Show.{{cite news |last1=McDermott |first1=Maeve |title=How Milck's Women's March anthem 'Quiet' found its purpose in #MeToo |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2018/01/19/womens-march-anthem-2018-quiet-singer-Milck-found-its-purpose-metoo/1047355001/ |accessdate=15 January 2019 |newspaper=USA Today |date=January 19, 2018}} The same year she was invited to perform at the Save the Children's Illumination Gala, at the American Museum of Natural History.{{cite web |title=Jennifer Garner Hosts 6th Annual Save the Children Illumination Gala |url=https://www.looktothestars.org/news/18531-jennifer-garner-hosts-6th-annual-save-the-children-illumination-gala |website=looktothestars.org |accessdate=15 January 2019 |date=November 19, 2018}} She recorded a cover of the Five Stairsteps song "O-o-h Child", which was used in an ad campaign by Procter & Gamble related to the 2018 Winter Olympics.{{cite news |last1=Brendish|first1=Lynda |title=Milck Explains 'Joyous' Message Behind New 'Quiet' Music Video (Exclusive) |url=http://www.cbs8.com/story/36774959/Milck-explains-joyous-message-behind-new-quiet-music-video-exclusive |accessdate=15 January 2019 |publisher=KFMB-TV |date=November 6, 2017}}

In 2019, Milck released the song "If I Ruled the World", positioned as the lead single of her upcoming EP Into Gold. The song is about fixing global problems; Milck said, "it’s far more empowering and energizing when we encourage people to imagine the world they want, rather than when we focus on cursing the parts of the world we don’t want to see."{{cite news |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/Milck-if-i-ruled-the-world-lyric-video_n_5e3c6ea5c5b6b70886fc6ec0 |title=Singer Milck Is Ready To 'Turn Tears Into Gold' Again After Viral Women's March Anthem |last=Wong |first=Curtis M. | work=HuffPost |date=February 7, 2020}} Into Gold was released on February 21, 2020. Milck said that the album shows the process of grief and rebirth after the end of a five-year relationship—"the man I thought I was going to marry"—to turn "pain into power".{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8551417/Milck-into-gold-ep-breakdown/ |title=Milck Urges Us All to Renew Our 'Faith in Humanity' With Sophomore EP 'Into Gold': Exclusive |date=February 21, 2020 |last=Rowley |first=Glenn |magazine=Billboard |access-date=November 9, 2020}}

Milck responded to the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor, the murder of George Floyd, and other indications of rising police brutality by writing another protest song: "Somebody's Beloved". She collaborated with UK musician Bipolar Sunshine who added the lyric, "Blood on leaves falling like autumn, her story's been told a thousand times. Why doesn't everybody scream?" Sunshine aimed to have "Somebody's Beloved" recall the 1937 song "Strange Fruit", made famous by Billie Holiday. Tom Shadyac directed a video for the song.{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenalvarez/2020/10/22/Milck-talks-new-protest-song-somebodys-beloved--the-importance-of-protest-music/?sh=752ab0af46e0 |title=Milck Talks New Protest Song 'Somebody's Beloved' & The Importance Of Protest Music |date=October 22, 2020 |last=Alvarez |first=Lauren |website=Forbes |access-date=November 9, 2021}}

Discography

This Is Not The End (2018){{cite news |last1=Anastas |first1=Katie |title=Review: Milck, 'This Is Not The End' |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/01/15/577194212/first-listen-Milck-this-is-not-the-end |accessdate=15 January 2019 |publisher=NPR |date=January 15, 2018}}