The news comes as a surprise to the artist’s fans who acknowledged her impressive talent when she seemingly skyrocketed to fame. After being signed to Warner Records in 2019, she was named to XXL’s Freshman Class in 2020 and released her first EP, Industry Games, last year. That same compilation earned her a Best New Artist nomination at the 2021 Grammy’s. 

“This is a real moment in my career. I need to be able to do the best that I can with it,” she revealed to XXL Mag. “[My goal] is to take over the world and [exceed] every expectation of me, including the ones I have for myself.”

“I want to continue to progress and do more, and produce other content and help other artists,” she added. “I want to just become a fully-faceted artist and individual, so that I’m able to provide a good baseline for other people who do this to do something.”

Ultimately, CHIKA decided that unplugging from the music industry will be best for her for the time being, and if that fails, she’ll be back.

“I’m out. If it doesn’t work, I’ll try again. Idc. Have fun, I never f**kin’ liked it here anyway,” she concluded.

Despite not winning the Grammy award for Best New Artist, CHIKA won the GLAAD award for a new category, Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist which celebrates musicians “whose songs, music videos, or live performances have made a significant impact on LGBTQ visibility and acceptance,” according to Billboard.

“I made it here by the Northern winds, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to sit here and sing these songs and not give anyone credit, especially the people who gave birth to me and my management,” she said in her acceptance speech. “So thank you guys, from Chika and Chika only, not Warner, and not the band behind me. Just me.”