McKayla Bryant was nervous.
The Iowa City Liberty High School student, who goes by the stage name Kay Killa, sat in the Englert Theatre green room moments before her first non-school-related live performance, trying to shake the jitters.
She decided to do what she knows best by running through some of her biographical hip-hop verses with her cousin, Averti, and best friend, Deonta, who is also a rapper and goes by the stage name Benzo.
Bryant also found motivation in a simple but powerful phrase: “do me.”
The 16-year-old was the youngest performer at Englert’s Local Showcase on Jan. 27, and despite those pre-show jitters, she was ready to share an important message with the crowd.
“When I say, ‘do me,’ it’s like me saying perform how I’ve always performed and have the confidence in what I do,” Bryant said. “When I say, ‘I want people to hear what I’m saying,’ I have to make sure that I’m making my words clear, so they actually can hear me because I just can’t say, ‘I want people to hear me and not be clear.'”