Antoniette Costa

Antoniette Costa is an Italian-American singer-songwriter and co-founder of Humans of Fashion Foundation. Costa composed the song "Void of a Legend" which featured the beatboxer and cellist Kevin Olusola. The song topped the Classical Crossover charts and was covered by French Band L.E.J.. In 2016, Costa released "The Triptyq Sessions" as part of the musical trio Triptyq, which featured Olusola (beatboxing, cello) and Tara Kamangar (piano, violin). The music video for "Mr. Right" produced by James Poyser featured cameos by Margot Robbie and Valentina Zelyaeva.

In January 2011, Costa began hosting "Track 14 Sessions" at Legacy Recording Studio in Times Square. The series opened up Costa's recording sessions to the public, and featured guest performances by Nikki Jean and Khari Mateen. According to Costa, the sessions are "meant to unveil what goes on in the recording studio ... It's an intimate live performance where people can hear raw vocals and instrumentation with amplification." "Track 14" refers to the train Costa takes to travel between New York City and Philadelphia, as she regularly rehearses and records in both cities. Costa also announced that she will release a live album based on the sessions.

In the summer of 2011 Costa met Kevin "K.O." Olusola through LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy, who was a mutual friend at Wyclef Jean's studio in New Jersey. Olusola is a known as beat-boxing cellist. He and Costa collaborated on recording "Void of a Legend," which Costa wrote. It was released as a single on August 25, 2011, and debuted at No. 51 on the U.S. iTunes Classical Music Chart. A music video was released and featured on the CBS website.

Costa graduated as an English major from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008. She was a columnist for The Daily Pennsylvanian. She moved to New York City to work for MTV in their Business and Legal Affairs and Music and Media Licensing Departments. She is currently a post-bac student at Columbia University.

On November 5, 2008, Costa had a private showcase for her single "Ready to Make it Work" at the Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. The event included DJ sets by Questlove and Samantha Ronson. Throughout 2010 Costa released a number of singles, including "We Were Meant To Be" and "Sinking Deeper." "We Were Meant to Be" was Costa's collaboration with co-writer Carvin Haggins and pianist James Poyser, who has worked with Mariah Carey.

Costa has collaborated with or performed alongside artists such as The Roots, Jazmine Sullivan, Bilal, Eric Roberson, and Carvin Haggins. She released her debut album Breakthru in March 2005, and has additionally recorded over a dozen singles with musicians such as Jazzyfatnastees, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Kindred the Family Soul and Grammy Award winners James Poyser and Questlove.

Costa founded her own record label L.I.P. Label 14, and independently released her debut album Breakthru on March 1, 2005. Some of the tracks are piano ballads, while others are accompanied by a band. Dedicated to her aunt, the album featured 12 songs that had been written from middle-school to college, including "Flown Away." The album ranked #1 on Amazon's Early Adopter Indie Music Chart and #69 on the Early Adopter AllMusic Chart.

In 2004 Costa began attending Cornell University. She lived in the Just About Music residence and became lead singer for the band LR9. As a freshman, Costa was a part of the university's gospel choir. She performed in Sage Chapel with the group for Yolanda King. Costa transferred to the University of Pennsylvania as a sophomore after her aunt Lilly died during childbirth. She discovered 14 poems written by her aunt, and was inspired to spend time focused on songwriting and music in dedication. She currently studies at Columbia University.