Taia Holly 

Taia Maati Khum is an actress, singer, and member of the vocal group Holly Girlz.  The daughter of Obi and Carla Holly, she was born on February 20, 1995 in Atlanta, Ga.  Shortly after her birth, her parents relocated the family back home to Washington, DC. to allow she and her elder sister Amsara Sekhita Mai to be raised in a more culturally enriching environment and be nearer to relatives.

 

Also known as “Chocolate City”, she was raised in Washington, D.C. amongst a rich backdrop of wholistic, traditional African religion, Pan-African community and a wealth of artists and educators city-wide.  It’s only natural that she would receive traditional African rite-of-passage training as well, to strengthen her foundation and brighten her glow.

 

Her mother introduced Taia to a vast musical foundation including classical, folk, blues, jazz, rock and R&B; while her father made sure she had a healthy dose of hip-hop, Broadway show-tunes, and D.C’s homegrown go-go music. At this time, Taia developed an interest in songwriting. With training from her parents, at age 11 she was cast in a leading role in “Disney’s Mulan Jr.” at the renowned Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.  The following year, she played a leading role in a musical “The Magic in Me”, co-hosted RHN’s “Young World” and appeared in HBO's "The Wire".

 

Later in 2011, her parents made the decision to relocate the family to Los Angeles to allow their daughters the element to pursue their goals.  Younger sisters Ariana Shring and Maasatimbala Sanefer Miling would complete the puzzle by joining the Holly Girlz group in 2012. 

 

In 2013, they developed a following by creating a Holly Girlz YouTube channel doing covers of the most famous contemporary and classic songs of the time,  including Bruno Mars' “Locked Out Of Heaven”, “We AreYoung” by Fun and “Don’t Mess With Bill” by The Marvelettes, which featured Sanefer. 

 

The Holly Girlz released single "Wind It Up Like (Chuck Brown)".  This track pays homage to the creator and “Godfather of Go-go” music, the acclaimed jazz and funk musician Chuck Brown while highlighting D.C.’s iconic go-go music sound.  They received accolades in the underground DMV (Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia) music scene.  Intent on building a Holly Girlz presence, the quartet also launched its website in 2013 - further expanding the Holly Girlz brand and featuring the Holly Girlz entertainment outlet "SoHG". In 2017, the group released its first collection of apparel, “Holly Girl By Holly Girlz” through a partnership with online store HOODBOT.

 
Her interests include snowboarding and skateboarding.  She is currently working on the first Holly Girlz album with her sisters while pursuing TV and film projects with an interest in comedy.