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  • Comment: Entire family section is unsourced. Greenman ( talk) 13:33, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: Can you provide a source of the date of birth for this biography. Per WP:BLPPRIVACY, you should provide a reliable source to verify the date of birth, or otherwise it should be removed ber policies on biographies of living people like this. Toadette ( Let's talk together!) 19:26, 16 April 2024 (UTC)
Lauren KITTENS Abedini
Born
Lauren Parissa Abedini

10/07/1989, 34
Los Angeles
Websitewww.iamkittens.com

Lauren Parissa Abedini (born October 7, 1989), known by her stage name KITTENS, [1] is an American DJ, record producer, podcast host, and intersectional feminist advocate of Iranian and American descent from Los Angeles, California. Before her foray into music, Abedini starred in Surviving Paradise, an independent Iranian film at the age of 9 playing Sara, alongside her older brother and Academy Award Nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo. She rose to prominence after becoming Kid Cudi's tour DJ in 2013, which shortly after led her to meet Usher, who became a mentor. [2] She has released music through Fool's Gold Records as a solo artist as well as with collective musical group Athletixx. [3] Abedini, who identifies as a Lesbian, is known for her outspokenness and advocacy related to the LGBTQ+ community and women's rights.

Career and Education

In 2011 while going to California State University, Fullerton for her business degree, Abedini started to DJ as a hobby and began playing local events around Los Angeles. While DJing at a nightclub in Hollywood, an affiliate of Kid Cudi saw her perform, which quickly led to Abedini, now going by KITTENS, becoming his tour DJ. [4] After graduating, she decided to give herself 6 months to see if she could become financially stable working as a DJ. During that time, while playing shows with Kid Cudi, she met Usher, who became a mentor to her. [5] Since then she has performed at many of his private parties, held a DJ residency at Drai's Beachclub in Las Vegas, [6] and performed at many music festivals, including Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) [7] Las Vegas and Coachella in 2018. [8] Throughout her career, Abedini has also collaborated with global brands such as YSL, Dior, Tiffany & Co., Netflix, Amazon, and Adidas whom she designed a sneaker for in 2019 [9]. In 2022 YSL Beauté released a documentary style episode about Abedini's life and career for their "Push The Boundaries" series. [10]

Personal Life

Family

Lauren was born on October 7th, 1989 in Los Angeles, California to Christine and Kamran Abedini. Her Father, an Iranian immigrant who is ethnically Persian, is a professor of Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona. Her Mother, who is Portuguese and Irish, is originally from Northern California and credited as being the biggest supporter of Lauren's creative pursuits early on. She has one older brother who starred in the Iranian independent film Surviving Paradise with her in 2000. She identifies as Persian-American, speaks fluent Farsi, and is greatly in touch with her Persian family and culture.

Sexuality and Relationships

Abedini identifies as Lesbian. [11] She has been rumored to have dated several female celebrities, including Ruby Rose and Demi Lovato. [12] Since 2019 Lauren has been in a relationship with Ash Mendez.

Women's Empowerment and Queer Advocacy

Lauren is an avid supporter of intersectional feminism. She frequently speaks out for equity in the music industry [13] and teaches a charity based course on the basics of how to DJ called PWR with KITTENS. [11] PWR with KITTENS [14] is exclusively for women and gender expansive people because she feels that they face discrimination and unique challenges in the music industry, particularly in the DJ community. Proceeds from these courses are donated to Women's shelters and LGBT youth centers. Lauren also has a podcast named SHE/HER/THEY with KITTENS, which explores societal identity expectations and creativity with guests such as Kehlani, Demi Lovato, REZZ, [15] Sarah Shahi, Hayley Kiyoko, and more.

References

  1. ^ "10 Things You Need to Know About Demi Lovato's Rumored Girlfriend Lauren "Kittens" Abedini". Seventeen. 2017-09-12.
  2. ^ Deniqua (2014-05-10). "Her Source|Kittens Talks Being Mentored By Usher & Becoming the Female Diplo - The Source".
  3. ^ Bein, Kat (2016-03-28). "Fool's Golds' Athletixx Premiere Dark Debut Single 'PNTHR': Exclusive". Billboard.
  4. ^ "Kittens Is The Queer, Feminist DJ Who Wants To Teach Every Girl To Spin". UPROXX. 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  5. ^ Lauren, Engel (2017-09-25). "Lauren Abedini (KITTENS) talks Coming Out, Mentored by Usher, an DJing for Kid Cudi". C-Heads Magazine.
  6. ^ Bein, Kat (2018-02-21). "Anna Lunoe, GTA, Troyboi & More Are Drai's Las Vegas Resident DJs in 2018". Billboard.
  7. ^ "lasvegas.electricdaisycarnival.com". Electric Daisy Carnival 2018.
  8. ^ "Coachella 2018 Lineup and Schedule Info". Time Out Los Angeles. 2018-04-11.
  9. ^ "Adidas Speedfactory AM4KTN".
  10. ^ "Meet DJ KITTENS - Push The Boundaries Series - YSL Beauty".
  11. ^ a b "Girl PWR: Kittens shows the strength in building a female DJ community". Mixmag.
  12. ^ Riese (2017-09-11). "BREAKING: Demi Lovato Almost Maybe Possibly Has a Girlfriend Now". Autostraddle.
  13. ^ Bain, Katie (2018-03-23). "Krewella, Kittens & Dani Deahl Talk Dance Music's Gender Gap in the Age of #TimesUp and #MeToo". Billboard.
  14. ^ Skinner, Katie (2017-08-01). "Meet DJ Kittens, The Female Spin Master Working to Equalize Dance, One Workshop at a Time". Billboard.
  15. ^ Cihak, Lennon (2022-12-07). "Rezz On Grappling With Mental Health and Insomnia: "Nobody Knew What I Was Going Through"". EDM.com - The Latest Electronic Dance Music News, Reviews & Artists.

Category:Musicians Category:Queer artists Category:1989 births Category:Persian people Category:Iranian artists Category:American DJs Category:American electronic musicians Category:Lesbian artists Category:Feminist artists

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