Real One by Lifaland Takes a Decade of Musical Theatre Into Pop Rock and R&B
Real One by Lifaland Takes a Decade of Musical Theatre Into Pop Rock and R&B
The American Singer Who Toured as Nala in The Lion King Now Records as Lifaland
Lifaland released Real One on 6 August 2026, a pop rock single with an R&B groove running under it. It is her first single as Lifaland. The American singer, whose name is said Lee-fuh-land, comes to it with something few new acts have. She has spent about ten years singing for a living on stage.
Lifaland’s Real One sits in the playlist below with this desk’s R&B, neo soul and alt R&B, and her artist profile has every feature written about her. Real One reached MusicDrops.News through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news titles. Listen first, then read on for the stage years behind it.
Before Real One, Lifaland Worked Her Way From Theme Park Stages to Broadway and The Lion King Tour
Lifaland came to musicals late, moving from running track at high school to a school production of Seussical. After that she studied Musical Theatre at the University of Central Florida, graduating in 2016. At university she spent much of her time understudying in musicals.
The first jobs were cruise ships and theme parks: Norwegian Cruise Line, Walt Disney World and Hong Kong Disneyland. Regional theatre and the national tour of School of Rock came next.
Broadway followed in 2021. In the revival of Caroline, or Change at Studio 54, she was the standby for Emmie, the title character’s daughter. She also covered two of the singing radio parts. By 2022 she was playing the adult Nala on the North American tour of The Lion King. On that tour she named Endless Night and the He Lives in You reprise as the songs she found most inspiring.
She was also a finalist in The Search for Roxie, Broadway.com’s contest to cast a Roxie Hart for Chicago. Later she joined Ain’t Too Proud, the Temptations musical, at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine.
R&B was there the whole time. She describes herself as an expressionist working across R&B, pop rock and soul. Her first cabaret, Songs That Saved Me, included 1990s R&B. On Instagram she posts short covers of the singers she loves, from Alicia Keys to Brandy and Aaliyah.
Her own writing grew alongside the stage work. In April 2021, under her own name, she released You Ok? (Black Girl), a single she wrote. It is about wanting someone to ask how you are and really care about the answer. She made a video for it and sang it at an open mic at The People’s Forum. She also entered it in NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest.
Lifaland’s Real One Pairs Pop Rock With an R&B Groove on a Song About Finding Your True Path
Then came Real One, which she calls her birthday present to herself, a year after the cabaret. It runs to 3 minutes 17 seconds. In everyday speech a real one is someone who stays true. The song is about love, trust and being genuine yourself. She has offered it to the hopeless romantics who just need a real one.
The sound joins the two sides of her taste. Pop rock brings the energy and the guitar textures, while the R&B underneath gives it its groove. The feel is organic, although Lifaland did not make the record with a live band.
It was a small team. Lifaland, credited as Khalifa M Sanderson White, wrote it, co-produced it with Josef James Berger and sings lead. She has said the record came together on impulse. DOCTORSOUNDMIX mastered it. Her voice is a big one.
The single has found its first listeners. It has passed 110,000 plays on Spotify, where Lifaland now draws more than 11,000 monthly listeners. It was also a runner-up in two categories at the 2026 Unsigned Only Music Awards, Female Vocal and R&B/Soul.
Two singers she names among her inspirations show where the mix comes from. Tina Turner had been singing on stages for more than twenty years before her solo breakthrough. Private Dancer, a record of pop, rock and R&B, made her a solo star in 1984. Its single What’s Love Got to Do with It reached No. 1 in the United States when she was 44. Real One mixes the same three styles.
Whitney Houston crossed between the two worlds in the other direction. She was already a recording star when The Bodyguard gave her a first film role in 1992. Its songs later became a stage musical, and Lifaland has played a lead in a regional production of it. Real One is that crossing made from the stage side.
Lifaland Keeps Singing on Stage and in the Studio, and Real One Is the Place to Start
So what comes next? Both. Lifaland has not left theatre: this year she played Hairspray for the third time, with Broadway Sacramento. On the music side, she has written about singing for the joy of it again, not only for work and auditions. She wants to release takes that feel good rather than perfect. She is also finishing a new song, which she says she cannot stop dancing to.
Who is it for? First, listeners who like pop rock that leans toward R&B, and fans of Tina Turner’s rock and soul crossover. Then there are the theatre audiences who saw her as Nala on tour.
Start with Real One, then follow her on Spotify for what she records next. She spent ten years singing other people’s songs on stage. Real One is the first she has put her new name to.
MusicDrops.News’s curator team: “We added Real One to our R&B, Neo Soul, Alt R&B playlist. It brings a pop rock edge to that list, and the contrast is what makes it stand out there.”
Stream Real One on Spotify, Apple Music or Deezer. Follow Lifaland on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and her link page.
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