Ruth B

Early life and education

Berhe was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. She spent some of her teenage years working at a local Reitman clothing store and described herself in an interview with The Canadian Press as an "introvert" with a social side. She said she was "never the big party chick, but I was never the one always by myself at home." While working part-time she started to dabble in posting videos on Vine. She says she chose the six-second video service because it took less effort to upload short clips, compared to other popular services like YouTube.

Berhe graduated from Ross Sheppard High School in 2013. She attended MacEwan University, but took time off her studies to focus on music.

Career

Berhe posted her first Vine video on May 9, 2013, and started making singing Vines about a year later. Her singing Vines, typically six second covers of popular songs, helped grow her a following. In November 2014, she posted a Vine of her singing a line that she had made up, which was inspired by the television series Once Upon a Time. It garnered around 84,000 likes within a week, which was unusual for her at the time. She took note of its popularity, with some of her followers commenting that she should make it into a full song. It became "Lost Boy", which she posted on YouTube on January 18, 2015 and was released on iTunes on February 12, 2015.

When the Vine clip first started gaining popularity, Berhe says she noticed that her life at school changed somewhat. "I’d be walking at school and they’d be like, “Oh, she’s the Vine chick.” It was cool to finally have something that I felt was mine," she told The Canadian Press in an interview.

Dozens of Vine and YouTube users posted covers, which helped further its popularity and increased Berhe's following on social media. Record labels took notice and she then signed with Columbia Records in July 2015. Her debut EP, The Intro, was released on November 27, 2015. It has four songs including "Lost Boy".

Berhe entered the studio in early 2016 to begin recording her debut full-length album with Joel Little, a New Zealand producer who helped Lorde create her first album. She says she was writing songs long before the album went into production, so she had many songs to pick from when her label told her it was time to start putting something together.

The singer says learning her songwriting through Vine helped her focus her thoughts and "make sure every line … is filled with the best message and melody it possibly can have."

Artistry

Berhe has listed Lauryn Hill, The Beatles, Carole King, Grouplove, Adele, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran as some of her musical influences. She said that "the one thing all my favorite artists have in common is they are all storytellers. Something that I try to incorporate in my music", in an interview with Idolator.