Miquela Sousa, better known as Lil Miquela, is a fictional character and digital art project. Miquela is an Instagram model and music artist claiming to be from Downey, California. In 2017, Miquela released her first single, ‘Not Mine.’ Her pivot into music has been compared to virtual musicians Gorillaz and Hatsune Miku.
The project began in 2016 as an Instagram profile. By 2018, the account had amassed more than a million followers. Miquela portrays the lifestyle of an Instagram it-girl over social media. The account also details a fictional narrative which presents her as a sentient robot in conflict with other digital projects.
Miquela’s first Instagram post was made on April 22, 2016. The project garnered both intrigue and criticism for the character’s digital appearance with fans and online commentators oscillating between positing that Miquela is an art project or a social experiment carried out by a real unidentified woman. Miquela was rumored to be a marketing gimmick for the home simulator game ‘The Sims.’ British model Emily Bador was rumored to be Miquela, fans citing the character’s abundance of freckles. Bador openly acknowledged the physical similarity.
Miquela has been pictured with a number of celebrities including Diplo, How to Dress Well, and Nile Rogers. She has been interviewed and or profiled in a number of publications including ‘Vogue,’ ‘Buzzfeed,’ and ‘BBC.com.’ In 2018, Miquela did an Instagram takeover for Prada as part of Milan Fashion Week.
Miquela has released several singles since her debut with ‘Not Mine,’ including ‘You Should be Alone,’ ‘Over You,’ ‘Right Back,’ and a collaboration with Baauer titled ‘Hate Me.’ Her musical style is characterized by the use of auto-tune and trap-influenced production. Her music has been released on YouTube and Spotify. Miquela’s sound is purportedly based on the soundtrack to Sam Raimi’s 1981 cult classic, ‘Evil Dead.’
The Daily Omnivore 
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