AUSTIN, Texas — Independent artist, Jokia, lives in Killeen, Texas. She recently became a Billboard chart topping artist.

Jokia sits in an Austin recording studio singing a song she wrote 48 hours before her recording session.

"It's just still fresh, you know, so I'm playing around with the melodies, ideas," she explains.

The mom of two fell in love with music at a young age. Her song "Yaweh" recently reached number one on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart.

"So, my concern when I wrote it, is that ‘would people connect with it?’ And, you know. that was my main priority," Jokia says. "And to know that people love it, the number one is just the cherry on top."

She released the song on her own label called Jokia Music.

"So, at 12 I knew that I wanted to be a singer," Jokia shares. "I started writing my own songs and stuff like that and yeah I just never let that dream go."

Her husband, Ben, sat next to the sound engineer. Jokia is a four-year Army veteran and her husband is a 14-year Army veteran. They met in Iraq. 

"They said not to take any souvenirs, but I don't think a wife is considered souvenirs, just dessert love," Ben says. 

The couple has lived in the Lone Star State for more than a decade. 

Jokia is working on an EP that she cannot wait to share. 

"Definitely look out for that because that’s, that's going to be huge and just know when you look at it, just know, ‘Okay, she worked hard on this,’” Jokia says.