Come every Monday morning, we’re thinking about two things. 1. COFFEE. 2. What’s on Spotify’s Discover Weekly. Whether it’s digging up songs you used to love but forgot about or introducing you to hot new artists, Discovery Weekly has been pretty on point. That’s how we found out about Sophia Black.
Fluent in Japanese and French, LA native Sophia Black is just 20 years old. She attended a French international school since she was 3 years old and is no stranger to the music business. Her mother is a composer and her father is a working musician who’s played with Chaka Khan and Prince. Growing up, her musical interests ranged from Destiny’s Child and TLC to Mariah Carey and Aaliyah as well as Japanese boy band SMAP. Black has been writing since she was 12 and was discovered by Dr. Luke when she was 13. She’s been “developed” in the traditional sense and not rushed to release music that her record label can cash in on. She lived life as a teenage girl in LA for 7 years before releasing her self-titled debut EP last year.
You know we’re suckers for R&B infused synth-pop. “k i s s i n g” is a catchy tune that sounds like a lot of early 2000s R&B while “Anchor” is breathy and sultry, with production that reminds us of Troye Sivan. Black worked with SOHN along with Billboard for that track. Listen to Black’s EP below.
On The Rise is our spotlight series on new and emerging artists. We last featured Young Rival. Stay tuned for next week’s On The Rise artist!