Meet
The MIZ Featured Artist Sophia Maria
Unbelievable
Vocal Control, Natural Beauty and the energy and
stage presence necessary to be a superstar! says
Grammy
Award
winner, Deniece Williams. This is followed by accolades
from stars like Evelyn Champagne King, Gene Chandler, GQ,
The Manhattans, The Delfonics and many other legends
with whom the 21-year-old Sophia Maria is currently
touring.
Sophia
began writing her own lyrics and is collaborating
with seasoned writers and producers, including
music veteran Rudy Salas, David Salas, Rudy Hauserman,Carlos
Guillen, MC Blvd , Joe Wolf and others..Through
my touring with Pacific Concert Group and performing
along side so many legendary R&B artists, “I
am getting the experience to develop my own show
that we will take out on the road when my first
album breaks out! In the last six months though,
I have performed in over 15 cities nationwide and
in front of at least 100,000 people in Phoenix,
Tucson, El Paso, Indio, Palm Springs, San Diego,
San Bernardino, Las Vegas, Bakersfield, and Denver
to name a few.
But
the most important thing for me now is to take
my time and build my fan base up and allow myself
to be me, not an image that a record company wants
me to be. I love touring with these legends and
learning from them. Deniece and Evelyn have taken
me under their wings and helped me to understand
what they went through as young women in this business.
StreetLevel.Biz
interview with Sophia Maria.
Who
is Sophia Maria?
I'm
italian and mexican, my fathers full blood italian
and my mothers full blood mexican its pretty
nice because it doesnt get too complicated when
explaining my race. Were very one way or the
other, we either love you, or hate you lol crazy
I know.
Who
are your fans?
My
fans are mainly latinas, thats who I mostly represent,
(not hating on the guys) we go through alot as
ladies, and its always nice to be able to put
a song that is relateable, and that may help
someone get through their day, or a time in their
life..us ladies always gotta stick together.
What
are your songs about?
My
songs are mostly about ..like I said relateable
experiences..being happy in a relationship, meeting
someone you love....going through betrayal...having
fun in a club...to a close friend or someone
you love passing away and getting through that
experience.
Do
you write your own songs?
I
co-wrote all of the songs on my cd..I was blessed
to have co-written 5 of the songs off my album
with the vry talented MC Magic (representing
Magic City)...also some other producers Carlos
Guillen, and the amazing MC Blvd (Remember Me
Homie)
Who
are your musical influences?
I
have so many musical influences I prob couldnt
name all...but first and foremost I love Mariah
Carey, she the only singer that I know of that
can hit the bottom note on the piano to the highest
note in chest voice and head voice! Shes amazing...I
love oldies like Evelyn Champaigne King..Denise
Williams..GQ..Marvin Gay... Reggea is a fav of
mine...of course you can never go wrong with
Bob Marley..in todays music I have so much respect
for Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera(true
singer) and I really have started to like Paula
De Anda she reminds me of an old soul of Selena..shes
beautiful and the girl can really sing! Much
respect to her.
How
do you describe your music to people?
I
always say that my songs are my heart, mind,
body and soul....They started off as some words
on a piece of paper, to maybe how I felt that
day, or something that was on my mind, and turned
into a song with a beat...a great melody..and
emotions...I descirbe the genre of it as...r&b/pop.
What
image do you think your music conveys?
You
know to be honest I really dont know how to answer
this question but I can say that I hope that
my image comes off as " real" meaning...my
personality...who I really am..and how I really
am ALL goes into my music..My music is inspired
by my experiences, which makes me who I am..and
thats what I want to be, I want to convey that
to my listeners Well I hope its good music to
others...?! LOL
What
are your career goals?
I
hope to get more songs out there on radio, and
to get the east coast to be able to hear my music,
thats something me and my team are working on...o
I would love to someday do some acting..and maybe
a film with acting and dancing...I have been
ballroom dancing for a long time, my fav is salsa..so
I think it would be fun to maybe mix the two.
What
live performance experience have you had?
Alot,
one of my managers put together Old School meets
New School shows (Denise Williams, Zapp, The
Manhattans, Mary Jne Girls, Mc Magic...Amanda
Perez..etc..) and I have been doing shows with
them since I was about 13 years old. Recently
I did a fun show in Bakersfield with Ciara, Lil
Bow Wow, Omarion, and a few more..It was fun.
How
do you rate your live performance ability?
um..Im
a perfecionist, so I WANT TO BE PERFECT but I
know thatll never happen LOL..One thing that
bothers me is when you love an artist and then
you see them live and they dont sound anything
like the record..So I try to give the audience
what they WANT TO HEAR....but Im always learning
from every show I do saying ..ok next time I
can do this better..or ok I wont..do this next
time..or I will do this next time....etc.
Have
you recorded any previous CD's/Tapes?
I
have had a couple albums in the past, but they
never really got out there one was called Sophia
Maria (Bump This) and one was called Sophia Maria
(At Last) and one was called Sophia Maria (Oh
My My) My manager had distrubution through his
label ITP Records, so we always went through
that, now we got more.
If
you could pick (3) albums to take with you
on an extended journey, what would they be?
Mariah
Carey "Greatest Hits"
Dr
Dre "The Chronic"
Toni
Braxton "The Heat"
Anything
you would like to add/say to the StreetLevel.Biz
readers?
I
just feel so blessed and thank everyday to all
my listeners for showing soo much love and support!
I love to go onto my space and talk with all
my fans!! My fans are truly real and supportive
till the end! I love them and thanks to StreetLevel.Biz
for having me on here! Much Love and God Bless.
You
can find out more about Sophia Maria by visiting http://www.sophiamaria.com
All photographs courtesy of Sophia Maria and
published with permission. |
