Sophiegrophy [Interview]

With a new ep on the way and a recently announced slot at Australia’s inaugural Festival X this summer, Sophiegrophy sat down with us to talk Instagram, Beyonce, and the layers of her identity as a musician.

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First off, your Instagram is FIRE – where do you get your inspiration?
Aw, thank you! Honestly, I don’t know. That’s always how I’ve been – growing up I used to dress weird, and people used to look at me and go “oh, what is she wearing?” I got used to it.

Insta is definitely something that comes up in your music – i.e. your song “All for the Gram” – and you seem really comfortable in your own skin. Were you always like that or did that confidence take awhile to develop?
I think I’ve always been like this and I’ve always been confident. I have this mentality that you should always love yourself no matter what, and that’s a big part of who I am. That confidence is a must have, especially as a musician.

Hey, I mean you own it, and people clearly look to you. You’re out here rapping about how you’ve got the car, the purse, the watch, whatever, and it’s not like there’s a ton of mainstream female Australian rappers doing the same thing. Does that put a lot of pressure on you?
I think when you’re a female and you’re in music, there’s always going to be pressure. You have it way harder in terms of criteria – it’s way higher, and I really don’t know why. It’s just crazy.

True. Have you ever seen that meme of Ed Sheeran and Beyonce standing next to each other performing, where Ed Sheeran is in a t-shirt and jeans and Beyonce is dressed to the nines in a ball gown? The comments on the internet are hysterical – Beyonce always looks like she’s going to strut down the runway and Ed Sheeran is the complete opposite.
Hahaha, if Beyonce rolled up in no makeup without her hair done, people would be like “What is she doing? She’s the queen.” It’s crazy how that is.

OMG, if Beyonce rolled up to a performance in sweatpants I think the internet would ACTUALLY lose their shit.
People would! Even me, whenever I go out or I have a performance, the process of getting ready is so long – I have to do my hair, put on makeup, find an outfit. Meanwhile, some guys are like “eh, I’ll just have a shower” and it takes 5 minutes, hahaha.

Honestly, I feel you – but it’s cool you have your own unique sense of style and trust me, your fans appreciate the time you put into that (the same way we appreciate Beyonce’s epic outfits). Beyond style though, I think people also struggle to classify your music as a certain genre – your music ranges from trap to club bangers and a whole lot of in between.
Oh, I love that people can’t put me in a category. When you start to put yourself in a box, you tend to limit yourself and your abilities. If people put me in a box like “oh, she only does rap and hip hop,” then I won’t be able to go out there and experiment with a house track or do other things. I see myself as an artist who can do anything. Sometimes I’ll be on my laptop listening to jazz, even reggae, and I want to have access to other genres because it inspires me.

People don’t just listen to one genre anyway – there are so many different experiences and sources of inspiration out there, and it makes you much more relatable to take all of those other genres into account versus just doing one thing. When did you feel like you started honing in on your sound and your music really became your own?
2016 was the year – around November I did a freestyle and some things on my own, and I really started to figure out who I am and my goals and ambitions. Back then I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted my voice and my musical style to be, but now I’m quite satisfied with my sound and everything.

That’s great to hear, especially because you have a new EP coming – what can you tell us about that?
I’m super excited for this EP because it’s showcasing everything that I can do. There’s hip hop, there’s house music, there’s an afro beat…it’s a little bit of everything, but at the same time, it comes together as a collection. It’s not one of those EPs where everything is different but it doesn’t make sense – it all connects together and that falls into who I am, so I’m really excited to release it.

Sounds like you’ll have some great material to debut at Festival X, and I saw earlier this year you performed at Rolling Loud Australia.
Rolling Loud was crazy. That was one of my first experiences performing at a big festival and also being the only female on the lineup. Being the only girl with all those dudes made me want to work that much harder, because at the end of the day, I’m not doing music to be the only female, I’m doing music just to be a musician in general. I don’t want to be put in a box based on my gender – but overall, it was a good experience. Festival X though is happening during our summer, so it’s gonna be a great time of year for that.

Oh, damn, I forgot November is summer for you guys, that’ll be crazy. But to your point about being the only girl – it’s great that you can hold your own and represent, but your gender isn’t the only thing that’s part of your identity. You’re an artist who makes music that’s relatable to a lot of different people.
Exactly.

Seriously, though, you’re killin’ it – keep showing up. Anything else you want fans to know?
One of the tracks from my new EP that we’re releasing is called “American Honey,” so that’s something to look out for!

Awesome – American Honey, that’s a cool name. What’s the inspiration for that?
There’s a whiskey called American Honey – it’s a very sweet drink. It’s hard to explain now because the name is just a type of alcohol, but when the track drops, you’ll understand.

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Fans can catch Sophiegrophy alongside the likes of Calvin Harris, Armin van Buuren, Alison Wonderland and Steve Aoki at Festival X in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne this November/December – get your tickets here!