Luísa Sonza is one of the most famous Brazilian artists nowadays. But unlike other young artists, she has made her way in music by talking about her feelings and experiences, defending her believes, speaking out her mind, and facing those who criticize or think women should act or look in specific ways.
This year, to commemorate her birthday, she decided there was no better way to celebrate than by releasing Doce 22 (Sweet 22), her latest album, an ode to female freedom, and her Brazilian roots. This project also reminds us of the pop divas of the 2000s who have inspired her career during these years.
Let us wait no more and check this exclusive interview of Luísa Sonza for Vanity Teen.
Talking about feelings and experiences
VT: What would you like to share about your origins and those paths that had led you to be one of the most famous and celebrated Brazilian artists nowadays?
LS: What I would like to share is that my parents gave me a disciplined and self-sufficient upbringing. They raised me to be independent, and every day, I see how important this was for my development as a person and as an artist.
I owe all to them because they were the light that I needed in my life and my career to get through the situations I face today.
VT: Who are your biggest inspirations, and why?
LS: Everyone that surrounds us and passes through our lives ends up being an inspiration.
You know, I don’t have a bigger or smaller person to inspire me. I take the best of all. Whether it is an artist or just a person passing through my life, I have many inspirations.
VT: This year, you released a new album: Doce22. So what can you tell us about this project and the great acceptance it has received?
LS: Doce 22 is a project that I created with my friends. An extremely personal project!
Every person that worked on this project is very close to me. They know me deeply, and I believe this made all the difference in the feedback I received and how people feel identified with the album.
It’s an album about my 22nd birthday, and people of many ages ended up identifying with it because I’m talking about feelings and experiences in the form of music; in a very realistic, personal, and genuine way.
VT: How about 2000 s2, your latest single?
LS: I made 2000 s2 inspired (and committed to honor) the pop divas of the 2000s. They have had a lot of influence on my career today. All of them have inspired me, especially Christina Aguilera and Britney.
Britney was the inspiration for the lyric video because I love her music. It also has a more sensual vibe that reminds me of the 2000s but also brings that ‘Brazilianness’ in the lyrics, and it’s a musical reference from the pop American divas and their musicality back in that time.
VT: What can you tell us about your upcoming projects?
LS: I’ll continue with the release of Doce 22. I still have 3 songs to release: Fugitivos with Jão, Café da manhã with Ludmilla, and Anaconda with Mariah Angeliq.
Café da manhã (Breakfast) comes with a strong vibe, just the way Brazil likes and expects.
Anaconda has a different vibe and is that production in which I most actively participated. I produced all the songs, but this one has my own pinch, something very new, but I’m really looking forward to it because it is one of my favorite songs on the album.
And Fugitivos (Fugitives) has a great ‘Brazilianness’ also mixed with music of the 2000s.
So, these are my projects to come.
Any artist has the urge to express their art
VT: With time, you have become more and more involved with the creative process of your projects. What have been motivating to do so and even direct your music videos?
LS: Any artist has the urge to express his or her art. That is being an artist, saying what you think and feel. And there are several ways to do so, and I have been discovering them more and more.
This comes from an insatiable desire to express who I am as an artist and as a person. And that goes beyond the song or the lyrics. I am increasingly covering the different ways of showing other facets of Luísa.
VT: Movements like #FreeBritney have made us realize even more that, sometimes, people are too judgmental towards celebrities and forget they are also human. Have you ever felt misunderstood by public opinion? How do you overcome those kinds of situations?
LS: For sure! I have felt very misunderstood, and Doce 22 came out of that, from the feeling I had that people didn’t see me and really didn’t listen to me deeply.
I got over it by making art, talking about what I believe in, but in the form of music.
Speaking on my side is the most genuine way I can talk about myself and my feelings. I don’t think I can be as genuine in interviews or otherwise as much as in my music.
The most genuine way is to pass this forward through music. Music saves me in so many ways every day.
VT: What are your thoughts about the longs story of misogyny that has surrounded pop culture and affected female artists?
LS: It’s really sad because it didn’t just affect us. It still affects female artists and pop culture, that kind of thinking affects the whole of society. And we must fight this every day by giving ourselves the strength to end it.
VT: Which message would you like to share with those who might be suffering from bullying due to wanting to express themselves in uncommon ways?
LS: My message is that people should keep expressing themselves, doing what they are doing, and not bothering to look back at any time.
Before we go
Luísa Sonza uses her music as an invitation to be whoever we want to be with love and freedom. She also knows that, despite some detractors, there will always be people who love us, and we should only focus on them, and that´s just one of the reasons we admire her so much.
As we stream Doce 22, let us celebrate with her our power of choice and be kind to others.