The hive is buzzing, and we’ve got good news. Fangirls everywhere, lock in, because soul singer Rozzi is dropping a new album, starting a residency in Los Angeles, and giving us all the sweet secrets behind her budding music (and book club) career. Even if you haven’t heard of Rozzi before, we highly encourage you to take a listen and become a fan, because let’s face it, it’ll only take one listen for you to immediately fall in love with her sound. Let’s dive right into our chat with Rozzi!
Hi Rozzi – thanks so much for chatting with us today! To get things started, can you share with us a bit about yourself and your music story?
I’m a soul singer, and my new album Fig Tree comes out May 8th! Just in time for my Los Angeles residency!
For readers who may be new to your music, what are three words to describe your discography?
All my secrets.
Honestly, we can’t stop listening to ‘Fig Tree.’ What is the message behind this track, and what makes it special to you?
Thank you so much. That song is kind of the thesis statement of my album. It’s about how choosing one life, no matter how beautiful it is, still means not choosing other lives. How you have to grieve potential different paths in order to walk the one you’re on.
The announcement for your upcoming album, Fig Tree, is finally here! Congrats on the new work. What were some of the main challenges in the creation of the album? What were some of the most joyful moments?
I feel like making this album was like asking a question and answering it at the same time. I was feeling really overwhelmed by big thoughts as I wrote the songs. Things like, do I want to be a mother someday? Do I want to get married? What kind of sacrifices are asked of women but not asked of men? Will the choices I make now, as I enter my post-Saturn return years, define the rest of my life? In hindsight, I was figuring all of it out through the writing, but at the time, it felt like a big mess. That was hard, but putting the pieces together with my producer Mocky was the joyful part.
Your song ‘Good News’ has been all over our Instagram feed. What do you hope new listeners of yours take away from this song?
That sometimes painful things can lead to wonderful things. To trust timing.
We absolutely love your song ‘66 Days.’ If you could listen to just one artist for the next 66 days, who would it be and why?
Prince! Or Fleetwood Mac! Or Ariana Grande! Sorry, I cheated!
Your singing voice is so angelic and pairs so nicely with trumpets and other jazz instrumentals that we hear on your songs. When making music, what are some of your favorite instruments to sing in front of?
I love a Rhodes keyboard. I love the cello. I love electric bass. But mostly it’s about the person playing the instrument and what they bring out of it. I recorded the majority of the vocals on my album in full, live takes, while Mocky played an instrument alongside me so I could feel that onstage feeling.
We recently saw that you developed a book club (@whatrozzireads)! Tell us more about why you wanted to create a book club for fans, and what your number one read right now is.
I just love to read so much. It makes me feel grounded and in the moment, and I wanted to encourage other people to feel that way. The book club felt timely, given how frantic and scary the world is these days. I think if everyone read more books, we would all make better decisions because books are like empathy machines – they force you to care about others. My number one read right now is our March book: Motherhood by Sheila Heti. We’re pairing the first 13 books to songs off my new album, and this month’s read is paired with my new song ‘All For A Man.’ I can’t recommend it enough.
Thanks again to Rozzi for chatting with us! We are so excited about her new album, Fig Tree, releasing on May 8th. Pre-save it here and listen to Rozzi’s discography with us here. Are you a new Rozzi fan? What’s your favorite Rozzi song? Let us know by buzzing with us on Twitter at @thehoneypop or visiting us on Facebook and Instagram.
Find more interviews here, honeybee!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ROZZI:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
