This month we had the pleasure of speaking with hip-hop hero Ivy Sole and it was all kinds of dreamy. Check out our interview below and huge thanks to our Kelly Morrison for this amazing illustration as well!
Hey Ivy, thanks so much for joining us!
Thanks for having me!
You recently released a new remix of ’Things Change‘ with Jasmine Cassell and Lee Clarke – how did that come about?
I’ve known them both for years but Jasmine & I had never been able to get a song going. So I asked Jasmine if I could remix the song and she said yes and boom. I chopped her vocal and Lee reimagined the original production as something slightly more airy and fluid.
Please describe your sound in five words to our lovely readers:
Grounded, introspective, shapeshifting, and Black/New Afrikan
Your new single ‘Bamboo’ is a viiiiibe – what inspired this release?
I felt (and feel) that ‘Bamboo’ is a hit. It’s a really beachy, summery jam that feels like a long drive and I wanted to prioritize it in the release schedule.
What’s your songwriting process like?
I hear an idea in my head and chase it til I lose track of it or I chop a sample and let the inspiration take its course! I do lots of editing and sitting with the lyrics until I can perform them so they sit in the production the way I’d like, the rest is just doing my best to make it feel the way I feel.
Your incredible album ‘Candid’ also came out earlier this year – can you tell us about the themes running throughout it?
I wrote this album with the intention to reflect on my parents’ love story and how it shaped my trajectory in matters of the heart. It was tempting to blame them for the way I am but my parents’ love and my upbringing aren’t separate from the place and time, namely America in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. In the 80s, my mother married a man (my stepfather) who ended up in prison, and started a relationship with a man (my father) who was released from an institution of the same kind. My stepfather’s return shaped my life because of his presence but the circumstances that led him there, and that led my father there before he met my mother, had a significant impact on their relationships with each other and how they ended up showing up as parents. Some of the themes are incarceration, commitment, honesty, and accountability and how the stories we know don’t always combine to one truth but can build to something bigger than our individual stories.
Do you have a favourite song from the album?
At the moment it’s ‘What You Deserve‘ but it shifts pretty often.
Who would you say are your biggest influences?
The Soulquarians and Philly’s Black Lily movement–– Jill Scott, The Roots, Bilal, D’Angelo, Musiq Soulchild, Dilla etc.
Any plans to come over and tour the UK? Hint hint…
Only if you bring me 🙂
If you could collaborate with any artist – dead or alive – who would it be?
I’d love to be a fly on the wall of Prince’s sessions or to work with Jill Scott on a project.
What advice would you give artists starting out in the music industry?
Make the music you love and focus on your sound, everything else will fall into place.
Are there any emerging artists you’d recommend?
I don’t know the threshold for emerging but I’m listening to a lot of Kingsley Ibeneche, Jasmine Cassell, BLK ODYSSY, Black Folks Don’t Swim? and Yves Tumor.
What are your plans for 2022?
Surviving the pandemic and dropping an experimental podcast called Candid Radio.
Where can we find you online?
Twitter, Instagram and maybe TikTok if I can figure it out.
Any final pearls of wisdom?
The most fulfilling moments of my life are outside of my career because music is my job. Music is work that I enjoy, but it’s still labor! Understanding myself as a worker rather than solely as an artist has been life changing.