Q & A With Music Artist SASS
I am always interested in learning about up-and-coming artists. I was lucky enough to interview music artist, performer, and rising star, SASS.
1) How did you come up with the name SASS and when did you start writing music under this name?
I was in a singing competition and the judge told me she was just going to call me sass because that is everything I am embodying, and ever since I let people call me Sass. I started writing music a year ago. I watched Cardi B’s tv show, Rhythm and Flow, and told my roommate I can do that. She was making mac and cheese, and I went into my room and wrote a verse in the time it took her to finish. She came out and she was like wowwww you need to become a ghost writer!
2) What kind of music do you perform and why do you like performing it?
I perform pop music and hip hop. I used to sing jazz and like to let that influence my music also. You will see on some of my tracks that I love having a lil alto sax hidden in the beat too. I like performing music regardless of the genre. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a natural-born performer and it has been such an amazing outlet to play any character role I want and send out any message I want.
3) You went to school for Musical Theatre and used to be in a lot of theatre productions. How did you get into songwriting and rapping, and why did you make this transition?
I get to play any character I want to and send out any message I want. I always got booked for theatre I was lucky that I never had issues finding jobs. I just kept taking breaks because I was feeling bored and annoyed that I was having to play a lot of the same characters over because I am 5’10”, a high belter, and a sassy Latina from New York City. I loved that I generally had three minutes of stage time, would do the 11 o’clock number, and then leave the stage. It was an easy track but I got tired of it. I have so many things that I want to say and theatre wasn’t really scratching my creative itch.
I went to school for ensemble devising and physical theatre. I like making my own work and this lets me sing, dance, act, produce, and direct. I also met an amazing writer named Chyna Tahjere, and she saw that I have great ideas but need to polish them and make them flow better. She has been writing since she was a kid so she really has stepped my game up. It’s kind of crazy we both are trained in opposite things so when we come together we make the perfect team. When we write we both are like why are you in my brain it’s weird, but now we really have made it to a place where we are so used to each other. It's a lot easier to make songs. Honestly, before she came my music was good but she really stepped me up to greatness. I always think of it as like I was raw paint and Chyna showed up and laid down the polish. She’s very talented and I am so grateful that we get to work together.
4) You recently had a single and music video come out called "Lil Bo Beep". What is the song about?
Lil Bo Peep is about coming up in the music industry. You lose a lot of friends on the way up due to dumb things. Having friends that are also in the same industry is hard because some of them have been making music for 10 years and I dropped a song four months ago that was more successful than anything they have put out combined. It’s just like I’m not losing sleep thinking about will I make it because it’s already written in the stars for me.
It's also about how people act around me because I’m a new music artist. Many people think that I haven’t worked hard enough to get here, but I have been training as a performer since I was 14 years old. I am a triple threat and the amount of work I put in to get there may not be shown in the number of songs listed on my Spotify, but if you put me in a line up next to you on stage, you will see it very clearly when I out perform you. The verse, “put in my sweat my blood got it straight out the mud damn look what that did for me”, that’s what that is saying. You don’t know where I came from or what my hustle entailed up to this point, but look at where it got me. It’s about how I got to boss status and how I’m not worried about anyone else. It’s m
5) Do you have more music coming out soon? Have you had any other things happen in the past few months that have to do with your career as a music artist?
Yes, I do I have a lot more music coming out soon! This summer there will be a few jams dropping and I am sooo thrilled to show you what we have been cooking up. Unfortunately, all those have to be kept under wraps until we are ready to announce them, but yes major steps in my career are being taken at the moment!
6) Where can we find all of your music and where can we find you on social?
My Instagram is @i_am_sass.
My TikTok is @i_am_sass.
And like and subscribe to my YouTube! https://youtu.be/LTKAZ7OtQzQ
7) What is one thing that is interesting about you not related to performing?
I am currently in school for my MA in Marriage and Family Therapy. I'm 1000% certain at this point that I do not need this degree because I am going to be a successful music artist, but mental health is now and has always been the most important thing to me. I went through a really serious mental health struggle for most of my life due to trauma, and I spent ten years in therapy climbing out of that ditch and I am a completely different person. Therapy changed my life and I think studying it has actually helped me continue to heal myself. It also has given me way too much information so in therapy, I am sitting there hyper-aware of what techniques my therapists use which is a blessing and a curse. I just think having this degree for me is a physical representation of my fight for healing.
