Not in it for Fame
British singer LO. is still not unsure if she wants to be in the public eye but she definitely wants her music to be known and heard. Making and releasing her EP was always one of her goals. At the time she wrote it, LO. had gone through a lot emotionally and mentally. She made these songs for herself, to symbolize the closing of one door and the opening of another.
“Everything just fell into place at the right moment: I had written the songs, I connected with an incredible producer whose beats went perfectly with them, and I met an engineer with his own studio.”
She went to a performing arts school. That explains her musical style, ‘imperfect R&B with a taste of Trap.’ Her first EP, PEACE/S, “was a mix of alt R&B, Afrobeats and even a bit of chilled dance.”
LO.’s latest single “Disappointment” lays the foundations for what’s to come in 2022 because you can definitely hear the mix of the two genres in the song.” As a non-traditional trap and R&B singer, she doesn’t “do riffs and runs.” She also thinks [her] flows are uncommon for R&B, and the beats she’s using aren’t those ultra silky smooth ones you often hear in traditional R&B, hers have a heavy bass to them.
Mapping out Her Dreams
As for dream celebrity collaborators, she thinks it would be Giveon – She thinks that hisdepth and her high notes would sound fire together. Pure vibes.” But overall LO. says that “women in R&B are killing it right now.” Kehlani, Kiana Lede, Mahalia, Dave, Central Cee, Shaybo and Ed Sheeran are some examples she cites.
“Sometimes it can just be one sole element that I hear and think ‘omg yes this is amazing’. That’s how I wrote ‘Hell or Paradise’, I was listening to a song and the phrase ‘Hell or Paradise’ came up. So I literally stopped the song and started writing my song from those three words.”
LO.’s Favorite Tunes
She also loves listening to favorite songs like “Water” by Kehlani and “Mimosas” by LateNightJiggy over and over again to feel inspired. She feels the latter “merges elements of R&B, Latino and British music.”
“I am a HUGE believer in making plans and setting goals for yourself,” LO. explained. Not everything will go to plan and not every goal will be met in the way you wanted, but the fact that you’ve mapped out where you want to be and how you want to get there, whether it’s in the short term or long term, increases your chances of success.”
To put her ideals into action, she runs a book club with her friends to “discuss mostly self-improvement books” and “an accountability club” where members speak to and hold each other accountable for each member’s personal goals for the week.
As an artist, LO.’s environment directly influences her actions. She says that there will be “more Latin influences in her music this year as she tries to blur the lines of different genres. Having recently discovered she was in a toxic relationship, she “had a lot of pent-up emotion” and literally wrote “Disappointment” in 20 minutes.
”Aaron (my producer) sent me the beat when I was walking along the harbor in Barcelona,” LO. recalled.
Making the Most out of a “Disappointment”
LO. wanted to let the world hear her songs to be able to move on. They’re about people who were in her life at some point. She wrote those songs from real-life experiences, thoughts and emotions. LO. says that one of her favorite tracks is “Disappointment” because it is “very raw” and “the lyrics tell you everything you need to know about the situation.”
“I think if the roles were reversed and someone came up to me and told me, ‘I’m a disappointment’ it would cut pretty deep and make me reflect a bit on why they said it. I guess that’s what I want the person I wrote it about to do, even though they’ll never know it’s about them. And I never reveal who I write my songs about. They can guess though.”
And what does LO. do when she is the one to mess up?
“I’m not too proud and egotistical to apologize when I know I’m in the wrong, or if I’ve hurt someone,” LO. said. At the same time I’m at stage in my life where I really have to stop and think ‘is this worth my energy?’”
As she continues to grow as an artist, LO. will continue to pursue her love for blurring the lines that once separated different musical genres. She also hopes to someday become a full-time artist.
“I’m an unsigned, self-managed artist at the moment so things are always changing and evolving depending on my own capacity and resources available at any given moment, LO. said. But I do know that I am very confident in my music, this year and beyond.”
The acoustic version of “Disappointment” dropped this week.
I love that she runs a book club and that they read self help books! Bravo!