#PopularPlay: Sayge

Following on from the recent ‘Somethin’ Pretty’, New York artist Sayge returns with new single ‘Could Be’!

Produced by Sayge himself, ‘Could Be’ channels a mid-2000s R&B vibe into something fresh and exciting, while Spanish guitars also help give the track a distinctly Latino feel – inspired by Sayge’s Venezuelan roots.

It follows the heart-on-sleeve ‘Somethin’ Pretty’ and previous singles ‘Fade Away’ and ‘Toxic’, with all four tracks set to feature on Sayge’s newly released ‘Pretty Girls Paradise’ EP.

An independent singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Sayge has built a reputation around his moody take on pop and R&B that often includes guitar solos, gospel arrangements and switches between English and Spanish vocals. Blending his love of jazz and blues with an obsession with Slash and Prince, he dips into the past to create a sound that’s remarkably fresh and modern.

His fourth single in quick succession, ‘Could Be’ is a sultry track that sees Sayge explore his Latin heritage and we talked to him about the backstory of the track !

 

1. You just released “Could Be”! The song is produced by you and has a mixture of 2000s R&B vibe and some Latino beats. Can you tell us a little bit about the song?

With ‘Could Be’ it started with me going down a little bit of a rabbit hole on TikTok. I noticed a pretty consistent vibe, sonically throughout each song. After a few of them I had that guitar melody in my head & laid it down on Ableton, then I converted it to midi & built around it. For me, it doesn’t take long for me to make a song. Right after that I had that hook progression. I changed the dynamics & added some extra stuff throughout the song to make it interesting. The hook vocal melody popped right into my head, like right away. This song, along with my upcoming EP has one major theme, “A new version of that summer of love” in the 60’s. Lyrically this song is about all love, all relationships. Regardless of race, gender, preferences or identity. Like the Woodstock era but with the challenges we are facing now. We’re struggling with ourselves, with mental health, drugs, alcohol & toxic relationships. It’s tough out here man.

 

2. The song follows the other three recent releases: ‘Somethin’ Pretty, ‘Fade Away’ and ‘Toxic’. Do you have any others coming up?

My EP ‘Pretty Girls Paradise’ released June 3rd along with some Spanish music for mi gente. Some reggaeton, more summer jams & some more of that dark ‘Toxic’ R&B everyone loved.

 

2.It’s incredible the way you mix different rhythm and vibes in your songs. How does the production of your music in general work? 

Usually I start with the melody first then build on that, add some dynamics & layers. Lushness in my music is key. I put the drums on right after, bump it a few times then just feel out a vocal melody. Get on the mic, demo it & think about whatever’s going on in my life. Whatever I wanna talk about. With Toxic, it was about how I was in a horrid relationship, & met my first love like right after. I was afraid of bringing my toxic past into that & didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes. With Fade Away, it was a summers night in LA. Missing someone & trying to get over them. Then, Somethin’ Pretty was that ‘Fuck You I’m in paradise living life’ not directed at that ex but at others. The people who didn’t support me. Whether it was because of where I was from, how I looked, how I spoke or whatever else. I rarely sit down & write lyrics, all the songs are usually one take & freestyled. It keeps it honest & raw for me. No second guessing.

 

3. Since we are talking about inspirations, what are your greatest and most inspirational and references in the musical world?

I’m really inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Basquiat, Miles Davis & Slash. You can definitely hear the inspiration from Slash on my music, my guitar solo’s specifically, same with Prince. How I live my life is heavily inspired by the mantra Hendrix, Basquiat or Miles lived by. Very focused on the art & being themselves. Daddy Yankee & J Balvin are huge inspirations for me too in the latin scene. Daddy Yankee made a whole wave & J Balvin helps a lot of people within the scene. He really makes the music community, a community. We need more of that in the American scene. I hope I can do that as well, mend the two communities more. No more ‘Latin Music’ & ‘American Music’ just music.

 

4. You are an NYC artist but have your Venezuelan roots. We’ve been experiencing more and more the growth of Latin artists worldwide. How do you see this growth and the achievement of so many talented artists being told?

It’s incredible, when I was growing up there wasn’t a lot of Latin representation in the media. George Lopez show was like the only time I remotely saw myself in characters on TV. I turn into Uncle Vick now & then when I get drunk. Shoutout Gabriel & Margie too, two incredible Venezuelan talents. Gabriel is an incredible photographer, & Margie is an upcoming model. Two Venezuelans living in Venezuela bringing a lot of perspective to my life right now. Currently in Venezuela they are dealing with hunger, violence, dictatorship AND the COVID-19 crisis on top of all that. The failing infrastructure of health care out there is awful, & adding a virus on top of that is just the perfect storm… I didn’t grow up around a lot of Venezuelans, there isn’t a lot of us in North America so having them involved in my Latin project is key. Gabriel shot the cover for my Latin EP & Margie is the model featured on the front, as well as the model featured on what will be the first single called, ‘Mi Jeva’, a Venezuelan slang for my girl. I’m trying to get the mainstream & American media to shine more of a light on the things going on out there. The corrupt government & power hungry little boys running things. America has started to support our music as Latinx people & I’m very grateful for that, now it’s time to take it one step further as well & support our people.

 

5. Do you have any upcoming projects that you would like to share with us?

Hell ya, I have a Latin project called Sabio coming soon. And my EP dropped June 3rd called Pretty Girls Paradise like I mentioned. A few one off singles, a little r&b project called ‘Please Touch Gently’ where  I’m trying to like diss that corny “Toxic Masculinity” shit. Show latin men & other men of colour it’s okay to be like vulnerable. THAT, is what makes you a man. Fighting is easy, being honest with yourself isn’t.

 

Keep up with Sayge @saygenx on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and stream the new EP right here: