INTERVIEW: SoMo talks about being driven by womens sensuality, wanting to collab with Ginuwine or Musiq and of course his love for Cleveland Ohio
SoMo is a very talented singer/songwriter from Texas who was discovered on Youtube. He used Youtube as a platform to release not only original music but popular song covers of such artists as Ginuwine, Miley Cyrus, Boyz II Men, Chris Brown, Usher, Mario, Drake, etc. which garnered millions of views. He later signed with Republic Records and in the process has released 2 studio albums (the latest one entitled The Answers which dropped in March 2017) and several mixtapes. His hottest song to date is Ride which has gone 2x Platinum and has just under 22 million views on Youtube. We had the pleasure of sitting down with this cutie and talking 1 on 1 about all things music, life and sensuality.
From the OH: Your debut album, SoMo released in 2014 and you've just recently dropped your sophomore album, The Answers. How has your music evolved from SoMo to now?
SoMo: So when I first started, I was just trying to showcase myself as a writer with my first mixtape [My Life]. I came out as SoMo, everybody just took to it and it became something bigger than I ever could have imagined and I went on to make my debut album, SoMo and I really connected with my roots. I really dove in with one producer and made songs I really believed in. I only wrote the songs for the album that were on the album and that was it. Now I've just grown to be more experimental with my production styles. My songwriting has grown tremendously, my speed has grown tremendously. It's a lot easier to do stuff now when you've learned all of the different processes. It's really just how everyone else works so at this point I'm excited to see where I'm going to go because I'm just getting started.
From the OH: What was your motivation behind The Answers?
SoMo: The Answers is something I feel like we're all searching for as human beings. Some of us are doctors, some of us are moms, some of us are teachers and we all do our own thing. I'm an r&b singer and my life is driven by womens sensuality and that's what I'm about. So that's what my album is, me opening up a little more with my sensual side but also my lover side. I believe in romance and all of that. I know I come off like a pretty boy but I was raised by a woman and I was brought up to believe in that and so I do and I write about it.
From the OH: Well, I think the line that's wrapped around the House of Blues shows that *laughs*
SoMo: *laughs* Cleveland turns up! I love Cleveland, I love this place.
From the OH: Yeah, I seen you give Cleveland a lot of love on your IG.
SoMo: For one, this venue is amazing (House of Blues) cause there's just stuff all around; Buffalo Wild Wings is my favorite place but other than that it's just every time I come, ya'll show love. You can go to a bigger city like New York and it's great but no one ever yells like "Cleveland is gonna be like one of your best shows on this run" and it ends up being the best show. I love Cleveland!
From the OH: Well, Cleveland loves you right back.
From the OH: I've noticed that with your studio albums you tend to stay away from features. Is there a reason why?
SoMo: I mean, no. I feel like I'm open to working with people I'm just very particular. I write my stuff and a lot of times collaborations happen through just being around people. I stay in Texas and everyone else is in L.A. or in Atlanta and a lot of times I do my work on my own back home so I don't necessarily always end up in the rooms with people. I'm an outgoing guy but I'm also an introvert and when I go home, I'm home so I'm not necessarily always out on the scene with everybody else.
From the OH: But I think that works for you though.
SoMo: It does.. it's me. I'm not trying to force anything and I think all of the other artists in our genre respect what I'm doing in my lane.
From the OH: On tour, what is your favorite song to perform?
SoMo: Hmm what is my favorite song to perform right now? That's a good question. Uh, I'm going to say... Ride is always the one that's like ... [screams]. Everyone knows it and they all put their phones up. I know for sure I'm not going to mess up just cause .. I can't mess up because their singing along with me. I really love performing piano ballads and lately my song Just A Man is a really personal song for me and I really sat down and wrote out my feelings. To be an artist on stage sometimes doing the same songs, every night, it can get repetitious but a song like that can really bring you to it .. and like the real emotions that I felt when i was writing it. It's nice to have a song like that to let my feelings come out and really connect with the people.
From the OH: If you could go back in time, who are some artists you would collab. and/or tour with?
SoMO: Oooohhh that's a good question, I like that. Man, I would probably, definitely be trying to be on the road with Ginuwine and probably Boyz II Men.
From the OH: Ok, so Ride and Pony.. I can see both of those going together. *laughs*
SoMo: Man, it just works. I mean Ginuwine actually shouted me out one time on twitter cause I covered Pony and he said it was one of his favorite versions that he heard. So you know I gotta give it up for Ginuwine, Craig David, those guys. I mean he's still doing his thing though so you never know. We could probably do a show together, I see that.
From the OH: What's the craziest thing that has happened on tour?
SoMo: *cracks up laughing* See, I always have the best stories and then I get asked this and I'm like.. wait? The craziest thing? There was a good story I had the other day. *turns towards his tour manager* wasn't i talking to you about it?
Tour manager: I mean I wasn't there for it but how about when you literally busted your knee during a show.
SoMo: Oh yeah. Ok, So I'm a former football player and I believe in fighting through the pain and giving people their moneys worth. I get injured a lot, one time I had a broken jaw (that was the first tour) and then this one tour was the Wide Awake tour and I'm pretty positive we were in Arizona and we had staging that was built up.. I had stairs I walked up and I crashed through the back with my knee. I guess I got a contusion and it blew up like this big [forms his hands to resemble the size of a grapefruit] and I performed the rest of the show cause it was only 3 songs in.
From the OH: Standing?
SoMo: Yeah, it was adrenaline I guess but yeah that was pretty crazy. I mean I have some crazy stories. I've toured so long that I should probably write a book.
From the OH: Who are some of your musical inspirations?
SoMo: Growing up, obviously the 90s r&b; since it's you can tell in my music that I was influenced by that. I was also influenced by country music, living in Texas so I feel like when I get in my storytelling mode you can kind of hear that. I really like Musiq Soulchild, he's like my number one vocal influence and who I basically sang along with my entire high school life.
From the OH: So we need to see a team up with you and Musiq. That would be awesome.
SoMo: Hey man, I actually talked to him on the phone and it was a dream come true. I was like wow, I'm talking to Musiq Soulchild! We were talking about doing a song but um, I actually gotta hit up the producer and see about that.
From the OH: What's in store for you next?
SoMo: What's in store? I plan on dropping atleast 10 albums. That's my goal in life. Just someone who has big dreams and big goals, I think longevity can create legendary things so that's my goal. To create, create, create and just keep creating the same thing that I've been doing and open up my heart and hopefully people can vibe with me and grow.