Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Sonny Apollo of DTLA

We recently had the chance to connect with Sonny Apollo and have shared our conversation below.

Sonny, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
The first 90 minutes of my day starts with me drinking a glass of water and brushing my teeth. Then, I get dressed in my workout gear. Then, I go do a workout somewhere… maybe indoor at home, maybe at the park, maybe at a gym, or maybe at a training facility for a class.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Sonny Apollo.

I am a performing artist, songwriting, producing, acting, dancing, citizen of the world!

My business is humanity! My business is equality! My business is providing ear candy and safe spaces, sometimes at the same time! My business is my mission statement: to make others feel the way I felt when I first heard Stevie Wonder at age 9. I primarily execute my mission through music, but I have also done it through songwriting (for and with others), through music production (for and with others), through nightlife production, through dance, through acting, through health and wellness, through existing.

I am most proud to still be here on planet earth producing work and being involved in work that I am passionate and enthusiastic about… and to live a life that I am passionate and enthusiastic about.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I’m unsure because I was marching to the beat of my own drum! ha.

No, but seriously, before the world tried to tell me who I had to be I was an independent, curious, and enthusiastic black boy. I was always off doing my own thing. Sometimes I would hang out with friends, cousins, or randoms who were into what I was into whenever and wherever we met. I am fortunate that I can look back and reflect on my early life and see a consistency of me being “me” throughout. I’m still me at my core now, just more evolved now. I have always been a black child enjoying and experiencing the world with curiosity and enthusiasm. I have always been a queer black child enjoying the world.

Deeper reflection would show to me that I was supposed to learn how I was supposed to behave as a black male in the American world…across the global material plane. I learned through tv, I learned through social interactions, and I learned through mentorship from black individuals within my family, within my [black] church family, and through black mentors that were more firm with me as a form of protection during elementary school. I am not sure if I have followed the direction yet of who America said I have to be a as black individual, lbvs. I had so much protection around me, a village around me, that it’s hard for me now to say that I had to show up as anyone else than myself. Sure, there may have been comments at different times of my life; but I can review those instances as being riddled with protection, not critique. I would say the same as a queer black child. I wasn’t so much told by the world how I was supposed to be as a black queer child, so much as how I was supposed to not be as a black child who is queer, and as a queer child who is black, and as a black queer child who is cisgender male. There wasn’t anyone I could learn from or pull from or share notes with except those I saw on tv… and even then, there weren’t black queer men that I can recall on tv that I accessed. I am fortunate that the individuals I did cling to helped me to learn me and be me: Lady Gaga, Prince, David Bowie, Mariah Carey (and more…). My queerness was not an open secret (as it was never a secret, well…to me at least, ha). Everyone around me protected me and allowed me to navigate both my queerness and my being a black male who is queer identifying – I should also say they didn’t have much of a choice either, haha. I wasn’t so much defiant as a growing individual as much as I had a strong sense of self, a sense of adaptive self.. without having the language for it.. again, curiosity carried me. Imagine, small town boy, a small town that has a black enclave within it … in this small town. Within this small town, the center for blackness is the church. How can I possibly learn how to both navigate what the world teaches me about self as a black child, and as a queer child, and as a black queer child? Tall feat! Luckily, I was able to learn how to navigate being a black male in this world… I had to learn on my own how to navigate the intersection of my blackness and my queerness. There wasn’t a guide, a “how to black”, or “how to queer” book… but there also wasn’t imminent physical danger either (maybe projections, but not physical danger). Yay me!

Maybe it’s a combination of the protection and the ignorance that was around me growing up, and my own curiosity, that I didn’t really notice what the world told me I had to be… I am not sure I would have noticed or listened anyway, ha (!!!). My curiosity and my desire to be has superseded any outside influences. Then and now.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
There are MANY kind things I would say to my younger self!

I would say, “hello” First.
I would then ask “how are you?” next?
ha.
I would then say “I love you. Unconditionally.” I would then say “I think you are beautiful.” I would then say “you have a curiosity that is ahead of your age.” I would say that “you might be from a timeline, haha.” I would then say “keep your curiosity. keep your outspoken nature. Both might be weaponized against you as you go along, but trust that these will not me anything in the short term, and will be highly beneficial in the long term.” I would say “do not think too long about too much, but do think! You have a brilliant mind and many know and can see that… think, read, think… but don’t think too long!” I would say “a lot of the people around you are growing up with you and experiencing things for the first time, you are the trial (and luckily you won’t be the error! You will make it relatively easy.. your teenage years will be average but maybe intense for those who were used to a quieter you before teenage years. It’s all expression).” I 
would say “you are not odd or weird. You are different, but variety is the spice of life! As you go along your journey you will actually find that not only is it your differences that make you who you are, but also, you have more in common with those who you seem different from… give it time.” I would say that “you’re going to listen to A LOT of music. Enjoy it.” I would say “there are going to be key people along the way that are going to pour into you. listen.” I would say “keep your curiosity and your sense of wonder and wander; you’ll eventually be both liberated by it and paid for it. You will not have to be discovered living out of a car as you communicated once.” I would say “your black skin is so beautiful. it truly is the earth. it is foundational. you will not need to do anything to change anything about your appearance… you might play with your hair at some points, but that’s your curiosity, not your self concept. Promise.” I would say “there is going to come a time where your curiosity will have you questioning if the connection you and that boy in your class is normal. You will see that it is.. don’t worry. You are ok.”

There is a lot I would say to my younger self, and that I have said, but this comes to mind instantly for this interview.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
A cross between my artistry and myself. Both are ongoing projects.

I believe art is not complete until it’s complete. I don’t have hard timelines for my artistry. I organically move with my art and with my life. My commitment to myself is rooted in my belief in myself. My commitment to myself is what has allowed me to exist and explore (with curiosity and enthusiasm). I am grateful that my commitment to myself has not alienated or distanced the ability to have long standing relationships with other humans. I tend to myself first and [try not to] pour from an empty cup. I attempt to be met and to meet.

I am woven throughout my artistry. Am I the singer or am I the song? Sometimes it’s a dance!

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
“Those who mind don’t matter. Those who matter don’t mind.”
While I am living and breathing, I do not think about “legacy.” Ask me when I am dead.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/sonnyapollo
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonnyapollox/
• Twitter: https://x.com/sonnyapollo

Image Credits
Toby Shapiro
Adán Ramirez