Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonya Teclai
Hi Sonya, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Washington D.C. and raised in PG until my mom moved us to California (Sac). My parents, my grandparents, and my cousins had a huge impact on me musically. My parents immigrated to DC from Eritrea when my mom was a teenager and my dad was in his 20s. Growing up we had Eritrean/Ethiopian music, soul/Motown, and r&b like Brandy, TLC, and Aaliyah playing in the house. Naturally, I fell in love with music and sang so much as a kid my family says they couldn’t get me to shut up. I ended up joining choir when I was little and stuck with it until I was 18. I was also in a singing group based out of Oakland all through high school. We would write songs, record and perform. The bay area and the DMV were huge influences on me musically.
All of these experiences were stepping stones to get me to where I am today as an artist. I released a couple of projects with my fiancé in 2011 and 2013 and we were mentored by Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest for several years before he passed – God rest his soul. In 2015, I broke out with my solo EP, Heatwave. Since then I’ve been working on a ton of new music, which I’m gearing up to release very soon. I’m also 1/3 of the band SEND FLOWERS with my fiancé Greg Alexander and our friend and collaborator Jason Podkulski. We’ve dropped two singles – Jay’s Daze and Sweet Talk – with more to come.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I wish haha. Having been an independent artist throughout my career it’s been a lot of trial and error. I’m grateful to my friends in the industry who I learned a lot of the game from and anyone who’s had a hand in my career thus far.
As an independent artist, you’re responsible for living expenses, studio expenses, honing your craft/gifts, marketing, etc. It’s not easy. You’ve got to know how to pivot. I didn’t come from money so I had to figure it out. That’s all separate from the politics of it all, which is a whole other beast. Contrary to that though, I think if it was a smooth and easy road I would’ve probably gotten mixed up in some shit. It was the struggles that kept me grounded along the way for sure. You’ve just got to love it enough and believe in yourself enough to push through.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a singer, rapper, songwriter and author. I’ve been making music professionally for over 10 years, and I’m most known for my Heatwave EP. I’m also most proud of it. At the time (2015), I was really looking to create a project that I would love when I was a kid. I grew up on Janet Jackson, TLC, Mariah, Aaliyah and Brandy to name a few and my sound felt a lot like a mashup of all of my influences without sounding like anyone else. That was my goal – to keep it true to me and who I was. With my new music, I feel like I’ve elevated that sound and really set my stamp on it. I haven’t rolled anything out yet, but once I do I’m excited for everyone else to hear it.
I think what sets me apart is my story/viewpoint, all of my musical influences, all of the places I’m from and being able to really rap and sing. My favorite thing to do is play a record and see that kind of look of confusion when someone’s trying to figure out if it’s me doing both.
I’m an author as well. I wrote a self-help book of quotes called Notes To Self, published by my The Good Quote family back in February 2021. My fiance and I also started a creative agency – Giant Minds Creative Firm – a couple of months ago. We offer music services for production companies, photography, social marketing and other mixed media/creative services so I’ve been busy with that too.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Being at my grandma’s house during the summer with my sisters/cousins while my mom and aunties went clubbing in DC. The radio station would play audio from the club so we’d stay up all night playing games, listening to music and waiting to see if they were going to get a shoutout (they never did because they were actually at the Eritrean clubs). It was just pure fun.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sonyateclai.com , Giant Minds Creative Firm: www.giantmindscreativefirm.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonyateclai
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SonyaTeclaiMusic/
- Twitter: https://x.com/sonyateclai
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sonyateclai
Image Credits
Greg Alexander and Ogata.
