ON THE RISE
“Beautiful” starts off soft and acoustic with the word “beautiful” chiming through the guitar. After a few seconds, quiet drums bring Sydney B in for her debut release.
Here’s my reflection, there’s no imperfection
Enough to make these bad boys cry
Then bass drums kick in on a powerful, insistent, continuous beat and Sydney launches into her pop anthem to life lived confidently, hopefully. She is 17 but her voice is as mature and confident as if she were 27 with a decade of experience.
“I want to remind myself and other people that insecurities can make you stronger. You’re beautiful in your specific way, or maybe in a bunch of different ways, and it’s important to remember that you have good inside you,” she said.
“I wrote ‘Beautiful’ because of some personal struggles that I was going through,” she continued, “and still am, and still learning from, being very insecure about certain things, having a lot of anxiety about what was in front of me, what was in the future. That song is a good reminder to me of who I am and what my message is.”
The concepts of “positivity” and “hope” are important to her, both in her life and in her music.
“Those are two of my main goals, to spread positivity and hope.”
But “Beautiful” is more than message. It has everything you want in a song — fine music, a beautiful voice with power throughout a wide range from low to high. The bass drums are prominent, inspiring, matching the message.
She and her producer wrote the song. He works with a variety of beats, combines different sounds and genres, and Sydney loves that. They work together to create the finished sound of her songs.
“Afterward, we add a lot of harmonies in the background, not necessarily me singing words but sounds that add to the beat.”
The video story expands the reach of “Beautiful.” The conceit an audition, with women in a wide variety of body types, colors, styles and ages auditioning for a song. The final scenes feature each of them standing on the stage singing lines from “Beautiful.”
“I love that part, too,” she said. “It showed what I wanted to express.”
Sydney has been singing since she was 9 and started creating her own music at 14. She is a junior in high school this year and has her sights on a career in music.
“I would love to take it anywhere. If I could do stuff for movies or TV shows, I would love to do that. If it’s just me performing, I would love that.” The things she would love to do include commercials or musical theater.
“Just anything in the performance world that I can get my music into,” she said.
“Beautiful” is created out of her own teen life and speaks especially to women, but she does not limit her desired audience to teens, women or young people. The music and the message of “Beautiful” are good for anyone to hear at any age, and that holds for the rest of her music.
“I don’t want to focus my brand and what I stand for to just one group. I want to spread it to as many people as I can,” she said.
Her musical tastes vary widely. She likes Meghan Trainor because “she takes a lot of sounds from the ’80s and modernizes them, and I really like that, and I also like how positive all of her music is.”
Ed Sheeran is another favorite, and she goes on to list pop, country, and, of course, musical theater.
“I have not incorporated any of that to any of my music yet,” she said, “but I would really like to at some point.”
She has not performed live, but she will play six songs for a focus group at the beginning March, and at a listening party at the end of March, she will play two. Also on her calendar is a tour to perform at Atlanta schools.
The songs she will soon put out, she said, will display different beats, messages and music.
“I like them a lot because they show the diversity within my music.”
Connect to Sydney B on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts, and hear and watch her grow.
Katherine Li recently released her debut EP Crush(ed). Self-proclaimed sad girl, Katherine Li takes listeners through the shattering experience of a “crush that stayed a crush.” From the first encounter to the last stage of acceptance, the EP explores polarizing sounds to either “sob uncontrollably to, or have a dance party to.” Being a bit of a Tik Tok sensation, Li turned to her digital community of hopeless romantics during the creation of Crush(ed). Her followers not only heard the original snippets of songs which would turn into the EP, but also helped her decide which tracks were best to tell the story of Crush(ed). Read more about Katherine Li and Crush(ed) below!
Can you tell us what your debut EP Crush(ed) is about? Are you telling a story through the EP?
Katherine: “Crush(ed) takes listeners on a journey of unrequited love. The crush that stayed a crush. The EP outlines the 5 stages of having a crush: 1.) The Encounter 2.) Realization 3.) Denial 4.) Hate 5.) Acceptance. In other words, my love life [laughs].”
What’s the meaning behind the EP title, Crush(ed)?
Katherine: “The EP title is suggesting the ‘double-meaning’ behind having a crush. A crush can be seen as exciting, fun, but more often than not (in least in my experiences), you learn that it’s called a ‘crush’ because you get crushed by them.”
What was the creative process behind the EP?
Katherine: “This EP consists of the very first songs I’ve ever made, so finding ‘my sound’ was a huge part of the creative process. I was lucky enough to work with (the very very very talented) Joe Avio, who produced all the songs on Crush(ed). I feel like him and I were on the same wavelength while making these songs [laughs], I think they all turned out amazing and I’m in love with every single track.”
How would you describe your sound? Since this is your debut EP, how important was it for you to develop a sound that represented who you are as an artist?
Katherine: “My sound definitely lives in the ‘sad girl’ space, BUT it’s also spiced up a bit with very cool instrumentals and other elements (thanks Joe!!!). I think most of my songs are ones that you can either sob uncontrollably to, or have a dance party to [laughs]. With Crush(ed) being my debut EP, it was super important for me to find the perfect sound. After the process of finding the sonic space of my first single, ‘We Didn’t Even Date,’ the sound for the rest of the EP quickly followed!”
The EP takes listeners through the stages of having a crush. Was there a specific stage in this journey which was most difficult to articulate? One which was the easiest?
Katherine: “The most difficult stage to articulate was ‘Hate.’ For me, the ‘Hate’ stage of a crush happens very quick, so I had to dig up ALL the negativity I had in me and spill it into three minutes worth of song. The easiest stage to write about was ‘Realization.’ This is when you realize you never had a chance with your crush. Most of my time is spent in this stage so there’s A LOT for me to talk about, maybe even an ENTIRE EP’s worth of songs…”
Is there a song off Crush(ed) you are most proud of? One that was the most challenging to create? One that was the most fun to create?
Katherine: “I’m proud of the entire EP, I don’t think I could choose just one song! Every track means so much to me. The most challenging song to create was ‘I Don’t Care,’ more specifically writing it. It was a bit more difficult for me to write openly about how I felt about watching everyone around me fall in love. The most fun song to create was ‘Happening Again.’ This was the first track that Joe and I made together in the same room! I loved watching the whole song come together piece-by-piece, it makes the final product super interesting to listen to.”
How have you grown as an artist through the release of Crush(ed)?
Katherine: “I always thought that the songs I wrote would mainly be slow piano ballads, but the release of Crush(ed) has pushed me outside the usual ‘sad girl Katherine’ comfort zone. There are some tracks that are more on the upbeat vibe which is different from the sound I usually fall back on. But I’ve fallen in love with trying new things and I’ve been keeping that in my back pocket for the new songs that I make!”
What role did TikTok play in the creation and release of Crush(ed)? Did any of the EP tracks originate as a simple TikTok video?
Katherine: “TikTok played a huge role in the creation and release of Crush(ed). I’m quite the indecisive person [laughs], so I turned to TikTok to figure out which songs would make the EP. Four of the six songs from Crush(ed) started out as short clips from TikTok videos. It’s crazy how 15-second snippets of songs can eventually turn into a fully produced project!”
What are you most proud of upon the release of Crush(ed)?
Katherine: “I’m most proud and thankful to have started to build a little community of fellow people going through unrequited love, and get heartbroken over crushes. It’s been surreal and comforting reading messages from everyone who can relate to the songs on Crush(ed) and going through the same thing as me. HOPELESS ROMANTICS UNITE!!”
