[FEATURE] VIPER PRESENTS: LAHREL

British Jamaican artist, Lahrel, had her first break in music as the opening act for platinum-selling artist OMI on his worldwide tour, and has since been making a name for herself as a songwriter, working with the likes of Wiz Khalifa and Beyoncé collaborator BEAM. Get familiar…

What five words define your sound?

Eclectic, transparent, thought-provoking, unapologetic and melodic.

Tell me something unique about your creative process.

I tend to freestyle a lot of my songs for myself and even when writing for others, I have a gift where I can hear a beat for the first time and gage where the beat is going and come up with a song or most of the song. Fun fact, what I do in a freestyle it’s very rare I can re-create the same vocal performance!!! So what we do in the studio is have a mic at hand so I can record at any given moment.

Which song of yours would you like people to hear first?

‘Honestly’!!! My unreleased project will be out mid-next year. I’ve never had a chance to share my story, and with this project, there are so many layers to my life I am yet to share. I also think my artistic abilities have not been showcased in previous releases, but I can say my new project will cover my writing, vocal and musical abilities which I am excited for people to hear. I am also looking forward to people hearing my new single ‘Sit Down’ featuring Afro B. Don’t get me wrong the song is a vibe and a part of who I am, But in reality, the best body of work from myself has yet to be released. I’ve just been putting out singles. I come from a writer’s background, I spent many years writing for others and was releasing my own work through singles little by little. I have never released a project so this is all very exciting, I am ready for the world to know who I am and to listen to this body of work and hear my truth.

What inspired you to make that song?

With my new single ‘Sit Down’; and even going back to my unreleased project as mentioned earlier, what inspired this all was reaching a place where I wanted to be unapologetically ME and show the many layers to who I am, you know my singles have been cool and I more was focused on writing good songs, but my EP is really like my coming out party. Things I’m too scared to say, I’m saying. ‘Sit Down’ honestly is the intro to this, and another reason we wanted to kick off the releases with this record. ‘Sit Down’ is very unapologetic and strong! In the phrase “sit down,” in Jamaica we would say sidung, meaning “go sit down somewhere” or “have several seats,” basically an ‘I’m in charge’ kind of vibe! One day I was in the studio writing for Afro B and his project, and we were chatting about life as we usually do. The producer started playing this beat and I remember Afro B made a comment to the effect of, ‘let’s see what she does with this beat’, and my reply was “boy have several seats” and from there, I just freestyled and the magic began.

What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music?

One day I was recording at Plum House Studios in Miami, it was a Monday afternoon and I had been in Miami for weeks, missing my family. I remember saying to them, “today I just wanted to be open and honest about my feelings.” This song was initially called ‘Dear Diary’ then changed to ‘Autobiography’. It was a Monday I will never forget, I drank a glass of wine and cried whilst singing. The song will be the intro to my EP, it touches on many different experiences I’ve endured, growing up as a child to an adult, and it still brings me to tears when I listen to it.

What’s the best/worst experience you’ve had on stage?

My best experience was when I performed as an opening act for OMI in China, it was my first-ever show in front of 5,000 people! I remember nobody knowing who I was, I was so SCARED that I could barely stand up. I’ve never experienced stage fright that intense in my life, but once I got on stage, I just had fun, I even brought people on stage and turned the place out. I will never forget that day as it was my first ever performance.

What is your favourite song to perform?
It has to be ‘Witness’ featuring OMI. ‘Witness’ is such a beautiful ballad and it’s one of the songs that evoke emotion out of you!!! OMI and I would sing all the time and write songs together, so whenever we perform it, it always reminds me of our tour days. Fun Fact: A lot of people have written to me that they have gotten married to my song, so that alone makes it special.

Which artist/song/album made you want to make music?

This is a hard one but I would say Destiny’s Child and Beyoncé’s ‘Dangerously In Love’! ‘Dangerously In Love’ made me just want to take this very seriously, I remember wanting to riff like Beyoncé; the way she wouldn’t just give you a song, but create a whole experience! If the goal was to make you respect her as an artist, the job was always done!! And that is something I’ve always wanted for myself as an artist!

What’s the meaning behind your name?

Another Fun Fact: My mum was in labour with me and was scrolling through a fashion magazine and came across the name Lahrel! Although Laurel, not Lahrel, ended up being my middle name, I decided to make Lahrel my stage name because I think it’s way more fitting, I love fashion also.

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?

If I wasn’t making music, I definitely would have been an executive in the music business providing opportunities for musicians and songwriters.

What’s success to you?

Success to me is paving a way, empowering people through my music, spreading my message and watching it transcend throughout the world and most importantly waking up every day doing what I love. Of course, every strict dream is to play on major stages, be able to develop a strong fan base and of course, collaborate with Beyoncé.

What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction?

I think a pivotal moment was when I was on a world tour with OMI, my experience in music changed. I was so used to being in the studio, I had never seen anything outside of it. Then I got to travel the world, see music from a different perspective and see where music can take you! Watching people from all races, and different countries gravitate to music, and to see how receptive they are to music blew my mind. On the flip side, the strenuous work schedule of the tour and missing family fuelled my depression at the end of the tour! It made me change the way I looked at a lot of things I wanted for myself and made me take care of my mental health.

Where can people keep in touch with you?

You can find me across all social media platforms @lahrelmusic.