A 26 year old singer/songwriter from a small town in Alabama with a lot of heart. In order to deal with life’s struggles as a child, she would sit and listen to her favorite songs to “get lost in the music.” This coping mechanism would become a huge part of her life as she got older. Artists like Lauryn Hill, Kelly Price, and Mary J. Bilge became a big part of her obsession and added the touch of ‘flavor’ to her singing style that she is so proud to show off. Soul artists like Erykah Badu, Musiq Soulchild and India.Arie gave her mental and emotional inspiration that would give her the strength she needed to take on any obstacle with resilience, “too much resilience, sometimes”. But the biggest inspiration, the one to finally make her realize that her talent was worthy of recognition would be the death of her grandmother. Her grandmother would always encourage her to sing and dance, she would pretend to be the audience as young Sixteen would perform for & they both loved it so much. When her grandmother passed, she became depressed, but the music obsession was the one thing never changed. It only got stronger. Music was the only thing that made her feel connected to her grandmother.
In high school, Sixteen would take an opportunity to be lead singer for the school’s jazz band for a year, but ultimately decided that particular position was not for her because she wasn’t allowed to be herself. “They wanted me to be comfortable on stage, in a dress… that’s not me.” Eventually this experience would also teach her things about herself and helped her realize what she would consider to be “worth it” versus what isn’t. She would start to branch off and most of her work would be features with fellow peers, but she decided that it would be best to do solo projects more often to showcase her own personal sound. While she doesn’t have any notable features at the moment, she is pushing for them. “Hopefully something with India.Arie or Teezo Touchdown, that would be fire.”
Sixteen Plans to work with artists that not only have a great discography, but a great presence as well. Music to her isn’t about the publicity or the name across the front, but more about the feelings. “The vibe I feel when we’re together will tell me everything I need to know.” To her, music is so much more than just a way to be seen and heard, it’s about evoking emotion. “It’s about being felt more than anything. The way I feel when I hear a song is very important to me. That’s all I look for when I listen to music, I want to bring out those same feelings of anger, sadness and joy that I feel when I listen to my favorite artists.” -Sixteen.
