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Sej is multitalented singer and songwriter. The Trinidadian beauty whose style is amazing and her music which blends pop, dancehall, Afrobeats and R&B to create such a dope sound is someone to be on the lookout for in the new year. She recently sat down with Sheen Magazine to talk about her musical journey, creative process, newest single and more.

Your voice is amazing!! What first got you into music?

My mom was actually in a band when she was younger with a few of her  girlfriends. Even growing up, I always loved singing. I would always perform in the choir, I sang around the house growing up and I would sing parang and songs in school. Any way to be just singing and it would be an extracurricular activity that I always enjoyed doing. It was the thing that made me feel the most alive doing and also the most nervous at the same time. I was so passionate about singing and from doing that, I realized this was something that I really care about and something that I really wanted to pursue.

You have worked an incredible icons like Ne-Yo and Trinidadian music icon Machel Montano. Tell us about that experience.

The experience has been so amazing!! I feel so grateful. I was lucky to work with Machel during Covid. Money was tight so I took a modeling gig for one of his music video shoots. While I was there, I was telling him that I really wanted to pursue music. He was like, “Oh really?! Send me some of stuff and I will let you know what I think”. I wanted feedback and I was kind of surprised. He listened to my stuff, Machel called me a week or two later and he was like, “Wow you have so much potential, you need to leave Trinidad, hone your craft, you have potential to be bigger and reach a greater audience. That was really a blessing. I had a chance to see him last year when I went to a carnival in Mexico. He was like, “we finally got chance to catch up”. Since that time during Covid, I have not spoken to him since. So I caught up with him and he was like, “Oh my gosh, we have to perform this song together”. So he put me onstage in front of three thousand people on a beach in Mexico and we perform an acoustic version of his song and that was really fun. Then Ne-Yo I had the pleasure when I signed with Compound Entertainment, I had to literally write a verse to a song that he did    in a day, I performed it and they loved it!! It was surreal. Since then, he has been in writing sessions with me, giving me his feedback and it just feels so good to have someone who has so much experience and knowledge believing in me and wanting to help me.

What is your creative process like?

Me personally, like to start with finding a beat,I always like to find a beat that is different. Something that draws my attention. So I will first find a beat and from listening to the beat, I can tell already  and see an image of what exactly I want to write about in my mind. From there, I will start coming up with melodies, different melodies. After I pick the melodies that like, I would then find the lyrics that I want to use accordingly. So that’s usually how it goes. Sometimes, if your singing melodies and a word sticks out to you and you really like it, sometimes you will based the song off of that word as well.

You recently dropped a video for your latest single “2 Shots” which is a hot record. What was it like recording the song and shooting the video?

The video is more like a visualizer. Just doing the clips and content was a lot of fun. I never had to show expressions on camera. Like, “oh this looks good on my face or I look kind of funny when I do that”. So it was such a fun experience to go through that and see what reads on camera and what doesn’t. I just love to learn and grow. That whole process was just really fun. Every time I recorded I just wanted to get better and better. It was really fun for me minus the blazing heat in Florida, it was really  fun.

You are absolutely stunning!! Tell us about your beauty regimen.

I am now try trying to get into the skincare. I do the basic stuff. A touch of face wash, toner, retinol or whatever retinol may I have available at that time. For makeup, I love using NARS, their foundations are really good. Hourglass I love their concealers. Rare Beauty has the best bronzer, it melts like butter on your skin. Those are like my essentials. I love Juvia’s Place blush. Most important black businesses have great products as well. These are products that I would use for a simpler day routine.

What is the best advice you’ve been given?

It is important to be in the moment and enjoy your small wins because when your wins are so huge, then you will be desensitize and you’re just going to be searching for more. So just in enjoy your small wins and enjoy your journey would be some good advice that I received.

What can we look forward to from you in 2025? Any special projects in the works?

2025 your going to be getting a lot of music. Y’all going to be sick of seeing me. It’s going to be nonstop. I have a lot of singles that I am getting ready to put out!!

How can our readers keep up with you?

They can definitely check me out on all streaming platforms and all social media platforms. My Instagram is @sej__official, TikTok: sejofficial, Twitter is @sej__official. You can definitely check there for all the teasers. I am going to start sharing teasers very soon and snippets very soon.

 

Photo Credit: Junior Marques