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It’s been almost 5 years since GoGo Morrow first came to Los Angeles from her hometown of Philly, taking a leap of faith and buying a one-way plane ticket in pursuit of her dreams of becoming a recording artist. Sporting her signature bright blue hair that you can hardly miss, the rising star’s journey is proof that everything is in God’s timing.

GoGo recalls a funchild growing up in Philly, with 4 sisters inside an incredibly musical family. Attributing her old soul to her dad who loved Motown, she went on to study the greats: with Brandy high on the list and the rest following suit (Whitney Houston, Deborah Cox, Monica, Destiny’s Child, Beyonce). To date, GoGo’s sound is a conglomerate of her diverse range of influences, combining gospel, R&B, and classical music into her own.

After touring as a backup singer for Lady Gaga, GoGo decided once and for all that she’d focus on her own solo career as an artist. After a life-changing DM from superproducer Harmony “H Money” Samuels on Twitter, GoGo made the bold decision to migrate to Los Angeles, in hopes of getting in the studio with Samuels. Suddenly, opportunity came knocking, as she was selected to join Kanye West’s Sunday Service choir.

Fast forward to today, GoGo finally unveils her debut single and visual titled “In The Way,” showcasing what she brings to the table as well as her undeniable talents as a singer-songwriter.

Sheen Magazine caught up with Gogo in downtown Los Angeles to discuss how she got her name, her new single and visual “In The Way,” the making of the video, beauty go-to’s, goals, forthcoming EP, and more!

How’d you get your name? Is that your real name?

That’s my real last name, I kept Morrow to pay homage to my father and my family. Because that’s really where I started in music, was hearing him and my uncle sing. Everybody in my family does music, but it hasn’t happened for anybody. Keeping Morrow is a way for me to include everybody. We’re all getting there.

But Gogo started off as a joke. I was watching Kill Bill for the first time like “oh my God, I love this character!” Her name’s GoGo Yubari, she’s a 15 year old assassin. I said “I’m changing my Facebook name to GoGo,” and it caught on. People who didn’t know me in real life started calling me GoGo. When it was time for me to do music, I was trying to think of artist names. And then it hit me, I could just use my Facebook alias! I adapted it because it made so much sense. I relate to that character so much, because people don’t expect me to be as talented as I am.

Really?

Yeah, because when you’re a female R&B artist or you open up for somebody, people will think “oh, here this girl goes. She thinks she’s So and So.” There’s always some comparison attached when starting out as a new artist. Once people finally discover me, they’re like “wait, I really like her. I didn’t know she was going to be like this.” I relate that to how GoGo was in the movie where I didn’t know she was that deadly, or that she was the scariest character in the movie. I correlate those two things together.

I know you made “In The Way” 4 years ago, did a certain someone inspire the record?

Yeah, we’re still friends. He jokes all the time like “oh, you wrote that about me.” I don’t think you want to be identified sir. [laughs] But we’re still really cool.

What was the inspiration behind the music video?

I just love film. I love music videos. We actually shot another video for it. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t of a standard to meet the quality of the song. When it was time to start thinking about treatments again, I was like, okay, how does this song make me feel? It’s not even really so much of a performance video in my head, as it is telling the story. The song is very self-explanatory, we just need to show the story in a beautiful way.

I started looking for references. Who has music videos that are like short films ? One of the first I came across was RIhanna “We Found Love.” One of my favorite videos, I love how organic it feels. I told that to the director, he put his own spin on it and together we came up with what a short film would be for my particular story. Shout out to Sebastian Sdaigui, we lost him a couple of months ago.

Oh wow, what happened?

I’m not even really sure, he was so young. He shot 3 of my videos actually. He’s amazing and his ideas were amazing. We came up with all the concepts together. When it was time to think, “well, who would play my counterpart for In The Way?” I was naming all these celebrities, and they’re like “GoGo, you don’t have the budget for that.” [laughs] Alright, I’m getting ahead of myself. Heard you.

He then said “send me references of somebody that you think you want him to look like.” I sent him a couple of people, I sent my friend Gianni Lee over. He said “what’s up with him?” Well, I actually know him. He’s like “you know him?!” The thing is, Gianni’s from Philly. I wanted at least one of my videos to pay homage to my hometown. Because we’re not shooting there, we’re shooting right here. How can I connect to Philly? Gianni would be perfect because he’s from back home. He’s one of my favorites artists, and he does everything. He’s a painter, a DJ, a producer, a designer. He’s so well-versed, he’d be perfect. I didn’t necessarily know him to act, but I know Gianni. He’s going to pull it off.

I hit him up like “I need you to be my boyfriend.” He’s like “what are you talking about?” I said “for my video, I really want you to be in the video.” I sent him the treatment, sent him the song. He said “hell yeah I’m down. I was really happy because he’s literally my friend. Also, I didn’t know until I got on set how intimate it had to be with whoever it was, so I was happy it was someone I already knew. It just made it easier to get comfortable and in character faster. I would’ve figured it out anyway, but it made the process more fun. We laughed between takes. It was cool. I’m really happy we did it.

Have you always had blue hair?

I’ve had blue hair for literally six years, but I like to tell people I was born with it. [laughs]

I feel like it’s your trademark.

It is. I’m not going to have it forever, but it is my trademark for now . [laughs] definitely.

What are your beauty go-to’s?

I’m really not a girly girl like that, to be honest with you. I’m really a simple girl when it comes to makeup. When I do my own makeup, I usually have on strip lashes, blush, some highlighter to make me look glowy, and a fenty lipgloss. I want to look like I just stepped off the beach at all times. Those are my staple things.

3 things you need in the studio at all times?

A blanket because I’m always cold. A notebook because I’m old school and like to write my lyrics down. And just good vibes. I like to laugh. I don’t like serious sessions, I want to have fun while we’re creating.

What can we expect from your upcoming EP?

Man, I’m so excited for you guys to hear the EP. “In The Way” isn’t even my favorite song on the project. My style’s very conversational in general so It’s going to be more relatable subjects. Alot of things that people have been through, but maybe from a different perspective. You’re going to get conversational type songs, but you are also going to get high energy. That’s one thing me and Harmony did deliberately. R&B is very mid right now and a lot of people aren’t dancing. But my EP has a lot of records you can dance to. It’s a good time.

Is there a name yet?

Yeah, but I’m not going to say yet. [laughs]

Any goals for yourself at this point of your career?

I have so many goals, but my goals for this next year are pretty simple. I want to be an opener on a major tour, and have my music perform well. So well that I get considered for all types of awards.