At zero point in making any of this did it feel like work. Not one second. My brother Justin Garza, the hardest working manager in showbiz who runs LA boutique label Dream Adopters hit me right when the pandemic started and basically changed a few lives.
Justin and I became friends during my time in West Hollywood, shared a shit ton of mutuals, and always found ways to slide each other hookups. DA was really starting to bubble, taking home Grammys for his stables tireless production & writing credits with Blackpink, Beyonce, Eminem and more. Out of all those big credits, there was ONE artist he has that I legit just really wanted to work with. She just fucking did it for me, if I'm honest. I saw what it was, but more importantly what it could be.
The gyal was special.
Her name was Soaky Siren.
About 6 months prior, I watched her video for single, "Dope Boys" and it would NOT leave my goddamn head. Shit was a level 500 bop. Part doo-wop, part island trap and all vibes, I had to work with her. She was the whole package. Justin then went out to tell me she had MASSIVE credits for her production & writing for everyone from Maroon 5 to Jason DeRulo to fucking Big Freeda and I just smiled. Yup. We can make magic.
If anything, that just showed me that her creative brain worked in ways that allowed for segmentation, it understood how to converge culture & how to tell stories thru multi-platforms and voices.
Credit: Billboard Magazine : Zac Poor Photography
I won't bore anyone with the biz bullshit.
But this is where the process began to REALLy drill down on the WHO and the WHY. Soaky is a fucking genius. I just had to craft the world to frame her genius in, balancing vibrant, lush, tropic beauty with this underlying darkwave, dusky & almost oddly gritty pop art take on Bahamian tourism.
Soaky is my sister. She legit talks me out of dumb ass decisions a coast a way. Justin means more to me than I think I can ever express. This is the first time any one has ever seen this shit outside of the three of us. It's just the process. I'll drop the influences behind all of this in an upcoming journal entry.
