You better make time for Mary Sho {@marysho} – The London songstress empowering black women through her music

Mary Sho is the London songstress you need to know about! Her mesmerizing visuals and smooth voice come together to create a powerful and confident aesthetic you cannot ignore. Ahead of the release of her ‘No Time’ music video we sat down with Mary to talk about her inspirations, her motivations, and her upcoming album.

Your new single ‘No Time’ just came out! What’s it all about?

Yes! No Time is a mix of trap bounce and funk soul. It’s a track in which I used the music to convey the different emotions I went through when writing it. It’s about being at a different stage of your life in comparison to your friends. I’m here trying to get my Album mastered and conceptualise my music videos and my friends are talking about mortgages and baby number 2. Don’t get me wrong that’s beautiful, but at a point, I didn’t have the time to be with them. I was compromising myself to fit in. Sometimes you need to break away in order to focus on you and your dreams. That’s the hard part because sometimes your friends won’t understand your vision but I realised that’s ok-  the love is still there.

Your recent singles such as ‘Ova’ and ‘Black Girl’ have really empowering messages. Is this something you hope to do through your music and why?

Empowering people is what I live for. More specifically women because I am one! I’ve been through the struggles of not being seen, being judged before you enter the room, having to work 10 times harder – especially as a black woman, being overly sexualised. I could go on but what I’m saying is that the power and confidence I know I possess enables me to push through and own who I am and that will naturally come through my music which I hope empowers the listener.

Go into a bit more depth about your song Black girl – what were the lyrics inspired by?

True story, I had tonsillitis when I wrote this, in fact, the chorus vocals are from the demo recording I did when I was ill but I kept them in because they sounded unpolished and I liked that. When I was ill I felt so useless, I get uneasy if I’m not being productive so I said let me write something to empower me. The song talks about Black women needing to own their beauty that without us there would be no beauty, that we are trendsetters. I wrote it as if I was talking to my younger self. That it’s ok to be over the top, bold and confident, don’t dull yourself even if it makes others uncomfortable.

All your music and visuals have a really distinctive style – what would you describe your sound as and how did you develop it?

I listen to a lot of music from soul to indie rock to hip-hop to musical theatre. I guess I take a little from each, mix it all together and whala! Best way to describe it is alternative. It has developed over the years and I feel it’s becoming more soulful. I alter how I sing sometimes depending on how the music makes me feel. In terms of visuals, I’m inspired by Quentin Tarantino movies, black exploitation films of the 70’s era. I love the colour grade the fonts used, their styling – I love it all. It may change with my next project but for now, I’m obsessed.

What can we expect from you this upcoming year – do you have a body of work coming out, any live performances, what do you want to achieve?

I will be gigging this year so just rehearsing with my new band, exciting times. I would love to have a mini-tour this Autumn. Album will be out in May, so excited! Lots more content and an exclusive listening party before I drop the Album.

Describe your upcoming album in three words!

Healing, Empowering, Eargasm

Let people know where they can find you online.

Instagram: @marysho Twitter: @mary_sho_ Website: www.marysho.com

Photographed by: Shenell Kennedy Makeup by: Jacinta Andolini