Luísa Sonza has been building a career in the entertainment industry since she was seven years old. Now, at 23, the Tuparendi native wants to expand her talent beyond Brazil.
The singer-songwriter, daughter of a rancher, and a schoolteacher began singing at a Gaucho folklore community center in her hometown, a municipality the Rio Grande do Sul. For ten years, she worked as a child singer alongside music group Sol Maior, giving her a taste of what it means to sing for an audience.
To continue doing what she loves the most, in 2014, she started using YouTube as her virtual stage and began covering songs and publishing them in her channel. Not knowing the impact she would have, Luísa started noticing that her online visibility started to grow until becoming the Brazilian “Queen of Covers.”
In May 2017, Sonza started to pick the fruits from the seeds she planted and signed with Universal Music. Her first single, “Good Vibes,” became a hit, and in July of the same year, she released her second single, “Olhos Castanhos” (Brown Eyes).
Committed to continuing working tirelessly, the singer released her first, self-titled EP, and the following year, the music video of her song “Rebolar” (Twerking) peaked at number on YouTube. Sonza continued releasing music and surprised fans with her first album, Pandora. Now, her second studio album Doce 22 is making headlines, and here at HOLA! USA , we wanted to be part of the celebration and shed light on Luísa’s fantastic career.
You started your musical career as a child singer. Were you aware that singing could be your profession, or you saw it as a hobby?
When you‘re a child, you don’t know the difference between a hobby and your dream. So I feel that it’s a mix of both. And even now, it’s both, because I have fun singing, and at the same time it is my job, but it’s also my dream. I need to have a schedule and work, but it makes me really happy.
Years later, Brazilians baptized you as the ‘Queen of Covers.‘ Fast forward now; other aspiring singers cover and dance to your songs. What do you make out of all of that?
I’m very happy. It’s just incredible to see my job being recognized like that. I’ve been in their place. And it’s great to know that I influenced them, and I make them believe that they can get to these places that can seem to be unachievable. But it is possible to get there. It is rewarding to know that somehow I am influencing people to make their dreams come true, in the same way, that my dreams come true.
In May 2017, you released your first single, Good Vibes, and now you just released “Doce 22”. Your second studio album. When you look back at your accomplishments, what comes to your mind?
It is gratifying, but I also have to say that it took a lot of hard work. I devoted my life to this. To work into my dream. And I was always walking in a straight line; I never deviated from when I was seven. I started my solo career in 2017, but my career began when I was seven years old. I believe that this exponential growth is thanks to all that hard work behind the camera. They only knew me in 2017, but I feel that my work had been going on for all this time. And to reach these places in a short period is surreal if I’m honest.
Tell us about “Doce 22” and the inspiration behind it.
The inspiration was my life and the things that I‘ve experienced during this time. It’s related to my 22nd birthday and that 22nd year of my life, which was not that sweet. Women in music are victims of sexism in Brazil. Brazil is a very sexist country. And, I was attacked by many people, just by the fact that I’m a woman because I sing funk music. After all, I think apart because I show my body. People want to know everything about my personal life in Brazil. And after all the intense attacks, I turned it all into music, I turned it all into my art, and I was able to change my pain into work and music.
Fighting toxic masculinity and promoting women’s empowerment is part of you. Why is it so important?
I believe it is something very natural for me. I always wanted to find my place as a woman, and I never thought that I was better or worse than anyone. So the feminine awareness and feminism just came to me very naturally. It wasn‘t something that I thought about, and I said, ‘Yes, let me start talking about it.’ This is who I am; I am a woman that wants gender equality. I am a woman that wants other women to know that they are amazing.
Spanish-speaking countries adopted Anitta. Would you like to crossover and release music in Spanish?
Anitta is one of my great friends, and I love her and she was one of my inspirations. I‘m very happy that Hispanics adopted her. I intend to record in Spanish, but first, I wanted to put my feet on the ground and have an album entirely in Portuguese. But there are some featurings in the talks with Mariah Angeliq. She is a wonderful artist that I really admire. In 2022 I’m starting to sing in Spanish, and I want to be received by you all with open arms. This is something that I wish to do because I was born on the border between Brazil and Argentina, so I’m very familiar with the Spanish language. And with the rest of the culture of Latin America — until I was 17 years old, I was living there. So it’s something that is part of me. Reggaeton is something that is part of me too. It is a music genre that we enjoy in Brazil. I need to follow a schedule right now. I‘m a very young artist, but as of 2022, if you’ll have me. It will be great!
You have collaborations with Katy Perry, Annita, Danna Paola, among others. Who’s next on your list?
I talk to Karol G and Tini. I like Becky G, Natti Natasha, Maria Becerra, Maluma, J Balvin, Bad Bunny. I would love to do something with Bad Bunny; I have some ideas about that, some of them are top secret, and I can’t share them right now, but I want to collab with everyone that represents reggaeton. I listen to a lot of these artists.
So let‘s switch a little bit from music to fashion and beauty. Do you see yourself in the future launching a perfume, makeup, or fashion line?
Right now, I’m focused on my musical career because it’s enough for now; it’s just too much. But I do have some projects. My music career already takes up so much, and I want to do things 100%. I have some goals in starting my international career in 2022. After that, I can think about a brand, something that is not directly related to music.
Which message would you like to send to all the Spanish-speaking and English-speaking audience that will be curious after the success of your new album and want to start knowing more about you?
Keep waiting. I‘m almost there. And I will give my best in the same way I did here in Brazil; I will do my best. Everything that I work at, my heart is that. Music is my life. I’m doing everything in a very organized way because I don’t want to disappoint anyone. No disappointments here, trust me! I love your music.
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