Tuesday, November 04, 2008

OUT 505--COVER STORIEZ: HOT AND SOSY...an interview with upstart STL trio SOSY by Ma'at Atkins

HOT AND SOSY............. by Ma'at Atkins (photos by Kickrox Productions, SESAC and Ma'atology)

One of the definitions on google.com of the word ‘’saucy” is defined as “characterized by a lightly pert and exuberant quality.”

This definition can definitely describe Jasmine Cain, 17, and sisters Britney and Brooke Jones (15 and 17 respectively) the young ladies who form the upstart St. Louis trio, SOSY ( pronounced SAU-CY). Since 2006, SOSY has been on smooth yet cautious road to national success with their self titled CD sampler through the locally based production company, Femminique Music Management spearheaded by the Jones’ “momager” , Tiffany Pruitt (YOURS TRULY had a chance to see the girls perform on two specific occasions—one at Club Formula(now Lure) in 2006 and McDonalds R&B/ Blues Fest in June of this year). They also had national exposure entering the ShowTime at the Apollo Amateur Night around the same time.
In September, the group had a chance hone their professional singing skills when the ladies performed at the annual Atlantis Music Conference sponsored by SESAC ( Society of European Stage Authors & Composers) in Atlanta. There, the trio showcased to several SESAC executives and members at the Loft of the CW Complex in midtown Atlanta.




Currently, they are working diligently in the recording studio laying down tracks for its debut CD. It is scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2009 through the local production company KickRox Productions and its wunderkind producer James Glasco. Also, the group has joined the World Fashion House Campaign, a publicity and celebrity service headquartered in Los Angeles.

The young ladies girls will be promoting their upcoming project by touring with in and out of town engagements. One of their national gigs will be their performing Nov. 18th on VH1 Presents The Holiday Trunk Show. The girls have also joined the World Fashion House, a publicity and celebrity services agency that aids in administering free publicity to artists


Meanwhile, the members of SOSY are gearing up to do promotion work for VH1’s Holiday trunk Show on Nov 18 in New York City as well as other out of town engagements and fundraising activities. Locally, through KickRox , a high school concert tour is in the works with the group.


In early October (Oct 2 to be exact during the VP debate frenzy in the Lou), OUTTOWN had a chance to interview the bubbly teens during their down time at their producer James Glasco’s house in South St. Louis. The girls talked about their beginnings, their upcoming plans, STL fans and their future.






From left: Jasmine Cain, Britney Jones and Brooke Jones.
MA’AT: Talk a bit about your name, Sosy. Why the name? Who came up with it?

BROOKE: Me and Jas, we're the same age and we went to we went to same school together.

MA’AT: What school did yawl go to?

BROOKE: (TO jasmine) What school was that Hazelwood Middle?

JASMINE: Yeah

The girls giggle.


MA”AT(chuckling) You didn’t know what school you attended?

BROOKE: :I went to a lot of different schools, so we had this one class together…

MA’AT: When did you all start this group?

BROOKE (to Jasmine): About five years ago, 7th grade?

JASMINE: Yeah

BROOKE: So, anyway, we had this class together. We would kick it all the time and always would get put out of class. So, one day the teacher said, “You guys just get out!” So we started acting fast and stuff and she said "Don’t you get saucy with me!" and so , one day we were just at home, all of us together to figure out a name, Butterfly? No. Flower?. No.. Then me and Jas looked at each other and we fell out laughing and I said , "Girl, don’t say that.” , and she was like, "Yeah, Sosy.” And if you look it up it means…

JASMINE: Bold and rebellious.


BROOKE: And we’ve been Sosy ever since

JASMINE: Yep

MA”AT: Who came up with the spelling, SOSY?


BROOKE: My mom (Tiffany Pruitt). She always gotta have her own input.

MA:AT: How did you all get started singing? Talent shows? During recess? What?

BRITNEY: We really just started practicing a lot, then doing shows in St. Louis, like COCA (Contemporary Center of the Arts) stuff like that.


JASMINE: And at the Joe Torry Basketball (Challenge)Foundations but we started singing in the kitchen.

The girls laugh.

BROOKE: It was always live in the kitchen.

BRITNEY: That’s where we got started and found out we really couldn’t sing. Our mom, she would be cooking and she was like , “Now sing this.” She was our main writer.

MA’AT: You(Brooke) and Britney are sisters?

BROOKE and BRITNEY: Yes.

MA:AT: And you Jasmine?

JASMINE: I’m the best friend. But I’ve been knowing them since I was six years old

BROOKE: She’s like a…

BRITNEY and BROOKE: Sister.

BRITNEY: Yeah.

MA’AT: You three also seem to complete each other’s sentences like sisters.

BROOKE: We’re around each other too much.


The girls laugh.

MAAT: SO after you stepped out of the kitchen, then what?

JASMINE: We started going to studios and recording and we really didn’t know what we were doing, but we know now. It’s redo this and redo that.


MA’AT: Talk a little ‘bit about that experience.

BROOKE: We would be in the studio, from 7 in the evening, to 3 in the morning
When you’re singing at home, you’re just free, Notes ain’t gotta be perfect. But when you’re in the studio, it has to be perfect because this is the first time people are hearing it. It’s recut this. Recut that. Double that. Go over the vocals and stack it. It gets all technical.

JASMINE: And very frustrating.

BROOKE: Sometimes people put heaters in the booth when your recording .You gotta force yourself to sing when you’re hot.

JASMINE: It’s worse when its cold (in the studio)trying to keep your notes smooth,

MA’AT: What do you do to prep to record?

JASMINE: A lot of practice, the mi--mi-mi’s, drink hot water.

BRITNEY: I like to drink tea, it soothes everything.

JASMINE: We do a lot of warm-ups before we record or do shows.

BROOKE: Tons of water.

The girls laugh.


MA’AT: A couple of years back, you released a CD sampler and one of the promoted singles was “How Much Shake.”.

BROOKE: That was old school.

The girls laugh.

MA’AT: How did you all record your CD sampler?

JASMINE: I know back in those days, like I’m so old, we used to be so proud of everything we did and we would take it (CD) to school and let people listen to it. Now that we’ve listened to it--oh no. We were like oh no. compared to our stuff now its like ...

BROOKE: That was our first sampler ever. That was our first time we got our taste of popularity in the city too.





Pictured are Sosy performing at SESAC in Atlanta in September.

MAAT: Who wrote most of those songs on your first CD?


BROOKE: It was mostly written by Will Gray, he wrote (Trick Daddys’ song) “Sugar On my Tongue.”

MA’AT: How did you all get connected to producers to your first CD

JASMINE: Their mother (Tiffany Pruitt)who has always been our manager and now we have Glasco who’s our manager). She’s been there since the beginning.


BROOKE: A lot of times we would record , people would see us record and that’s how we got set up with producers.

MA”AT: You stated earlier about tasting some popularity early on. How was that like?


BRITNEY:It’s a really nice feeling, when you hear people saying, “Thats Sosy, that’s Sosy” instead of saying, “ Oh that’s Brooke, or Jas” Thats Sosy

MAAT: How did your schoolmate feel when you became SOSY?

BROOKE: A lot of haters

The girls laugh.

JASMINE: We had haters, but a lot of people who loved us and can’t wait when our CD comes out. They wanna buy it

BROOKE: People had our songs on their Myspace pages and their ringtones and voice mail.

BRITNEY and JASMINE: Yeah

BROOKE: We have 90 percent fans, 10 percent haters


MAAT: How did you hook up with Glasco’s KickRox?

BROOKE: Last December, when we were in the studio, we were recoding songs with Trillion Billion Dollar Beats and they said, they knew this guy who’s off the chain and that we should hook up. So we hooked up and we’ve been with Glasco every day.

JASMINE: Everyday

Laughter from the girls.

MA’AT: How is it working with Glasco compared to the other producers you’ve worked with?


JASMINE: Glasco is a lot tougher . It’s good , He pushes us. He gets us mad, but it’s only for own good.

BROOKE: Very tedious work—Okay, do that again. Again. Again.”


BRITNEY: It always come out though.

MA’AT: I had a chance to hear some of the songs that will be on your new CD. The one I liked the most was the ballad “Chasing Rainbows.” That’s the hotness for real. How is the CD coming along?

JASMINE: We don’t really have a set date but we’re grinding.


MA’AT: How many songs have you competed?

BROOKE: I don’t know how many songs we recorded, seem like a million, but about 10 of them are hot according to Glasco.


MA’AT: Are you writing any of the songs this go round?

JASMINE: Yes.

MA’AT: Which songs have you written?

ALL: Songs like “Hypnotic,” “Slow it Down,” “Queen of Hearts,” and “Jailbait.”

MA’AT: “Jailbait?”

ALL: Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

MA’AT: What’s the story behind, “Jailbait?”

BROOKE: “Jailbait” is about being jailbait and us not being legal and a guy tryin to holla. This(pointing to herself) will put you in jail.

MA’AT: Do many girls your age look up to you?
l
ALL: Yeah

JASMINE: Many copy our style, our clothes. Our hair in our neighborhoods in Fairview Heights, Swansea and Belleville.

MA’AT: Yawl from Illinois?

JASMINE: We moved over there. We’re from St. Louis.

BRITTNEY: A lot of younger girls, think were like Barbie girls.

MA’AT: Oh really???.

JASMINE: One girl actually said to her mommy, “Can I have her?” after we taped the Apollo show. We were just amazed.

MAAT: When did you all do the Apollo?

ALL: February of 2007

MAAT: How was that experience?

JASMINE: It was cool

BROOKE: It was fun. We didn’t get the “whomp-whomp.”

MAAT: Who did you lose to?

BRITNEY: A girl who sang Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable.”

BROOKE: We sang” Lady Marmalade.”

MAAT: No tie breaker?

ALL: No.

BRITNEY: She won it all

JASMINE: We signed autographs afterwards.

MAAT: Right before you had gone on stage, what was goin through your minds?


JASMINE: I was really nervous but once you get on stage the nerves ended. We wasn’t worried about getting’” whomp-whomped.”

BROOKE: ; And the (Ray Chew) band… I was nervous at first, but the band messed up our music like after the second verse and we had to start all over.

JASMINE:Yeah, we were almost finished.

Sosy performing at this summer's May Day Fest in Kiener Plaza.
MAAT: So you had to get reintroduced?

ALL: Yeah.

BROOKE: I wasn’t nervous, but I didn’t know how the crowd was gonna react (when we started over). They were like “Man come on, whassup!”

JASMINE: They were hardcore.

MAAT: Was that your toughest audience?

BROOKE: They were up there in the Top10

JASMINE: I think the toughest audience was the concert we did on Eads Brdige. It was like a throwback concert and rapper Chuck D came.


BRITNEY: And we performed and they looked at us like we were aliens.

BROOKE: They were looking at us like we want to see Biz Markie. Get off the stage. I was like, I’m sorry

MAAT: Whats next for SOSY?


JASMINE: : We want to go international,. Not just US. Everywhere

BROOKE: SOSY is the brand and attitude, the bomb

MAAT: Even when you get the platinum albums you’re not gonna do a Destiny’s Child with Beyonce standing out in group, right?

BRITNEY: We are together forever.

The girls giggle

BROOKE: Our music is like pop international versus urban. We started more urban. But it evolved.



MA’AT: You recently performed at SESAC's Music Conference. How was that experience like? SESAC Music Conference



BROOKE: The band was off the chain. They caught on with our music real fast.


BRITNEY: Yes they did.


BROOKE: We had to do a sound check at first, and ran through it. Then that night the band I think picked up our moves. And when we came to the show, they mixed their drum beats to make the beat match with our dance moves. It was like...

ALL: Fireworks!


MAAT: How long were you at SESAC?

JASMINE: A week.


MAAT: What else did you do there?


JASMINE: After the show we were in the studio everyday with Glasco and(producer) Donnie Skance, 10 hours a day. Maybe more. We didnt even go to sleep on the last nite we were there.


BROOKE: That was the best breakfast we never had.


The girls laugh.






Yours Truly, Ma'at Atkins clowning around with Sosy after the interview

MAAT: Wow, it seems like your regimen is very professional. Do you have any hobbies?

BRITNEY: I Like to do nails. I do my girls nails. And Dance.


JASMINE: I just like to sing. We dont do much. If I'm not singing,I'm hanging with my girls being goofy. We don’t really go out.

BROOKE: Sometimes we'll hit the movies.



MAAT: What was the last movie you went to go see?


BROOKE: (to her girls) What was that movie we saw?


The girls think.

BROOKE: "The Stepbrothers." That was very funny. We like skating.



JASMINE: We haven’t done it (skating) in a minute.


BROOKE: We're not very good, though.



The girls giggle.


BROOKE: And we talk on the phone with boys. No we don't.


MAAT: With wanna be boyfriends?


BROOKE: We don't time for boyfriends.


MAAT: Do you get any boys who try to be your boyfriend?


BROOKE: All the time. They say stuff like, "Dont forget about me when you get famous."

The girls laugh.



MAAT: When I talked with your producer. Glasco, he said something about you all were getting ready to do a high school tour?



BROOKE: Yeah, a High School Tour with Kickrox Productions and Tiffany Pruitt. We dont have dates yet. It's in development aka” idk.”


MAAT: Who does your choreography?

BROOKE: We do some choreography but we have our own choreographer, Mike Edwards aka The Living Legend.


MAAT: Is there anything else you wanna add?

BROOKE: Sosy loves everyone.


JASMINE: Love yourself.


BRITNEY: Be confident. Be you. Don't care what other people thinks.


BROOKE: That's what SOSY is about. Go against the grain.


BRITTANY: Be bold and beautiful.




BROOKE: We want all the young ladies to love God and yourself.



MAAT: Who do yawl listen to?

JASMINE: We listen to all types of music. Mariah, Beyonce, Dixie Chicks, Erykah...


BRITTANY: Rock, reggae.


BROOKE: And Etta James.



MAAT: Etta James? And how old are you?

BROOKE: Uhm, 50.



The girls laugh.


BROOKE:Aretha, Donnie Hathaway...


MAAT: Anyone you pattern your vocals to?


JASMINE: No not really. We all take stuff from everybody and incorporated it into our own style.

BROOKE: I think Etta James taught me how to sing for real. When I was like 12, I was trying to mimic her because at the time I didnt know about singing from your stomach and all. I listened to her.

MAAT: What song do you like of hers?


BROOKE: "At Last." I sang it at my Granny’s funeral--and "Sunday Kind of Love."



MAAt: Whoa, you kinda serious, huh.


BROOKE: A lil bit, wassup. wassup.

The girls laugh out loud.


For more information on SOSY go to
www.myspace.com/s0sy



For video of the young ladies in performance mode go to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqkNvQlQntQ
and link to other performances from that link.



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