Rising Songstress Sid Floyd Discusses Theatre Influences, R&B Roots, and New Single “Scorpio SZN”

Sid Floyd is a young new voice in the world of music. With sensual and moody beats on her debut track, “DTF” ft. Tender Kid, Sid encapsulates the dazed and angry vibes of her generation. Aspiring to be a pillar of change in strictly bound genres such as R&B, hip-hop, and various other musical influences, Sid writes with old and new voices in her ears. With influences from the likes of Fleetwood Mac, A$AP Rocky, Prince, Moses Sumney, Fiona Apple, and Charlotte Dos Santos. Sid is constantly listening to new artists and replaying her classics to keep her ears fresh. At 17 she is jumping head first into the music industry and is currently working on the release of her new single “Scorpio Szn” while also finishing up her first EP.

OneWest: Where you from and what is R&B to you?

Sid: I’m a total Cali girl but I’m from Texas. I like to say I’m from Texas because it holds such a special place in my heart. With icons like Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion hailing from Texas, I feel a lot of R&B power from those roots. R&B to me is really anything, musically, that’s driven by soul. I feel as though R&B used to fit into a very specific box, a soulful black singer doing a bunch of riffs typically ending in a higher register, there’s a live band and the music is driven by rock and roll influences. Today though, I feel as though the boundaries of R&B aren’t limited by such dated notions, and instead I feel that those boundaries exist now to dare artists to push away from the classic standards but still use that soul to drive their music. To me, R&B is a wave of sound made possible by artists with an innate need to produce music that truly resonates in your body and speaks to vibes and essences that are impossible for the general eye to see, or the general ear to even hear. It’s a rush of passion that has no discernible sense other than the sense that’s given to it. I suppose all genres could be talked about in similar ways, but the ever-modernization of music, specifically in R&B has such an alluring pull to me that it’s just where I resonate musically at the moment.

OneWest: How’d you first fall in love with music?

Sid: I have always been in love with singing and I think that’s what really led to my romance with music. My mom says I was singing before I could talk, so I always loved finding cool songs that I wanted to cover. I think I first really fell in love with music though when I was, like, 12 years old. I had a lot of misplaced depression in middle school and so I would go around making playlists, like on spotify or maybe this was back when I was having my Pandora moment. But I would find songs that just made me feel a little less alone and that was really enough. Enough for me to realize the magic of music. Any mood had a playlist. It got to the point where I would have one earphone in at all times because it was the “soundtrack to my life”. When I started making music and getting more into the production of it, I fell hard. again. Because I was seeing all the work that goes into making something sound cool, and I was seeing how musicians could experiment with sound and come up with something so attractive and sexy to the ear. And that was what really blew my mind. I said, “this. this is it. this is what I wanna do.” I wanna f**k around and learn as much as I can until I find that one thing that makes me say “this. this is it.”

OneWest: Who are your musical inspirations?

Sid: My musical inspirations are all over the track and are constantly changing based on what I’m listening to or new music that catches my ear. However, artists like Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Prince, the Beatles, the Carpenters, and Destiny’s Child always live in my ear’s heart. At the moment, I’m continually impressed by Mariah the Scientist, Lianne La Havas, and Queen Naija, and I’ve been kinda obsesssed with 2020 Billie Eilish. However, I currently have “222” by Kyle Lux and “Emerald Street” by Jamila Woods on repeat. I’ve been loving more experimental beats on R&B vibes lately and I think “222” by Kyle Lux has some great vibrational energy to it.

OneWest: You began your early career in theater, how did that help shape your music career?

Sid: Musical theater has shaped a lot of my experience as an artist. It also shaped my music preferences for a while, which is probably why I vibe with Elton John so hard. Working on musicals in middle and high school was always the most fun for me though, because I got to fully immerse myself in this whole world of art, not unlike working on a film or an album of course. But part of the magic was always the coming together of so many pieces to make something beautiful. And I think that’s one of the main things I’ve taken with me from the theater to the studio. That I, obviously, can’t do everything myself and that it takes a whole team of talented trusted people to get your idea off the ground and into being. I think musical theater taught me how to live in that overwhelming pressure that comes along with being a musician and how to effectively manage creativity with productivity. More than anything it allowed me to step into a spotlight before I was ready to decide, or even knew, what type of lighting I wanted on that spotlight. So it really allowed me to grow creatively, to where now that I’m older and have the experience of working on these projects, where I know where all of the responsibilities lie, I’m really excited to dive in and tackle it all.

OneWest: How did that path help create a lane for the music?

Sid: Theater was my life before I started making music. I did theater throughout high school, but watched it drop from my list of important things in life, as stress and anxiety climbed the ladder. I stopped doing theater my junior year of high school and felt this hole in my heart. This path I’d wanted for so long and I’d worked so hard for seemed distant and irrelevant. Because of my experience, I turned to writing and music. Once I started music I realized that I wanted to use all of the theatrics of my musical theater experience in my music career, and then that musical doorway that had seemed so locked and bolted shut before suddenly widened with a whole new perspective of opportunities. Musical theater was definitely the first stop on my train ride of musicality; it gave me the drive to really go for what I want in my music and continues to push me in my vocal care and singing.

OneWest: What are you currently working on?

Sid: Currently I’m working on a bunch of different projects in music and in film. I’m currently working on the release of my next single “Scorpio Szn”, to drop February 1st. It’s a little more uptempo then my previous music and it got that bad bitch energy to it. I’m also currently in production on a new indie comedy film, directed by Lucas Astrom and produced by Gabriel Horn, called “Wing Dad”. I have a some more film projects coming up in 2021 that I’m very excited about as well, and can promise lots of new music in the new year 😉

OneWest: With a fresh start what can you say is the best advice you’ve gotten in the industry so far?

Sid: Being a young artist in 2020 is  such a weird thing. Right off the bat advice is essential because there are so many young musicians, and we’re working our asses off to know as much as we can about as much as we can so we are producing the best work we can offer, and that cap is limitless. The best advice I’ve gotten so far is to keep writing and keep making music. I was blessed with my dear friend and mentor (and brilliant producer) Khari Mateen, who told me right out of the gate that my music would be as good as the effort I put into it. He told me that he could never in good faith recommend that someone go into a career in music. Because you have to be so in love with it that you put up with all the BS of the music industry simply because you’d be wasting an incredulous amount of time doing it anyway in your spare time. So no matter what’s going on with projects and on social media, when I come home I come home to music. I always hear Miss Queen Beyoncé’s voice in my head saying, “If you’re about it, be about it. Don’t say you’re about it. Be about it” and that always stuck with me.

OneWest: What is your definition of success?

Sid: To me success is happiness. If you are happy doing what you love, and you’re making a living off if it then in my eyes you’re already incredibly successful. There’s so much stress in life, I feel, and I really think that the human race’s main purpose is to find meaning and happiness. For me, that’s music. It’s my art. However, on a much more real level people got bills and responsibilities and a whole lotta stuff to do. So I think success can be looked at through progress. Success is putting all of your energy into yourself and your work and showing up for yourself everyday. Success is constantly and consistently working to be better, do better, and receive better.

OneWest: Who would you like to collaborate with next year?

Sid: I would like to collaborate with a bunch of new artists next year. I feel like I’m at a place musically where I want to be expanding the circle of people I trust enough to work with. I want to work with a bunch of  producers, photographers and directors next year as I grow my range of content. But I would love to collaborate with a couple of my musician friends in the near future too, maybe Grant Knoche, Quizz Swanigan, and Kyla Imani. ☺️

OneWest: Where will Sid Floyd go in 2021?

Sid Floyd in 2021 is on a whole new level. This next year is a precipice for greatness. It will be the first year that I’ve put all of my energy into building my music career, and I don’t know if y’all ready. We are working on some really dope multi-media projects right now to be sprinkled all over social and I’m currently developing some new looks for shows. 2021 will see a lot more of Sid, I’ve been working on the live shows and y’all can expect to see a lot of music and music adjacent things on the ‘gram (and Instagram adjacent platforms). I’m really excited to let the world in and really share who I am through music and media this year, so get ready for some uncut gems and total transparency because I want this year to signify the beginning of Sid Floyd, exactly who I am, no more no less. That’s what I want to share and grow from and that’s what you can expect to see 2021, so welcome to me.

Stream Sid Floyd’s latest single below and stay connected with here.

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