Based out of both Los Angeles and New York City, Mama Cleo is a soulful pop artist with an explosive flare. She combines emotional lyrics with confident, sultry vocals. As both an artist and woman, Mama Cleo is fiercely independent. With an impressive repertoire under her belt, Mama Cleo has amassed a large following including almost 8k monthly listeners on Spotify! She proudly refers to her fans as her “babies” and the success she has garnered in the last couple of years is swiftly increasing.
This year, Mama Cleo leaned her artistry in a more jazz/soul direction to showcase her incredible versatility as an artist. Her two-track project “Love Is.” featuring singles “Freedom” and “Safe” are completely jazz-inspired pop ballads while her most recent single “Responsible” includes undertones of R&B nuances. With the release of “Responsible”, Mama Cleo also released a new music video for the single. The visuals are a beautiful representation of who Mama Cleo is. The video seems completely introspective to the core, with flickering moments of truth and captivating imagery. Mama Cleo has plans to release more music through the end of 2019 and early 2020 that lean back to her original energetic pop-style, stay tuned!
Listen to Mama Cleo’s music here and keep scrolling for more in our exclusive interview!
Your most recent releases seemed much more vulnerable than your usual pop singles. Is this something your listeners can expect in the future from your music?
Definitely! Over the past year, I've been really tapping into my emotions and melding that with my pop sensibilities. Each time I release a single it feels more and more vulnerable and "like me." Hopefully it'll keep getting more personal and relatable.
“Love Is.” is another beautiful project. What do you hope your listeners and “babies” take away from this 2-track EP?
Thank you! I made Love Is. during a time in my life as a young adult where I was really coming to understand the complexity of love. "Freedom" is a song about wanting to escape a relationship, have time alone and independence. It's for those days when you just need to get out on your own and might come back to an angry partner as a result. "Safe" is the anti-thesis. When you wake up in the morning, you realize how important that person is, and it's worth the give and takes to make the relationship work to keep your world with them together. It's really well visualized in the short film I made here.
We were blown away by the video for “Responsible”! What was the overall concept you wanted to capture for this music video? What was the filming process like?
Thanks so much! It was incredible to make. Again, I have a fierce feeling of independence that makes me sassy in relationships. When someone tries to tell me to change a bad habit, I immediately feel like saying screw you, take me or leave me. The video is a modern dance that basically expresses that inner feeling. The dancer Kanie did an amazing job of translating that into movement.
Do you have any plans to release a longer project or full-length album in the future?
Over the past year or so, I've really been developing and exploring as an artist. I'd love to release an album in the near future - when the time is right and I feel like the sound is authentic to me.
It was great having you here on BuzzMusic! Tell us more about what's next for you after this? Any shows in the near future?!
I'll be releasing new music very soon! A lot is in the works. Hopefully the next single will be next month. No shows on the calendar right now, but everyone can keep up with me on Instagram or on my website. Join my newsletter to get updates!