Who doesn’t want to be a star? Many have dreams, but only a select few have the talent to take them to the top of the game. A young singer who calls herself Izy feels deep down that she’s on the path to grab the brass mic.
Izy (eye-Z) is actually already well on her way. She’s not only a singer but also a sought after producer. And get this, Greensboro, North Carolina based Izy started when she was just nine years old. At age nine, she started playing the drums, and learned studio technique from her engineer father as well as keyboards from her mom. She also plays guitar and other instruments as well. “I was just producing music, but I started there and more and more I began writing and singing and doing all those things together. Eventually I started to love singing and producing equally, says Izy, who is now just 23 and has already been nominated for Grammy and Dove awards (co-producer on Trin-i-tee 5:7’s hit song, “Bring Your Praise”.
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Izy sounds like a young Prince in the making. Not only is she producing others, but is now producing herself as she readies her debut album. “It’s difficult to produce oneself—it’s the best of both world because it is a challenge because you have to really find your sound and it’s easier because your are the only person doing it, then again sometimes it’s great to get feedback from other people.” She has gotten feedback from some big names—Timberland and Cee-lo Green have been checking out her work and both have reached out to her.
Izy wants to fill a void in music she feels is happening right now. “I have to agree the music scene is lacking in essence. Everyone wants to be the ‘thing’ and my thing is I want to create, have my own sound. People are scared to take a risk; I’m not!”
And Izy is not playing. When’s she’s not sleeping, she’s either in my home studio or in dance rehearsals. “I’m sitting right here in my studio as I am talking to you,” she says with a laugh. “I like to get up early and work on my vocals and sometimes I go outside to run and do push ups and go back to the studio. If I didn’t have dance rehearsal, I would live in studio. I actually have a couch and I will sleep there.” Since she was younger, she always had a place to work at home. “I took my shoes out of my closet when I was younger and made a studio booth in my closet. The sound wasn’t great but I started singing in my closet,” she recalls.
And it was in that closet that Izy crafted her style. “I’m an urban pop artist and I want to take the risk to be an African-American women coming into the urban pop world,” she declares. “Since I was a kid I have always been urban pop; it’s the genre where I can fully express myself. That’s my goal—I just want to be like the iconic performer. Like a Prince. Like James Brown. Like Janet Jackson. My vision is very large and very big and I know if I dream big, I know God has a bigger vision for me!
Check out the latest from Izy with this five track set titled, 100:
