Get ready for the world’s next biggest R&B star and ladies your next heartthrob. SoMo, the singer of the hit single “Ride,” is dropping his debut self-titled album on April 8th 2014. SoMo released his album for pre-orders on February 25th, 2014. In just one day, his album reached the number one spot for R&B albums on iTunes.
I was able to sit down and talk with SoMo after one of his shows to discuss his journey so far. The moment that I met SoMo he treated me like a friend he had known for a long time and greeted me with a bright, white smile.
SoMo was humble about his success and newfound fame. He explained, “I don’t know how I got here, but I am here. I just love making music.” He began the interview with this, “So, I’ll tell you the story.” Explaining the first, most impressionable and crucial piece of every singer or band: the name. Many artists have stage names that they have created over time to gain popularity and to create a buzz in the media. Joseph Somers-Morales (which can be a mouth full) has been SoMo since junior high.
“In 7th grade a girl wrote me a note and she called me JoSoMo, so I made an instant messenger screen name called JoSoMo. I’ve been SoMo for a long time, and it was even on my letter jacket.” He further explained that SoMo is a part of who he is.
Next, he explained how he got into the music career. Despite popular belief, SoMo was not always on the track towards a career in music. For some time he had strayed away from the idea of pursuing it because of his father, who was also an artist. He confessed, “I didn’t want to be like my father. He wasn’t always there because of music. He kind of broke my mom’s heart and I didn’t want to be like that.”
Luckily, music found its way back into his life. The first cover SoMo posted to YouTube was “Crawl” by Chris Brown, which received 13,000 views within the first week. We all know the popular saying, “everything happens for a reason.” Well, in this case, the saying plays out in SoMo’s career. Like his first cover, which was almost non-existent due to limited recording resources. In fact, the only way he could record it was by borrowing his friend’s laptop. “I figured, if my friend lets me borrow his laptop, I’ll do the cover. But if not, !@#$ it.” Thank goodness he got his hands on that laptop! “Its actually crazy, I feel like everything is driven by fate,” he said.
After a few laughs SoMo got serious and explained the true meaning of one of his first original songs “Back to the Start.” If you haven’t listened to it yet, you can catch it on YouTube where it has 667,717 views. You can also buy it on iTunes from his debut mix tape, “My Life.”
“Everyone thinks “Back to the Start” is all about sex, but “Back to the Start” is about one-night-stands, and the fact that at a point in my life, I was searching for love in the wrong environments.”
SoMo elaborated on his thoughts of love. He specified about our generation, where we often get caught up in the wrong idea of what is and is not important in relationships. The lyrics read, “We live for that rush, we rush for that love,” in that moment of the song, SoMo is explaining that he did not need one-night-stands to be happy; if he did, he would always end up like the title: back to the start.
He sat back comfortably on a black leather couch and spoke with me like one friend to another friend, not an artist to a writer.“I like love. I’ve been in love, I believe in love and I believe in passion, and I wrote a song about it.” After that heartfelt confession, we laughed at how deep the conversation had become. Most everyone only sees SoMo on stage or in his “Ride” music video, so it was cool to talk to him and get to know whom the artist really is.
Out of SoMo’s original songs “Ride,” is his favorite song to perform. He explained that the audience always sings along with him. “When people sing the words that you wrote, that’s cool as hell.”
As far as his musical future, one of his biggest goals is to win a Grammy and SoMo attended the Grammy’s this year as an invited guest.
As we spoke about his surreal experience with his growing fame, it was obvious that he is in as much awe as his fans are. “To be able to do something you love for a living, and to be able to live off of that is something I can’t explain, I don’t even know how to feel anymore.”
After he reflected on his crazy ride to success, he left on this last note: “We need to take a step back and look into our souls, and realize that what we say has an affect on everyone’s heart. Everyone should just be happy and positive, there’s no room for negativity in the world. You only have one life to live, so might as well be happy; less stress, more love, SoMo, signin’ out.”
This will not be the last we see and hear of SoMo, he has already come so far, and who knows? Maybe we will see him snag a Grammy for Best New Artist in the future.