Meet The Performers: Soula Reign - Najeri Rawlins
As our I Love R&B Show approaches I had the pleasure of speaking with one of our performers Soula Reign. We got the chance to discuss her journey so far and how she prepares for performances.
Soula Reign was born and raised in Virginia. Nearly three years ago she made the move to Orlando, FL to be closer to family and has been adjusting comfortably ever since. Growing up Soula always knew that music was a huge part of her life. She spent time singing in the church choir and creating songs on the fly because it came effortlessly. Although she had this passion, it was a while before she began pursuing it professionally. With the encouragement from her brother (a producer at the time) she decided to go in the studio and record some songs to have and play for herself - but with the outpouring support she received from friends and family she had the push she needed to take a leap of faith and pursue this professionally. Since then she’s been working to stay consistent and even dropped her first single “Curious” in 2020.
Make sure you grab your tickets for the event! Showtime will be from 7pm - 11:00pm at The Abbey Downtown Orlando. It’ll be the perfect environment to bring a loved one, enjoy some drinks, and catch Soula Reign’s first performance of the year!
Get to know more about Soula Reign below:
Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself (where you live, your age, etc.)
- “I’m 27 years old. From Virginia born and raised, I currently live in Orlando Florida it’s actually been three years this month. I’m still making my way around town, getting my feet wet but Florida has been good to me so I’m happy to be here.”
Q: When did your musical journey begin? When did you know you wanted to take it seriously/build a career?
- “Well music has always been a part of me ever since I was a child. I grew up singing in church and I would make up songs just on the fly like that’s just what it was you know? It was always me. I didn’t start taking music seriously until about 5 years ago.”
Q: What have you been up to so far this year?
- “I’m actually working on putting out a single. Hopefully we’ll be able to put it out this month but I’m definitely preparing to drop music this year. I've been saying I’m gonna drop an EP for the past 3 years so I am going to be working on releasing new music this year for sure!”
Q: Any specific sounds or artists you look up to for your musical inspiration?
- “I’ve always loved all types of music, all different genres but I did grow up in a Christian household so a lot of the music growing up was just strictly gospel but I’ve always been curious about different artists and genres so when I was finally able to immerse myself into the different genres. My cousin actually put me onto R&B music and that’s when I started listening to Aaliyah, Destiny’s Child, Faith Evans, Brandy, Jazmine Sullivan, etc.”
Q: What do you look forward to the most when it comes to performances?
- “To be frankly honest, I don’t like performing… I push myself to do it because I do struggle with anxiety so performing and being in front of people makes me very very anxious but I push myself to just go do it when the opportunity is available for me to do so to overcome that. But I will say the most gratifying part is pushing my anxiety aside and just going out there and doing it. The thrill of just going out and doing it is the best part of performing.”
Q: How do you prepare the day of a show?
- “I think that will come more with time as I perform more often but I think most importantly I just try to make sure I’m leveled in my mind and in my spirit. I try to stay in a good headspace so I don’t overthink or overwhelm myself.”
Q: If you could describe your sound in one sentence to a new listener, what would you say?
- “I give myself like a new genre I would say I’m like a “Pop/Soul” I come from a soulful background but there are pop elements in the songs that I write and I am very versatile, so lots of versatility in the things that I do.”
