We're here with none other than the beautiful and illustrious, Suzie Stockholm! Suzie here is having a big day. Her highly anticipated album, Dirty Pop is in stores today. Thank you for joining us Suzie, how are you feeling?
Whoa! What a nice, strong introduction. I love you already. *laughs*. I'm feeling wonderful. I'm feeling excited. I'm feeling liberated. I mean, hehe, there's so many different emotions that I'm feeling right now and I think it's about time that this project is finally released into the world we're all my bad babies can get their life to this fuck-oops. Can I curse?- to this freaking album. It's time ladies and gents. It's time. *laughs*
With just a few hours away from the release of an album that took quite a while to release, do you feel any nervousness about it's release? Nervousness? Nah. I'm so proud of this work and it feels more like, excitement. I'm really freaking excited about this. It's been so long, even though the album essentially took about four months to come out since the lead single, Bad Behavior. This album has been a work in progress for yours. To some people, it probably feels a lot shorter. But behind the scenes this album was a work in progress for quite some time. There's songs that I recorded initially to be on an album 6 or 7 years but didn't make the album. So no, no nervousness but definitely excitement and just joy and liberation, yeah.
Take us through the recording process of Dirty Pop. What were you initially thinking prior to even recording the album? Were you inspired by anything in particular? Well going into the more recent recording sessions, where the new music was recorded and majority of the album... I wanted to create an album that was free flowing. I didn't want to hold myself back. I've never been that type of girl. I speak my mind, I speak about sex freely and I wanted to continue with that but in a different way, you know? For so long in my career I was kind of being told what to do and how to sound and how to be like and with this album I really took control in what the fuck was being recorded and how it would sound and what I wanted to sound like, along with what producers I wanted to work with. It was important for me to work with producers who aren't as popular and are underground so the album kind of has that grimy, dirty feeling and purposely not to sound so mainstream. Me being Suzie, make's it mainstream but the sound itself was intended not to be a super mainstream album. I wanted to break the barrier between the music and the artist. The sound may not be conventional, but the artist is and so it kind of went hand and hand you know? So, I was really inspired by underground music and of course, sex, sex is wonderful. But writing an album about sex and making each track sound different was the task that my producers and I went in and thought long and hard, pun intended *laughs* about.
The album features some really uncut, raw sexual lyricism. Did you ever feel the need to tone down your lyrics while writing and recording Dirty Pop?Absolutely not. Never. I never feel the need to tone myself down. I mean, I'm not a clean-cut artist. Never was. I'm a dirty bitch and I'm proud of it. One thing with music is that you're free to express any type of art that you want. Sex, is art! People kind of turn their head and feel the need to keep it behind closed doors and make it a thing that we whisper about but sex in itself is an art form. Music is an art form. Sex in music is art and I think the I'd be doing myself a disservice, by toning down lyrics on an album that is so sexually liberating and direct.
What do you say to the critics who have been pretty vocal toward your style of music? Loosen up a bit. Right? It's 2022. As I said before, I'm not for the faint hearted. Now if you're fainted hearted and have an open mind, and want to explore that inner sexual deviant, that we, as humans all have then that's where I truly come in with this album. Critics know I'm their guilty pleasure.
Speaking of style of music, as we were listening to the record, we noticed that the music genre listened here is in fact, Dirty Pop. What are the main components that make music Dirty Pop, and is this style of music exclusive to you or are you hoping other artists adopt this style of music as well? Dirty Pop is sexual music with underground electronic pop or hip-hop elements. The main component is that it has sexual elements and doesn't hold back. Like, we shouldn't have to listen to a Dirty Pop song and try and figure out whether or not it's sexual. It's in your face and it's direct, even through metaphors and creative writing. When listening to the album, songs like Bad Behavior, Ménage à trois, Dirty Little Things, Lock Mode, Passionfruit and Treasure are all straight up Dirty Pop records. As for other artists, it's not something I'm going and saying, "oh I hope people go and do this", but it's open for any artists who aren't afraid to take risks and are open to experimenting.
We also noticed that the album is heavily influenced by underground music of the United Kingdom. What fostered this inspiration in sound that is very apparent throughout the record? The U.K has some of the best producers in the world, period. The sounds that these producers can come up with are so different and I wanted this album to sound different, not like anything you've heard. I wanted every single song to sound different from one another but still make sense with each other. Especially when an album is so sex oriented, it was important for my babies to have a different listening experience with each song. So when I met with producers and my writing team, I was very clear. Let's go different. Let's go avant-garde bitches, let's have fun. Let's make this album a Suzie record. We took it and ran with it. You'll hear that in each song, I'm singing and rapping differently. Each song was really thought out clearly and with this album I was so involved, I give it up to each of my wonderful producers and writers who dealt with my craziness. We had some fun nights recording this album, just fucking around, having fun. And you'll hear it.
Do you agree that Dirty Pop takes more of "in your face" approach, as opposed to your past music? Yes...and no. I've always been in your face. That's just me. I mean, I've sung about fucking Osama Bin Laden for god's sake. So I've always sort of taken risks and after my first album I think I felt myself toning down a little because that's where music was going. No one really took risks that much, so I stuck out like a sore thumb. So with this album I wanted to go jump out the fucking gate and it's a perfect time. People are expressing themselves more, so the album definitely takes a in your face approach but in my way.
There are some new producers that we haven't really heard of music listed as producers on the album, how did these collaborations come to light? Absolutely. For many producers on the album, this is their first major production credit. I scoured the U.K for some good producers. My team and I used Youtube, SoundCloud, audiomack and really just opened up the communication for any talented U.K producers interested in working with me. We had alot of work sent in and the ones that I felt had potential were called in for a producer meeting and we essentially brainstormed and got to work. The producers who really understood the assignment, understood me as an artist and what I wanted ended up as an official producer on the album. I met with so many amazing producers, they really fucking worked hard. We all did.
You've also collaborated with Chicago Nobody, The Wolverines, Payton and Billy on the album. How was it working with these artists in helping complete the vision for Dirty Pop? First, I must say, I fucking love Chicago Nobody. I think he was also like, really pivotal in the way that the sound of this album went too. After we recorded sticky n' sweet back in 2020, I realized that the avant pop style really works for me and my vocal so from then on it sort of laid the foundation of where I wanted to go for my album. So, Chicago Nobody definitely helped with the vision. He's fucking amazing. The Wolverines are so talented, and they know me so well. Even though they produced only two songs on this album I've been working with them since 2011 so just having them be a part of the album takes me back and they played their part really well on giving that throwback, nostalgic Suzie sound that you hear on Addiction and Lipstick. Billy, fucking icon. Love him. We stan each other so when I received the remix for Bad Behavior it was a nice surprise. It wasn't even planned!
One question that we love to ask artists when they are interviewed is about the story that is being told and whether or not they are true to artists experiences. Given the sexual nature of Dirty Pop, can you say that the album is indicative of your own personal experiences?Oh yes! This wasn't an album where I just blindly wrote about sex. This....was me. I'm dirty.
I want to take a moment to talk about the singles that have come from the album. First, we have Bad Behavior. What led to your decision for this to be somewhat of a comeback single? When I first heard the demo recording of Bad Behavior by the amazing Karma Kid, I knew that this would be the lead single for Dirty Pop. It had all the makings of a first single. The beat, it was in your face and it's a total fucking bop.
The record instantly shot to number one, congrats on that success! Shortly after, the song was remixed with Billy which led to the Bad Behavior's further success. How did this collaboration come to light? Billy literally sent me the completed remix without notice, seriously, out of no where. It was crazy. He's all like, "you can thank me later" or something along those lines. He's so damn crazy. But the way he went off on the remix. It was so hot and sexy. Love him for what he did.
The next single, Somebody, was also released as a single. Like Bad Behavior and its remix, Somebody was a big success. Topping chart heat for three weeks and counting! How did you feel about the success of this song and was it a daunting task to have such a successful song also be the album opener? Somebody is no fucking joke. Personally, this song took a long time to record. The beats are so fast, I had to really prepare myself to perform on the track without letting the beat take over....me. It sounds so different from anything we currently hear so no, wasn't a daunting task. There's a ton of great shit on Dirty Pop and this was just the start of it all. A nice introduction to what was to come.
Do you have any plans for the next single? I'm sure your fans want to know what your plans are for the next single?
Of course I have a plan for the next single. There's plans for the next few singles off the album. My babies are going to be fed this year. Not only with just singles but a lot of great plans that we have in mind. But....can I tell you? Nope. I like to tease....
After listening to the album, I'll be honest, there's this sexually liberating feeling that I felt, as a woman, after listening to this album. You talk about things that are so openly unconventional that I kind of felt really, how can I say? Daring, bad.. since you exude so much confidence, you know? Were you hoping for this to be the overarching feeling that your listeners would get while listening to Dirty Pop? Yes girl! Release your inner bad girl. Yeah, for this album I wanted people to feel sexually empowered. I wanted everyone listening to feed bad, sexual, daring, like you said. I want the boys and girls to feel like they can be as sexual as they want to be. People are afraid of talking about sex, with me talking about it so openly, people can release their inner self and enjoy it. Fuck it. Let it all out.
Did becoming a mother last year play a part in how you perceived yourself, and your music? I definitely think so. Giving birth to my baby girl was life changing. It's a crazy experience. When you have so much love for something that literally came out of your pussy. She's my everything. Giving birth and becoming a mom was liberating on one hand, but I also needed to remind myself that even though I'm a mom, I'm also going to prove that being a mother doesn't mean that I have to throw on an apron and become a housewife. I had to prove to myself that this actually made me feel even more confident and that giving birth isn't the end. It's actually the beginning/
What do you say to men, or women, in music who may feel afraid to talk about the subjects that you speak about on Dirty Pop and what advice, as a pop artist who has stood the test of time for over 10 years can you offer? Listen to Dirty Pop and stop being afraid. Right? I cannot force people to talk about sex. But on the other hand, pop music feels a little watered down in some ways with the exception of a few. Artists barely promote their music anymore. No one wants to see cotton candy anymore or see the same shit we saw before. Artists in music today need to take more risks. That's the advice I'm giving. Coming from an era, when I first started, artists took many risks and were different. Look, during that time we had Glamazon, Vanity, Tisha Jackson, Stephanie Fierce, Isabel and more. All artists who take risks, and are largely different from one another in their own right. Today, I'd like to see more artists take risks and be different from the next. Not forcing it, but naturally be ...different. All the conventional, basic pop is a little boring nowadays. I want to feel impact from new these pop artists..
Who would you say, in today's landscape of music takes risks and are different? There are definitely some out there who continuously push themselves to try something new. I'm not going to sit here and list. I mean, what good would that do?
Now that the album is about to be released, what are you looking to accomplish with this album?I want my fans, all the boys and girls to get their life! Play this album and become the sexual deviant that you are or want to be. Get that inner confidence and let it the fuck out. Don't hold because of what societal norms put on us. Be a free, bad bitch.
Before we head out, we'd love to know, what are your plans for 2022? I'm looking forward to releasing more music from Dirty Pop, communicating with my wonderful Suzie nation and there's a live performance on the horizon that people are going to be really fucking excited about. Planning on having the most amazing sex to my own record and continuing to raise my beautiful, little girl.
Thank you so much for being here with us Suzie. Dirty Pop is OUT NOW!
