Sa'ra Charismata

Sa'ra Charismata

Sa'ra Charismata at a recording studio in Stockholm, Sweden.
Background information
Born (1986-05-16) May 16, 1986
Stockholm, Sweden
Genres Protest Pop, Punk, Indie Pop, Hip Hop
Occupation(s) Singer · Songwriter ·Spiritual activist
Instruments Vocals · Guitar
Labels Virgin Records Sweden

Sara Haile (born May 16, 1986), better known by her stage name Sa'ra Charismata, is a Swedish-Eritrean singer, songwriter, and spiritual activist.[1]

Early life

Sa'ra Charismata's story begins as her parents fled the raging conflict in 1970s Eritrea in the Horn of Africa, finding sanctuary in Sweden where she was born and raised. Growing up across three continents, Sa'ra Charismata devoted her adolescent years addressing challenging issues pertaining to racial, economic and gender inequalities through music, field activism and legal practice, primarily in the The United States.[2]

Career

Charismata began her music career in 2004 while she attended college at the University of Northern Colorado. In college, Charismata spearheaded the campus organization The Summit Organizing Committee on Social Justice and Diversity (SOC) and during that time her music was mainly acoustic and political in nature.[3] After college, Charismata intended to continue her political career so she attended law school at Fordham University School of Law in New York City. However, in 2013, once she had earned her Juris Doctor degree, Charismata left the legal field to fully pursue a career in music instead. In 2015, Charismata gave a TEDx talk where she spoke of her journey going from the legal field to fully embracing a career in music.[4]

Having spent the majority of her artist career as an independent artist, in 2015, Charismata signed a record deal with Virgin Records Sweden after she independently released "Mushroom," her most popular song yet, gaining the attention of radio and record label executives in Sweden.[5] In her song "Mushroom," a high-energy punk-pop tune, Charismata uses references to Super Mario Brothers characters like Koopa Troopa to draw comparison to the current social order and political climate, begging the question, who is really in control?[6]

In 2014, Charismata was nominated Rookie Artist of the Year at the Denniz Pop Awards alongside Tove Lo [7] and listed as "a name to watch for" by Sweden's leading music journalist Jan Gradvall.[8]

Musical style and influences

Charismata described her early style of music as "Protest Pop," a term she coined herself. Protest Pop, as the term indicates, is a mix of punk, hip hop and catchy hooks with "sugar-coated" political lyrics.[9] Afropunk has previously described Charismata as "the quintessential revival of the modern protest song in pop music" and "an outspoken voice that mainstream media may never acknowledge." [10]

Charismata cites the careers of Bob Marley, Bad Brains, and John Lennon as her biggest inspirations.[11] Charismata is also known for her high-energy live performances influenced by the 1980s New York punk scene. She has performed at large-scale festivals such as Roskilde Festival in Denmark and Peace & Love Festival in Sweden.[12]

Whereas Charismata's previous work has been mainly political in nature, her more recent work also includes more personal lyrics.[13]

Singles discography

Title Year
Gold Digga 2014
Sheep (Let Me Go) 2015
Mushroom 2015
Big Man (Pharmaceuticals) 2016
Addicted (To Your Messed Up Kinda Lovin) 2016
Addicted Pt.2 2016
Addicted (DJ Dibs Remix) 2016

References

  1. ↑ Bachlakova, Polina. "Sa'ra Charismata Wants You to Think Your Neighbour Could Be a Lizard". Noisey. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Rundquist, Solveig. "'I was ashamed of not being fully Swedish'". The Local. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Wahl, Donnae. "Weighing in on diversity: Students ready for progress, change at UNC". The UNC Mirror. Retrieved 2 April 2008.
  4. ↑ "Use Your Voice Uniquely, As Only You Can". TEDx Talks. TEDx Stockholm. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  5. ↑ "Sa'ra Charismata signar med Virgin Records Sweden!". Mynewsdesk. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  6. ↑ Aplerku, Alexander. "NEW MUSIC: "MILITANT POP" - SA'RA CHARISMATA RELEASES NEW SINGLE, 'MUSHROOM'". Afropunk. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  7. ↑ Ek, Torbjörn. "Gratiskonsert när musikproducenten hyllas". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  8. ↑ Gradvall, Jan. "Svensk musiks nästa 5 stora stjärnor". Di Weekend. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  9. ↑ Robinson, Tyler. "THE MIND BEHIND A MOVEMENT". SKIO Music. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  10. ↑ Pennington, Latonya. "SA'RA CHARISMATA - GOTHIC GODDESS IN 'GOLD DIGGA'". Afropunk. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Rundquist, Solveig. "'I was ashamed of not being fully Swedish'". The Local. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "PROTEST MUSIC IN THE SHAPE OF WONDERFULLY INFECTIOUS POP SONGS". Roskilde Festival. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  13. ↑ "SA'RA CHARISMATA RELEASES HER FIRST SONG ABOUT LOVE: ADDICTED (TO YOUR MESSED UP KINDA LOVIN)". Mynewsdesk. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
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