Serena Isioma Is Just Getting Started

It’s safe to say that Serena Isioma’s day-to-day is looking a little different than what she expected at the beginning of the year. The Logan Square resident has had to adapt to their school’s virtual classes while making time for a healthy lifestyle. Oh, and they also have a budding music career that’s been rapidly earning attention in Chicago and on the internet. Back in March, the same week the world shutdown, Serena released their debut EP, Sensitive, a five-track endeavor that gave us a glimpse into their wide-ranging styles and sounds. Those 13 minutes were enough to get the These Days staff hooked. On songs “Hard” and “Valentina,” their silky voice is spellbinding; “Sensitive” and “Cookout” are indie-rock smashes; and “Move” is a head-bobbing hip-hop cut featuring frequent collaborator (and These Days’ Artist To Watch), Hatesonny.

By the time Serena was gearing up to release their latest single, “Blue Sky,” the singer-songwriter’s following —which included Issa Rae, who shared “Cookout” on her IG story—had exponentially grown. “I was going to be excited if I got 1,000 plays,” says Serena about their initial expectations, “now shit is in the millions.” The new single, which effortlessly blends a love song with flex raps, is an instant earworm. It’s also a window into their writing process and how they allow creativity to flow in the moment rather than trying to make it fit a specific theme or concept. Serena admits, “to be honest, I don't know what they're [songs] about until months later. Things come to me.”

With a new project slated to drop soon, we linked up with Serena and their go-to producer Saint Lewis to talk about Sensitive, what their daily routine looks like and “Blue Sky.” Making time after class to attend this interview’s shoot, Serena appeared to be enjoying their increasingly hectic schedule, embracing the path of a career that’s just getting started.

Hey Serena, how are you doing today?

My day has been pretty chill.

The EP put you on a lot of people’s radar and has rightfully garnered a lot of support. What has that been like? Any cool moments stick out?

It's honestly been incredible. It's so cool because I dropped it right before the spark of the pandemic in the U.S. and now I'm dropping music again. It's kind of become normalized in a sense so it's a completely different lifestyle. It's interesting to see people have praise for something that was in the past and then getting excited for what I'm dropping now. It's cool to see the growth.

When you finished the EP, did you have a sense of the attention it'd bring you?

Not at all. I was going to be excited if I got 1,000 plays and now shit is in the millions. I'm like "oh cool." [laughs]

What is a normal day looking like for you these days?

I just started school so my days are ignorant. I wake up and have a pretty strict morning schedule. I try to be as healthy as I can, so I make breakfast, workout, and then "boom" I have class, and then after class, it's "boom" I have a shoot. After the shoot, it's a session then go back home and do homework. Then you have friends, relationships and all that other shit. My days are kinda funny and every day is an adventure.

It feels like there’s a new wave of amazing young talent forming in Chicago. You & some of your collaborators, including Hatesonny and Kari, are at the forefront of. From your perspective, does it seem like that as well?

Dude, absolutely. It makes me so upset that Kari and Sonny haven't blown up. I talk to them every day and they're on the exact same grind that I am, if not more. It's actually insane. They're so talented. All of HL is so talented and I hope that we all rise to the top.

Your new single "Blue Sky" further proves you're not bound to any specific genre, what can you tell us about how that song came to be?

It's funny because it started out as a very simple song with just synths, barely any drums, just a very calm song and I just got bored. I was like "we could spice it up a little bit." We weren't really thinking "what sounds should we reach?" we were just like "what makes this sounds bigger and better."

The lyrics are empowering and unique to you, how was that process like, actually writing them down?

It's mad funny. It started out like a love song, all I had was the hook and then drums started coming in and I was like "why am I kind of mad right now?" [laughs] So I flipped the script and arranged that part to be in the middle and what was originally the start of the song then became the hook. I don't know what was going through my mind, a lot of people asked me that and I cannot tell anyone because when I write songs, to be honest, I don't know what they're about until months later. Things come to me. I know they're related to my life, but I'm not 100% how.

That glue bar is pretty wild. [laughs]

Oh my god, yeah! I don't know, I like saying wild shit, catching people off-guard.

You’ve teased that this single is the beginning of a new era. Can you share anything about that?

You can know that "Blue Sky" is the only song that sounds like that in the entire project that I'm working on. But just know that every song is crazy and you'll remember all of them.