We’ve come across a lot of projects that have taught us about the deep emotions artists go through when it comes to the topics of breakups, dramatic loss, the ability to overcome obstacles & the victories they’ve endured in their lifetime. We become more acquainted with artists who are not shy to wear their hearts out on their sleeves, and one artist that stands out the most for us is Shadoh. Her ability to maneuver through all types of production, whether spreading falsetto vocals or ripping through verses with prestigious raps, becoming a standout artist on her accord. She has blessed us with her most recent and touching projects to date. Her latest EP titled “Familia,” Shadoh deals with the recent passing of her father, which left her to cope with this painful loss alone; she found a way to heal and honor him by presenting four beautiful records to allow her to vent while being able to weather the storm in the process for listeners to hear Shadoh in her most comfortable & vulnerable releases to date without her worrying of achieving individual accolades but the notion she made something special for herself.

She starts the EP with the single “Ily,” which explains the toxicity of being with someone who was meant to care and give her the world but instead turned it upside down on her at the worst time. She confesses the hardship she had to deal with it while still trying to keep her sanity dealing with moments of grief and hurt. This single has since become one of her standout joints, especially to those who felt the relevancy in her words & have been in similar positions while understanding her emotions in the moment of despair & loss. Her follow-up single titled “Home” is a standout joint for me, not just from the project but in general. I was left with so many positive feelings from it; thinking one thing and finding out the track meant so much more than that. Her heart cries about her affection for her daughter, the most important thing in her life; it resembles how her father felt about their relationship. She channels so much emotion in this single alone that you can feel her soul through the audio, which is so sentimental to the listener hearing her passion come out in a personal manner. Her next track, “Black Out Caddy,” doesn’t sound like the previous records, and it’s because she reminisces more about her adolescent years. In contrast, the other two tracks talk more about her present. In the track, you can hear her childhood singing in the production and continuing to break away more emotions than ever. Her outro record is powerful; I be lying if I didn’t say I teared up. She got to read the poem she made for her father while ending it by singing happy birthday since he, unfortunately, passed before seeing his next born day, so the track felt like a proper send-off that we know he heard and stared proudly at hearing it.

Shadoh didn’t hold anything back on this EP; she gave every bit of her heart to make it a special release. We admire her more as an artist and warrior; she’s a soulful person and someone to recognize as a blessing to the music community. To get a deeper perspective on her EP, we got to speak with Shadoh on her recording process and some of the personalable takeaways she had piecing this EP together and getting to know the true meaning of Familia.

We can start off light, and just see how Shadoh is living? How have the days been treating you lately?

Shadoh - Beautifully. Life gets busy with the different roles I play, and in the hustle of it all, but I chose to fill my life up with things that are important to me so I’m grateful for the way I live it. When I get to look back on a month of performing, hosting, creating, being a mom, friend, city explorer, and even employee, I’m proud.

We understand this project didn’t come easy and I’m sure it was difficult at times, what were some of the things that kept you focused on making sure this tribute was made special?

Shadoh - The main thing I kept in mind was that this project was for me. As important as the listener is, I wasn’t as focused on that for this EP. I was more focused on creating something to heal to. I really stayed in tune with my emotions throughout the process and made the commercially-pleasing aspect of music secondary.

From the cover art, the release date & the title, it was a dedication to honor your father who had recently passed away which you shared before sending me the project, it takes someone strong and with much heart to do something so beautiful and courageous, I have to ask, how did you do it?

Shadoh - Yes! The project actually started with ILY which was originally going to be a single. That song was made in hurt. But I guess I understood that that was just one moment. I felt like I wanted to tell the other sides of my family too so I wrote Blacked Out Caddy which was created to be a nostalgic song that painted out my childhood. After that, the whole idea came to me. An EP based on family, named after my dad’s chest piece tattoo, ready to drop on his Birthday. I knew his birthday would be hard for me so when the idea came, it felt like the perfect way to honor him. And one thing I was really proud of was how so many people that didn’t know him, wished my dad a Happy Birthday, knowing from the EP date. I know he would be proud of that.

Nowadays it’s hard to hear an artist wear their heart on the sleeve like you do especially throughout this EP, do you find it’s easier to let it all out for listeners to know the real you or do you feel comfortable expressing your personal life knowing those that listen truly do care?

Shadoh - I’ve always been a pretty vulnerable speaker and that’s what has drawn people to me throughout the years, but this is definitely my first time really doing it in my music. The amount of people who came to me, relating to losing a parent, relating to the toxicity of ILY, or the unconditional love of Home, was all reassurance that sharing those things helped others.

I always believed music to be the perfect way to vent or cope with emotions, no matter if you write, sing, rap or hum, you can find some peace getting lost in the music, is that where you mindstate was at when recording the project?

Shadoh - When writing, yes. And that’s because I started out in poetry so expressing that way comes naturally. Recording is still a few years new to me so that’s where the technicalities do start to play a part. But for the most part, I made sure I was tapping into those same emotions while also making sure it sounded good.

I love how you didn’t stick to one sound on the project, you made it as versatile as possible while keeping the subject matter the same, when recording does it matter too much if it’s different from the last track you did or do you based off what your feeling emotionally to begin your process?

Shadoh - Thank you for noticing that. It’s definitely both. I’m very intentional when it comes to giving the listeners' ears breaks. Some artists can do full albums in the same sound and keep the audience’s attention but for me, I like to keep the transitions fresh. At the same time, whatever the song turns into based off of emotion is cool with me as long as it’s different than the one before it.

In your record “Home”, it sounds like this would be your father’s point of view singing to you, is that a correct description of the track?

Shadoh - I’m so happy you get that from that song. Home is actually a song to my daughter BUT it was written to be multi-dimensional like that. I wrote it as a child AND as a parent, purposely choosing lyrics of things I wanted to hear as a child, things I could sing to myself for self-love, and things I could sing to my daughter.

The EP is only 4 tracks but it stands out being so powerful that it feels much more than that, was it always planned to have it four tracks?

Shadoh - It was planned to be 4 songs with the “Happy Birthday” audio as a 5th (interlude or an intro). I originally planned to add an anthem-like song based around family. Something you can turn up with your cousins to at the house party. That’s what people like to hear from me and those songs are fun to create but I couldn’t get there emotionally and I didn’t want to force it.

Normally, when hearing a poem in a project you’d hear it in the beginning but you decided to make it the outro which I think made it more genuine and heartfelt, how important was it to you leave the project off on such a personable note?

Shadoh - It was so important because I was going through so much before, during, and directly after my dad’s passing that I didn’t get to write him a poem for his memorial. I really wanted to do that because he was always so proud of my poetry. So I made it a goal to write/perform one before the year was up, and I’m grateful the EP allowed the perfect outlet for that. I guess in a way, that was my own personal memorial for him.

Do you feel like this EP was your coping mechanism for dealing with the recent loss you endured?

Shadoh - Yes. For sure. I was left to grieve alone and it’s still hard. I’ve always heard people say music was what saved them and I feel that. Creating these songs was healing during the process and they’re healing every time I listen to them now.

If you could sum up the EP in one word what would it be?

Shadoh - Intentional. Each piece is so intentional.

Is there anyone you want to shoutout or give thanks for helping you out on this project?

Shadoh - Yes, my engineer Stilo Jordan who recorded, mixed/mastered ILY and SetTheTone-T who recorded, mixed/mastered the other three tracks. Set also created the album cover and volunteered his voice in Blacked Out Caddy.

The Deep End with Shadoh on Familia