Singer-songwriter Storry is the definition of a well rounded artist. Trained in classical music, Storry captivates you with with her stage presence whether she's performing hip hop, R&B, neo soul or even gospel.
Her debut concept album CH III: The Come Up was released on Feb. 20, 2020 to critical acclaim. Her single "Another Man" was produced by reggae royalty Sly and Robbie, and nominated for a 2020 JUNO award.
As our good friends at YoLGBT Raps stated, "Storry makes music people write stories about!"
Watch a Snippet of Storry's Interview with YoLGBT Raps Below:
For new listeners, what is a song or video everyone should check out first to be introduced to you properly?
"Ahhh, I can't just pick one! I'm a multi-disciplinary artist and the two albums I released (both this year) are so different and span so many genres! If people like classic R&B and Rap, I would point them to the song, 'WORTH ft Thurz', if people are into a more folk-Adele type ballad, I would point them to 'A Lost Find', if someone wanted to learn more about my past life as a stripper, I would point them to the video for 'Money Ain't Free', some Aretha Franklin type belting with some raunchy lyrics, 'Fuck Me Good'. If someone wanted a sexy Pride anthem, I would point them to 'FOR NO ONE'. Reggae anyone? Then listen to 'Another Man', and if someone wanted an anthem for women empowerment, I would send them to "Bow Down"... the list goes on! haha.
But! If I had to pick only ONE thing, I would choose the clay animation music video called 'Up' that I wrote, directed, animated and edited myself in my mother's basement with no previous experience, along with two of my friends who also had no previous experience in film or stop-motion. This short film or music video has been in over a dozen film festivals and won some awards. I feel it shows my versatility as an artist as the singer, songwriter, producer, director and animator of the piece. So, 'Up' is my baby. Enjoy the watch!"
On Sept. 5, 2020 Storry released an EP of virtual collaborations completed while in isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. INTERLUDE-19 is another conceptual piece with an array of emotions and genres that take her listeners on a journey. Each short track (or interlude) is also paired with a music video.
"I really think there's something for everyone on these two concept albums (CH III: The Come Up and INTERLUDE-19). And I would encourage people to listen to them as a body of work, because I like to build stories in my albums (pun intended) not just singles."
In what ways would you like for the music industry to be more inclusive?
"I want to see more women, more LGBTQ2+ people, more POCs on many different sides of the industry represented properly. I'm not interested in seeing pathetic budgets being given to these communities. I personally am not interested in charity. We need a real team who can follow our vision and give us real, honest representation, not just what people think a 'pansexual, female, ex-sex-worker, artist' is supposed to look or sound like as the stereotype. I want to see more of these underrepresented groups as label execs, producers, directors, cinematographers... I read that in the UK only 20% of artists signed to labels are female. Now, I had an idea that this shit was skewed but I honestly didn't think it was still that bad in 2020!
When I was speaking to YoLGBT Raps, I told them the story about how before Cardi B came out, everyone was telling me not to tell my story in my music. That I had a great voice, but I should keep my life private. I said that it was important for me to represent the community I had been a part of for so many years, and that my why behind doing everything was to help uplift those women who are severely underrepresented in the world (not just in media). And then, when Cardi B came out, I was so happy because I thought, well now I can tell my story.
But then everyone again said, no, there's already a stripper in the music industry, we don't need two... It's infuriating! How many white, cis, average men do we have in front and behind the scenes of music and film. But we can't have two completely different women, in completely different genres, talking about two completely different sides of the sex-industry? We have a lot of people who are using the language of 'inclusivity' to ride a wave, but who aren't actually un-brainwashing their programming. So we end up with companies saying 'we have one of those kinds of people' on our roster, so we've done our part, and that's the end of progress.
And what does this breed? This sort of treatment builds a level of competition and the feeling of scarcity within our own communities. Which we just cannot have! If it sounds like I'm frustrated, I am! We deserve better.
BUT here's what we can do: My life changed when I realized that no one was gonna save me. So, I had to be my own superhero. And that's when I regained my power. We have to band together. We need to support each other. Do the work in finding more LGBTQ2+, POC and women to work with and build our team around our community and peers. Stop giving power and glory to the industry that is so faulty. We cannot fix anyone else but ourselves, so as cheesy as it sounds, we need to be the change we want to see in the world."