5 Questions with Soleima

We spoke with the Copenhagen-based musician, Soleima, about her new single Paper, which is now available on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music and more. With Soleima’s distinct sound, her dainty vocals have her standing out from the crowd.

The song is about daring to do the things you wanna do, despite what other people (society) think. It is a response to efficiency and the feeling that everything evolves around time and money. Also it is about appreciating the people who believe in you when you go out on the limb, both when you succeed and when you fall.

Paper is the 2nd single on Soleima’s debut 7-track mini-album ‘No. 14’ via Parlophone Music Denmark and Big Beat Records. This is Soleima’s induction into the world of music as a solo act following her past with the hip-hop group, Flødklinikken.

Lovers! My new single ‘Paper’ will be out this friday. Excited to share❤️

A post shared by Soleima (@soleima__) on Sep 13, 2017 at 7:49am PDT

London SOLD OUT ❤️ See u in september pic.twitter.com/32OxGKVplR

— SOLEIMA (@SOLEIMAMUSIC) August 25, 2017

Your single ‘Breathe’ did impressively well; about 1,300,000 streams on Spotify. What was the message behind that track?
Breathe was written at a time when I felt extremely scared in our world. In light of that, to me, Breathe is a runaway song. It is about the desire to escape life; wanting to distance yourself completely from everything happening. But also it is about the guilt you can feel about the sudden urge to just run away from everything.

You have your own distinct sound. How do you feel this has you stand out from the crowd?
I think it is extremely important to find your ‘own voice’ in life. In everything you do. That is very much what I am trying to do with my music. Make the songs I love and stand by them. People might love it or hate what I do, but as long as I am proud of it that is what matters. Not that I am immune to hate though!!!! All we need is love 🙂

Your new single “Paper” just released today. What’s the message you’d like to share with this song and what was the inspiration behind it?
‘Paper’ is a song about daring to do what you love. It was a song I kind of wrote at a time when I didn’t really know what path to choose, the safe or the unsafe. I realized the privilege in being able to choose at all, which made me sure about always choosing what I love to do no matter the cost. Also it is a praise of the people in my life who are there no matter what – both when things are good and when things are tough.

Why do you feel it is important to live your life the way you want to without caring how people feel about it?
It is an extreme privilege to be able to do what you want to do. To have your dream job, to choose who you want to love etc. When you have the chance, why not choose to be happy? Also in these times, with social media and all, people seem to think very hard about what other people think of them, including myself. I think it is unavoidable to take some part of that. But we should help each other to appreciate differences and recognize people who dare to be themselves no matter what others think of them. A little pocket philosophy from me, haha 🙂

‘Contrast’ means ‘to be strikingly different’ which is why we’re Contrast Magazine. What makes you strikingly different?
Haha, that is a very difficult question indeed. We are not used to being asked those kinds of things here in Scandinavia, I think. I know that something people find unique about me is my voice. I think I have that kind of voice that people either love or really don’t like. I am happy about that. It forces people to relate to what I do, I think.

You can stream the track on our Contrast Recommends playlist on Spotify!