R&B Singer/Songwriter Zellie Drops Powerful New Single: "Skin"!

Written By: Philip Johnson

Self-love for Black skin is at an all-time high, and R&B artist Zellie is here to spread the message. The Houston-based singer/songwriter recently dropped his new feel-good single: “Skin”! After featuring Zellie on our list of indie summer jams back in July, I now got the chance to interview Zellie about his new single, “Skin”, and his music career. Check it out below and make sure to stream/buy Zellie’s music!

click here to listen to “Skin”

Where are you from?

I was born and raised in Houston, Texas.

Tell us the story of how you got into singing!

Well for starters, I found out about my singing abilities at the age of 12. When my parents were at work during the day and I’d get home from school, I used to literally sing at the top of my lungs and practice. I’m pretty sure an old neighbor or two has heard me before. Then I decided to share my gift of singing with my parents by singing at a karaoke event on a cruise ship in front of about 200 people in 2012. I knew from that point forward that I could actually pursue music after seeing the crowd’s positive reaction, my mom’s surprised face, and my dad’s chest poked out as if he knew I could sing prior to then. Now 8 years later, I’m here making musical art and enhancing my gifts everyday. Music is just stuck to my heart at this point.

You just dropped your new single “Skin”! What inspired this mesmerizing and uplifting song?

I wrote this song a year ago and kept it in the vault because I wasn’t sure if it was a song that I really wanted to release at the moment. Then 2020 came with a truckload of negative emotions in society and in my personal life, and I just gravitated to the positive message this song poured out. I’m really happy I made the decision to release this song. I believe the messages of loving yourself for who you are and living truly in your reflection are very important words for people to hear, especially with the state of the world we are currently living in.

CLICK HERE to listen to “Skin”

The cover art for “Skin” is breathtaking. Who helped you bring that vision to life?

I am blessed to work with an amazing production team at Melodic Soul Enterprises here in Houston. I came to them with concepts of what I thought would be cool for the cover art and ideas started to bounce back and forth and we eventually found ourselves looking through Pinterest for inspirations. I do not exaggerate when I say Pinterest is my best friend now. We came across the work of Hans Eric Olson, a wonderful photographer. He had photographed a beautiful picture of a dark-skin model with a rose placed on his shoulder and I said “this is gorgeous.” Anybody who knows me, knows I love flowers deeply. From then, the photographer and art work designer I worked with helped bring the inspiration to life and helped make it unique to me. This is my favorite cover art of my discography so far and the creation process was a great experience.

Is “Skin” a part of a larger project you’re working on?

Yes, this is the lead single of my new project, most likely an EP, which I will be releasing in 2021. I’m excited for people to hear what’s next. Also, I am working on a visual for this song. I haven’t released a music video since 2018, so I’m planning to make this visual a beautiful cinematic experience.

How do you envision this next era of your music career that you are stepping into?

This next era is all about self love and self acceptance. I’m in a state of mind where I’m truly accepting myself and not allowing anyone’s judgement or negative viewpoints of me affect my confidence and comfortability within myself. I’ve taken account of other’s thoughts primarily for so long and now I’m bringing my feelings, thoughts, and creativity to the forefront. I want to sing about things that make me happy and things I haven’t fully expressed in my art before like self worth, knowing what I deserve when it comes to love, sex, etc. My listeners will be learning more about me through my art moving forward, and I believe that “Skin” brought a great message to start this next era.

What is your favorite song from your “Love Progressions” era?

S.A.Y. is my favorite record from that era. From writing, producing, to recording the song, I loved every single aspect of it. When the song was done, I knew instantly it was going to be the lead single. It reintroduced my artistry and lyricism that I’ve enhanced ever since. I had to go rewrite and rerecord some of my other songs on the EP, because after finishing S.A.Y., I felt like the others could be better.

What is your experience like being a Black, LGBTQ+, R&B singer/songwriter?

It’s an experience that I’m loving every step of the way. Firstly, I love my skin (no pun intended), I love being black, and I wouldn’t change my background or culture for the world. Also being more comfortable in my sexuality in these recent years has been life changing for me. I’m happier now than I’ve ever been with myself. Adding those elements of me to my art of music has only made me even more joyful. I’m being myself now, which is something that I use to suppress in the past.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned through your career thus far?

Do what you want to do and be confident in it. Sing what you want to sing about. Be as creative as you want to be. People are going to find something negative to say about anything an artist does nowadays, no matter how much blood, sweat, and tears went into their art. So just make sure that you are happy with your product and that you’re being true with yourself. At the end of day, that is truly all that matters. Your real supporters will gravitate towards you and bring that positive light, but you have to be that light for yourself first.

Who are your dream collaborations?

Jhené Aiko. Her music speaks to me in every way possible. I’m speaking a collaboration with her into existence. She is a huge musical inspiration to me. Beyoncé, Solange, Sabrina Claudio, and Giveon are other widely known artists that I would love to collaborate with as well. Now for emerging artists, like myself, I would love to work with DRYX, TYVÁN, Furillostar, and Romen just to name a few. I love their music.

What messages do you hope to spread with your artwork and life?

I’m truly thankful for all the support and love that I’ve received in my career so far, and in return, I really hope I can inspire people to honor their authenticity. I used to live my life to please others whether it be people in my family, my friend groups, and even in the music business. My identity didn’t fully lye within me, so I had to take a step back and figure out what I wanted in life and in my art. I realized the one thing that makes me different is that I am myself. We all are unique in many ways, so let your light shine. Love the skin you’re in!