Black & Magazine Staff
Recently, Black & Magazine got the opportunity to chat with local songstress fav, Brisa Lauren whose recent music and accompanying visuals are turning heads and perking ears. Born and raised in San Diego, Brisa’s Black and Latina ethnic mix is reflective of what she says, “San Diego’s border town diversity.”
Armed with an associate’s degree in Black Studies coupled with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Point Loma Nazarene, this creative spirit does more than belt melodic tunes that soothe the soul.
By day, Brisa can be found actively involved in social justice work, functioning as Civic Engagement Manager Statewide for United Domestic Workers, and the Homecare Providers Union, where she engages and trains union members throughout California on Civic Engagement strategies while educating member voters on local and state campaigns. The mother of a “young king” named Josiah Rai, Brisa also manages to carry the title of lead coordinator for the creation of the San Diego Black Worker Center, with the purpose of building power through organizing Black workers and building an equitable economy for Black people.
Apart from her social justice work and motherhood, Brisa is the lead singer of San Diego’s award-winning band The Lyrical Groove and is now embarking on her first solo project titled “In Her Stillness”.
- What got you into music?
My father introduced me to music when I was 4yrs old. He was a producer/songwriter and started bringing me to the studio to sing on a few tracks. I still have the recordings of 4yr Brisa singing a song called “colorblind”. I grew up surrounded by musicians starting with him on the piano. I started singing in the choir at age 9 and joined a worship team in high school where I fell in love with harmonizing. As I’ve gotten older, music has been my therapy, and writing songs has been a deep exhale. Although music isn’t my only love, she was my first and I wouldn’t be able to live without her.
- How do you balance your profession with being a creative?
Music feels so much a part of me, the balance between my career and my creativity came fairly easy when I was just performing. These days, however, because I am in the process of creating a whole new project, the balance includes very little sleep and dressing like my 10yr old son, whatever I can grab first lol. I’m extremely organized so to keep balance my calendars are broken into color-coded categories and they are connected to google folders where I keep any and all documents related. I make multiple checklists of things I need to do, starting with the project as a whole, and then I break it down into a weekly checklist and daily checklist. Sounds like a lot, but it allows me to free up space in my mind so I can manage both effectively. Protecting my energy has also been crucial to my balance. My days are extremely long, some nights I am up till 4 am to get it done, so keeping genuine folks around me who care about and protect my mental health is so important.
- What has creating been like for you during this pandemic?
A true blessing in disguise! Creating during the pandemic had its struggles at first. Studios shut down before I was able to finish with recording and without a clear timeline, we couldn’t put a release date out and it caused some anxiety considering I lost all control over my project completion. The blessing came in the midst of being still. All of my shows for 2020 were canceled, which hurt at first, but it gifted me time to sit with creative ideas, expand and execute properly. Before the pandemic, I was planning an EP release with 4 songs and one visual. Without giving away too much of what’s still to come, the pandemic allowed me to increase the vision to 7 songs, multiple visuals, merchandise, and a few other layers soon to be public. The biggest blessing was being able to work with and hire other local creatives who also found themselves in new creative spaces!
- You’ve been releasing some amazing music singles and visuals lately. What is the inspiration for your latest work?
Thank you very much! Honestly, love was the biggest inspiration. All my writing comes from real-life experiences, a lot of times painful ones and this song, in particular, was inspired by how hard I loved someone and in return how much I wasn’t loving myself. It’s a love letter to myself in sense. A moment of exhale.
- What is the message you’d like listeners to get from “Note to Self”?
Although the song does have a message, I really wrote it for the folks who have lost themselves in love and needed to hear the words they think to themselves out loud. I wrote it so that anyone who hears it, myself included, can catch their breath and know it’s okay to take the L because we never lose, we just learn.
But the message would be to surrender and be honest with yourself about the role you play in the events that happen to you. We spend a lot of time focusing on individuals we have absolutely no control over. If we spent more time self-reflecting and taking accountability, we’d all have more peace of mind and the best you can do for the people around you is be a better you every day you get another chance.
Check Brisa out and support! You won’t be disappointed. Her music is available on all music platforms. Lastly, To learn more about Brisa Lauren and to get in contact with her visit brisalauren.com
