White Plains born and New York City-based singer-songwriter Sabrina Monique has released her debut album It’s Not Me, It’s You.
Born and raised in Brewster, Sabrina Monique has been performing to brighten others’ days since the beginning. Living with her single mother and grandparents in a tense environment, she quickly realized how much value there is in the power entertainment holds over someone’s emotions, and before long she was skipping high school classes for auditions in New York City.
Moving into an apartment in Manhattan at 17 with 12 other girls, Monique was determined to see her dreams through- and that she has. While auditioning, performing at the iconic Ellen’s Stardust Diner, and developing her personal sound, Sabrina auditioned for American Idol 2020 and landed herself a feature on the show’s nineteenth season.
While incredibly exciting, this opportunity proved to be challenging. Her entry into the pop industry came with subsequent body image issues as she felt the pressure to fit the “pop star ideal”. Emotionally tense and creatively stifled, the 2020 pandemic that put the world to a halt offered Monique a unique opportunity to create without inhibitions.
“I wrote everything I held in my body—it was like a faucet you couldn’t turn off.”
– Sabrina Monique
Tucked away in a Nashville studio, the songs seemed to just flow out of her. These tracks would eventually become her newly released debut album, It’s Not Me, It’s You.
A collection of dance songs, ballads, and seething guitar-heavy tracks, It’s Not Me, It’s You is a powerful series of battle anthems. Artistically liberated both in personal creativity and industry restraint, Monique tackles and gives voices to the stories of women fighting sexism, body imaging, the patriarchy, and the archaic stereotypes perpetuated throughout the music industry.
Tracks like her debut single “It Was Always You” take heartbreak and wrap it into an upbeat reggaeton-inspired dance-pop anthem, while “Love Again Unplugged” strips the layers of production and pretense down to their most raw forms in a vulnerable show of emotional honesty and growth.
“I needed to write this album to move forward. It’s been cathartic for me, and it represents stepping into my power. I pick my producer. I write my own music. I am the captain of my ship.”
– Sabrina Monique
A stunning collection of songwriting with contributions from hand-picked producers, It’s Not Me, It’s You is an admirable show of raw emotion and poetic ponderings from the mind of Sabrina Monique.
To learn more about Sabrina and keep up to date on her latest ventures, visit her official website here.
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