Thesis Statement:
Cleo Sol is a very underrated music artist. Her singing abilities are godly. She is probably one of the best R&B/ Neo-Soul artists in the music industry today. She is known in the UK music industry but not commercially successful around the world yet as she should be.
Who is Cleo Sol?
Cleopatra Zvezdana Nikolic was born on March 24th, 1990, in Ladbroke Grove, London, United Kingdom to a Swedish mother and a Jamaican father. She currently had a child with her husband and music partner, Inflo. He helps her with her music and is a music producer.
Growing up she had a Jamaican dad, so she listened to a lot of reggae, including Bob Marley, Culture, Bad Brains. She listened to R&B artists like Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, and Erykah Badu.
Cleo Sol's Career
In Cleo Sol’s early career, she was featured on a song with a famous UK rappe, Tinie Tempah. This was in 2008 and she gained traction and label attention from this song. A few yers later, Cleo sol was signed to Dirty Canvas, a sub label under Island Records. She released singles but not an album. She took a musical hiatus form 2012-2017. In 2020, she released her first album, Rose in the Dark and it gained commercial success in the Neo-Soul industry. Everybody knows Cleo Sol and her first album.In the year of 2021, she released an album called Mother. She gave birth to her first child in 2021 and captured all of her feelings into an album, giving new mothers something to listen and relate to in their journey of motherhood. Recently this year in September, she has released two albums. First one named, Heaven is filled with songs that doubt herself. But by the end of the album, there are songs that fulfill one’s ego and self-love. Same with the second album she released this year no more than two weeks later. That secondlabum is called, Gold. Gold is filled with upbeat songs that uplift the listener. She barely performs but lately she has been performing in opera houses where her performances has been more intimate.
Awards and Social Involvement
She is a very underground artist so she does not submit her music for any awards neither does she really get recognized in many awards shows. She also just started singing again after her hiatus. Her first release after almost a decade hiatus, was in 2020. She is recognizable in Generation Z in London, especially her hometown. Generation Z on social media appreciates her and this can be proven by the TikTok below. She speaks to her younger audience becuase they more identify with self-doubt.
Bibliography
https://cleo-sol.com/ This website is Cleo Sol’s official website. This is where she mainly sells her merch and where most people can stream her music if they do not know where to go.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/cleo-sol-mn0002448381#discography This website is for all music. If you were to click on this website, it would go to Cleo Sol’s discography starting with all her singles to her main albums.
https://pitchfork.com/Reviews/Albums/Cleo-Sol-Heaven This website is to see a professional critic reviewing all of her albums starting off with “Heaven”.
Cleo Sol – Why Don’t You | A COLORS SHOW – YouTubeYouTube · COLORS20.8M+ views · 5 years ago This is a performance of “Why Don’t You”, a song off her debut album.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Kf9wtNJFshA This website is a YouTube short showing Generation Z’s appreciation for Cleo Sol and her singing abilities.
