10 Questions: Aby Coulibaly

We had a chat with Aby Coulibaly about releasing her first single, creating her own label and the future of her music.

21-year-old Singer Aby Coulibaly only has one song out, but she’s already quickly gained a strong organic following. She released her first single ‘Taurus‘ this July following the creation of a new label Chamomile Records with her close collaborators.

We caught up with the rising star to chat her inspirations, aspirations and what is on the horizon.

Tell me about yourself and your background.

So I was born in Dublin and grew up here where I still live now. I grew up surrounded by 90s r&b music from my Mam who listened to Lauryn Hill, Boyz II Men, baby face and loads of others and then Reggae and Senegalese music from my Dad so I’ve always had a love for these genres and it’s where my love from music came from since I was a baby.

Who are your biggest musical inspirations?

Some of my biggest musical inspirations would be James Blake, Jordan Rakei, SiR, Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, I’ve got so many to be honest but they’d be my top faves.

What was it like releasing your first single?

Releasing my first one was so exciting and nerve wracking for me. We had put no money behind it in terms of promoting or marketing so I had no idea what to expect. i was just buzzing for people to hear it really.

What was the inspiration behind your single ‘Taurus’?

So I was inspired to write Taurus after getting over a guy I was hung up on at the time. He wasn’t sure what he wanted so I told him not to waste anymore of my time and ended things coz I knew I deserved better. I didn’t intentionally write this song about the situation, it just kind of happened because that’s what was on my mind at the time when I freestyled over the beat.

What was the process of making the video like?

We flew to Amsterdam to shoot it on VHS and it was soo much fun because it’s basically just clips of me exploring the city in the sun. The 4K shots were shot back here in Dublin after coming back from Amsterdam. I enjoyed making the video so much because that was my first ever music video and it got me excited to make more.

When did you start making your own music?

So I’ve been singing forever but I only started writing my own music just over a year ago when I released my first SoundCloud song I wrote called ‘ on my own’ over a YouTube beat but when I started working with my producer Moyo that’s when I started to really find my sound and we’ve been working on lots of tracks since which you’ll hear pretty soon.

How have you been getting on this year with the lockdown?

I’ve definitely had my ups and downs as most people have. I’m not a very emotional person so the only way I know how to cope with my emotions is to put them into music. My next release that’s coming out next Friday was actually written when I was going through a really tough time during lockdown. 

What can we expect from you in the future?

Alotttt more music, this is only the beginning for me. I’m really excited to show people the versatility in my music.

What have been your landmark moments in your music career?

So far it’s been shooting my video and having complex uk premier it, that was a big deal for me and just a taste of what’s to come.

Tell me about Chamomile Records.

Chamomile records is a label that was set up by myself, Monjola and our producer Moyo. It came about when we decided to go the independent route and we thought why don’t we just set up our own independent label so that’s what we did. I always have some chamomile tea when we’re recording/writing music in the studio so that’s where the name came about.

Listen to ‘Taurus’ here: