Life came full circle for SAAY on Aug. 9 as she made her solo debut at Zone One in Brooklyn, all the while fans braved stormy weather to watch the beloved South Korean R&B singer.
When SAAY was five years old, she lived in Brooklyn with her family, and while the memories of the bustling city are vague, it will always remain a special part of her life. Now, as an adult, SAAY shares that she feels a sense of wonder and disbelief that she has made it this far in her musical career with a solo concert in the same borough she grew up in.
“I’ve been doing music my entire life. I wrote music for my album since I was 15 years old,” SAAY said. “My name is SAAY and it comes from what I want to say through music. I want to be a person who can really say my feelings as a human being through music.”
Perhaps it was New York City’s roots in rhythm and blues that latched onto SAAY as a child, either way, her ability to share stories through music with a soulful voice transcends language. With songs in English and Korean, SAAY lives up to her namesake in which she wants to express to the world all of the emotions she is experiencing.
“It’s all about balance,” SAAY said, “For me, it’s about expressing coming and going energies. Our experiences with people, jobs, and every moment that just comes and goes.”
Sitting in the Zone One green room, her makeup artists applying a layer of black eyeliner, SAAY mentally prepared herself for her first US performance. She was especially grateful that despite the gust of winds and rainfall amid the ongoing Hurricane Debbie, droves of longtime and new fans were already lining up outside the venue for a chance to meet her.
“I am so lucky and blessed to do this,” SAAY said.
Wearing a silver dress and platform boots, she excitedly signed autographs, posed for photos, and chatted with her devoted supporters for several minutes at a time.
Some burst into tears upon seeing SAAY, stating that they have been fans since 2017 and have long awaited her arrival in the United States. Others threw their arms in the air and screamed with delight when they saw their favorite singer.
One couple, Esther and James traveled from Fort Lee to see SAAY and expressed their appreciation for her work, adding that they read about her arduous journey in the music industry and were so thankful for her story because it resonated with them.
“I had a low, and I started listening to you and I am very inspired by you,” Esther confessed.
James handed SAAY his guitar strap and asked her to both sign it and share some musical advice with him.
“As someone who started to sing and produce, when you are writing music what drives the song? Is it what you have to say or is it the melody and the chord progression,” James inquired.
SAAY smiled brightly as she answered the question honestly, adding that to have fans who are inspired by her work touched her heart and made her want to cry.
“I was the kind of person who started with the basic steps in making sketches and making tracks that go with the melody and then lyrics and rearranging things. But now my name is based on the word ‘say’ from myself to the music, that’s what it is based on. So right now, I am trying to write the lyrics first, to write my real stories from real inside of me, and then I go with the melodies and then I do sketches from the tracks,” SAAY told her fans.
The emotional interactions did not end with her meet and greet session, through high energy SAAY danced around the Zone One stage to outstretched hands. Belting out high notes like the perfect amalgamation of Lady Gaga and Nina Simone, SAAY solidified her reputation as an all-star singer that night.
SAAY’s next US performance will be in Los Angeles at the Moroccan Lounge on Aug. 15.
