Today we’d like to introduce you to Xyzsa Love.
Hi Xyzsa, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was 7 years old when I wrote my very first song with my sister and our best friend “Let’s Change the World Today”. Now at 21, not a year has passed where that very sentence, phrase, or idea hasn’t resonated with the person I’m becoming, where I want to be, and that natural confidence and hope that I’ve found within myself through and throughout music. I believe that humans exist and find life through connection, to anyone or anything. I believe that music has the power to connect to even the least of those we might think are unreachable. Music has reached me, and saved my life countless times, and if I’ve been gifted with a chance to share that with someone else, I know I’ll always have a purpose in the world. Those moments bring me complete joy, almost like spreading the Gospel. And as a person of faith, I have no one else but God to thank.
Although I discovered my gift at a young age, music wasn’t always my focus. The most I remember from my childhood was trying different things and sticking to the ones I excelled in. Coming from a half 1st and half 2nd Gen Asian/Filipino family in America, it’s common to see parents setting their children up for success at a young age. You can only hope your kid will discover similar passions as you and live out that dream, almost as an extension of you. For my father, his dream was to be a pro soccer player, and that sport is where I excelled. From age 6, til my freshman year of high school, I was lucky enough to see that I was always on the winning team. I went as far as to playing Olympic Development programs, winning 2 National Champion titles, and attending monthly training sessions that considered me a National Soccer Pool Team player and prepared the future USWNT for soccer. I always knew that was big, but I felt that I could be part of something bigger than myself. It was a huge decision for me– comparing the impact of what music has done for me versus what I could offer on a team sport and realizing and choosing between something unknown to me and something familiar. Choosing music, to me, meant choosing myself for the first time, and that’s also a testimony to something I’ve always struggled with. But choosing this path meant a beginning to self-expression, bringing out a voice in me that’s meant to be heard, and exploring what purpose truly means to me.
Saying goodbye to my soccer career in high school was a huge turning point in my life. Since I wanted a future with music, my parents found an arts school in Dallas, Booker T. Washington HSPVA. Since it was a magnet school, auditions were required. I remember having just a week to prepare for those auditions, and I’ll never forget the feeling I had going through that process. Every page on that audition booklet was like trying to read a language you’ve never seen before. There weren’t many figures in my life that I could ask for advice from at the time, so I went into those auditions with a prayer and a song I wrote the night before. To this day, I’d say it was a miracle that I even made the waitlist. When the time came and I transferred, I spent my first year in high school playing catch up to my peers, feeling undeserving of opportunity, and second guessing my worth. Though it was never easy to get through, there was always a voice telling me that there’s a reason I’m here, God has a plan for you. Until today, I understand that choosing to pursue my passion meant that the road will almost always be uncertain, but I find certainty in that as long as I’m able to find my purpose behind it, it’s worth pursuing.
It wasn’t til junior year of high school, I found myself breaking the narrative and seeing how my own songs being recognized by others started to influence those around me to create what they want and what they love. I was finally starting to believe in a future in music for me.
Senior year came around and covid hit. It felt like everything positive that I finally started to receive and worked for, was being taken away from me. I was determined to still make the most of the year, and took every opportunity that was there. That year I was able to write an original song and release it with Broadway, Had Dallas Morning News and WFAA News do a story on my journey, and even got to participate in an online event and perform my music for Dr. Jill Biden, aka the current FLOTUS.
Opportunities felt like they came flooding in and others seeing my success in it made me feel on top of the world at times and those too-good-to-be-true moments. Graduation came and went, and I soon realized the real test was figuring out what’s next for you, now that this path is really in your hands. Another surreal opportunity came to me right after graduation. I had the chance to go on a national tour for a rising star Rapper, Rod Wave, to be his guitarist. It wasn’t something I was all about, but felt given to me by fate. This opportunity also revealed many things about myself I never knew, but brought me to where I am now.
I realized I was put into a loop of peer pressure to achieve and always be an example of greatness. I realized I had lost purpose, and never really gave myself a chance to sit down and ask what I wanted.
Tour was the first time I was away from home for over 3 months with strangers, learning for the first time how to work with a band, and going out to call myself a professional. I never felt that way, but to everyone else, it seemed like I had it all. Halfway through tour, I lost myself. My mental health was in shambles, I lost relationships to those most important to me, I just didn’t believe in myself. I believed that as long as someone else believed in me, that’s all I would need to push forward and do it. So when there was no one, I couldn’t even be there for myself. I hit rock bottom and had a choice to either continue to find the purpose I know is out there for me, or to end it in belief that it couldn’t get any better. Proverbs 3:5-6 . The most important thing I took from that experience was my personal growth mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I realized God had bigger plans for me than I thought and believed it was best to surrender to those plans by discovering who I am, healing the parts of me that need to be healed, and embracing the process of transformation and change. Since then, I’ve decided to meet myself again.
After tour, I promised myself not to work on any music until I believed I was enough for myself. Until now, it’s still something I struggle with but feel strongly about. Getting back into music was transformational. I realized that the health of my soul and spirit reflects onto what I create as an artist, and I now value being one who is authentic and uses their voice to show who they are and what they care about.
I finally believe in that future for myself again and am continuing to discover who I am through and out of music every single day. Since then, I’ve restarted my own independent artist career. I’m slowly making connections all over the world, playing shows with confidence and joy, using every moment to spread a bigger message, and share my story with others to inspire them to find their own. I always want my work as an artist to reflect who I am and want my artistry and my story to radiate authenticity, open-mindedness and growth. I’ve never loved everything I create as much as I do now, and I can only hope my career blossoms in what I love.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A year before I entered high school, my mom became pregnant with twins and at 41 years old, she was high risk of early delivery, having Pre-eclampsia. It was unexpected for my family and we went through a lot of changes. My mom gave birth to the twins at 27 weeks. My family spent 4 months basically back and forth at the hospital with the twins in the NICU, praying that they will make it through every moment. My grandma, who I’m very close to, also faced a stroke and was in the hospital around the same time. Though it was a tough time for all of us, we’re very blessed that we made it through. Although both twins have some setbacks in development, they are my inspiration, our sunshines that continue to make us all proud.
As an Asian-American woman, there haven’t been a lot of influences of asian women in the American music scene, and women alone. I find myself always collaborating with mainly male musicians, and most communities of male artists. Also coming from a family where pursuing art might not be seen as an ideal career, it’s been challenging to feel support coming from your family, or finding those to confide in with similar experiences. This has also led me to be more present in learning about my roots and finding that asian community within the arts to express that side of me more.
There are lots of work-life balance issues in our fast-hustle culture today, and as a minority pursuing a dream career in music, there are lots of talks of mental health that goes unspoken. I want to continue speaking out on my weaknesses and battling with that in my journey and be a voice for others in that through my music.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Most of my life I’ve only solely been a singer-songwriter. I loved to listen and create all genres of music, but lacked the ability to make it come to life the way I see and hear it. It wasn’t until after covid when I started to take matters into my own hands, expanding my abilities and stepping out of my comfort zone to learn how to produce music.
I’m proud to be an Asian/Filipina-American woman pursuing an independent artist career where I can create everything on my own. Being self-taught, I write, perform, record, and produce mainly all of my music and everything that I have out. I love to infuse many genres into my work. Right now I’m discovering music I enjoy listening to, and creating something that gives me that exact, free feeling. I believe my gift in songwriting and production is strong and I’m exploring my song-writing and producing career to make hits for other great Artists in the American and K-pop scene.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Before pushing myself to explore self-production, my music felt one-dimensional without the skills to bring my ideas to life and only knowing to play and sing.
When the pandemic began, I would work virtually with a couple producers on my original songs, but found it frustrating in the process in not being able to explain my ideas in order for the producer to execute it in the way I wanted. It was enough for me to hear how much life it brought to my songs to have them produced or played live with a band. As a new independent artist, hiring a team or even renting studio time became costly and inaccessible during the pandemic, so it forced/motivated me to become a self-taught producer.
Being able to finally bring the potential of my songs out overtime proved to me that even something I have 0 interest or confidence in is still more attainable and possible than I think. I believe there will always be challenges in life, but if you can learn to acknowledge and appreciate your self-growth and improvement, then the ‘impossible’ will begin to feel ‘possible’!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://xyzsalove.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xyzsalovemusic/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XyzsaLove/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrUCHoXrjZjpy1zLyhZsJjQ
- Soundcloud: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4e0cYx2HlmPQvzJzQe0W61
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@xyzsalovemusic
