As recently as 2016, Sabrina Claudio was just another upcoming American musician who had initially gained fame for posting covers of popular songs on YouTube and was now seeking to make the difficult transition to original music. Many doubted if she could successfully make headway with her songs, but Sabrina refused to be detracted and has gone on to prove the doubting Thomases wrong.
Four years down the line, this R&B songstress has two highly acclaimed full-length albums to her name. She has also collaborated with several big names in the industry, including the likes of Khalid, 6lack, Zayn Malik, and Duckwrth, and has become a force that cannot be ignored. Renowned for her sensual and sultry delivery, Claudio now hopes to pen lyrics for other musicians and is even toying with the idea of opening a clothing line, specifically lingerie, someday in the nearest future.
Her Humble Beginnings As a Cover Artist on YouTube
Sabrina Claudio was born on the 19th of September 1996 in Miami, Florida. She grew up in Miami and developed a passion for music from an early age. This was thanks to the influence of her father, who was a big fan of R&B music. The young Sabrina grew up listening to the likes of Usher, Mariah Carey, Boyz 11 Men, Destiny’s Child, and down the line, she also incorporated bossa nova and jazz into her repertoire.
Armed with such a background, Sabrina Claudio naturally aspired to make a career in showbiz and started her career as a dancer and model. She recorded minimal success in these two ventures before making a transition to her true calling. Aged 14, Sabrina started penning her lyrics. She, however, realized that she may not gain much attention with her original songs, and therefore decided to go the covers route.
Sabrina began posting covers of popular songs on her YouTube channel (UrbanPouvoir), and later on, Instagram and Twitter. Some of the songs she covered were Halo – Beyoncé, Roar – Katy Perry, Lorde – Royals, Stay – Rihanna, You Know I’m No Good – Amy Winehouse, Female Energy – Willow Smith, and Emotion – Destiny’s Child. Her covers proved to be monster hits as her Halo cover was viewed 1.3 million times while her cover of Female Energy got over 1.2 million views. All these gave her the needed impetus to now drop her original music.
The Success of Her First EP and Mixtape, and Touring with 6lack
From singing other people’s songs, Sabrina Claudio progressed to making music and relocated to Los Angeles. She released her first three singles, Runnin’ Thru Lovers, Orion’s Belt, and Confidently Lost, in late 2016 on the music app, Soundcloud.
These songs resonated with fans, and it spurred the Miami native into dropping her debut EP, Confidently Lost, as well as a mixed tape, About Time, in 2017. Two of her songs, Unravel Me and Belong to You went on to chart on the Billboard Twitter Emerging Artist Chart. While the former reached number 22, the latter peaked at number 2.
Building upon the success of these two projects, the super talented Sabrina went on to collaborate with the likes of 6lack and Khalid. She featured Khalid on her song, Don’t Let Me Down, released in April 2018. She and 6lack then collaborated on the remix of her hit single, Belong to You. Additionally, Sabrina served as an opening act for 6lack on his Free 6lack 2017 tour.
Dropping Her Full-length Albums and Embarking on Tours
Sabrina Claudio dropped her debut studio album, No Rain, No Flowers, in August 2018. This was a momentous occasion for her, as it marked the culmination of all her hard work over the years, and she promoted the project by headlining her very first tour tagged the No Rain, No Flowers Tour. The album featured about eight tracks, including Come Here, Naked, and Cycle. It received good reviews from Rolling Stone, which described it as consistently suave and admirably steady.
Claudio dropped her sophomore album, Truth Is, in October 2019, and just like before, she backed it up with her second headlining tour across North America and Europe billed as Truth Is Tour. The album is described as an exploration of the dark side of love and features five singles, including As Long As You’re Asleep, Holding The Gun, On My Shoulders, and Rumour (a collaborative track with the former 1D member, Zayn Malik). Sabrina also paid homage to her Spanish roots by including a Spanish version of her single, Truth Is.
The Racism Allegations That Nearly Derailed Her Career
Sabrina’s career was nearly ended before it had even properly begun due to some racists posts that she had made on Twitter in 2013 and 2015. Back in April 2018, some vigilant online watchers uncovered the fact that the singer had used the n-word liberally on her account. They also discovered that she had created a second Twitter account, ODamnYourUgly, which she used to post disparaging and unattractive remarks about black women.
Such revelations did not go down well with many, and they called for a boycott of her music. They also called upon other black artists to stop collaborating with her. These sets of fans were especially peeved by the fact that Sabrina Claudio, a person of color, was making such hurtful remarks about fellow women of color. In the wake of these revelations, Sabrina deleted the offensive posts and issued an apology, in which she owned up to the fact that she exhibited ignorance in the past.
The singer begged for people’s forgiveness and stated that she was deeply sorry for her insensitive words. It seems that this apology must have worked as Sabrina is still forging on with her music career and has dropped two albums since then. There is, however, no doubt that her past ignorance would have cost her some fans.
Tracing Her Latina Roots
Speaking of Spanish roots, Sabrina Claudio is the daughter of a Puerto Rican dad, Damian Luis Claudio, and a Cuban mom, Minette Santos. Consequently, her ethnicity is Latina while her nationality is American. Claudio gets her passion for music from her parents. Her parents are music lovers and introduced her to R&B songs at a very young age.
Additionally, they also fully supported her decision to pursue music as a full-time career. In the singer’s own words, there was a time her parents believed in her talent more than she even believed in herself, and for this reason, they agreed to relocate from Miami to Los Angeles to give her the chance to pursue her dreams. This uncommon belief and sacrifice have not been in vain, and the couple now has a star musician for a daughter.
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