There’s a good chance you haven’t heard of V. Bozeman. The Californian R&B soul singer hasn’t had much exposure in Australia, but if you’re a fan of hip hop drama Empire, you’ll recognise this lady’s voice for sure. Bozeman has garnered much attention since her attention-snatching appearance in the show’s pilot episode and recently has been working hard with mentor Timbaland on her debut album Music is My Boyfriend. At SXSW this year, we linked up with the South Central LA native to find out more about what she’s got planned for 2016.
“You know, I feel grateful.” she says of Empire‘s effect on her career. “It was a really big year for me. It catapulted my career in a tremendous way. 2015 was just a start of my dreams basically coming true.”
Though her emergence as a talented vocalist has only really been recognised over the past year or so, Bozeman’s been singing and refining her craft from a young age.
“I started off singing at Church,” she says. “Exercising my vocals on that platform and just basically singing all my life. I was singing everywhere I could throughout the years; the journey started from LA to Atlanta, back to LA to girl groups, to working with great people like Cee Lo, Timbaland, the Babyfaces… It’s just me here [though], it’s just been a long journey.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v1DfH6AVPs
Music is My Boyfriend, set for release this year through Timbaland’s Mosely Music Group and Epic Records, has seen Bozeman connect with some phenomenal R&B producers and writers through a process that has taught much about her own style of writing and musicianship.
“It’s just such an amazing creative space,” Bozeman says of the creative process. “You see people that live and breathe the thing called music and you just see the gift in action. Time flies by and you’re just in this room of greatness and it’s so fluid. When I’m working with people like them, they stay in this creative zone and they know how to get the best out of you and how to make that atmosphere just so ideal for creating that magic. I just enjoy it and I get lost in it. I can be with those guys from sun up to sun down and won’t even realise how much time has gone by.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOiDcd6Aqyg
While music is very much a priority for Bozeman, she’s also continue to explore acting (her role as Veronika on Empire has become a recurring one) and other creative avenues as the year rolls out. Her focus on the development of her music is one she speaks of strongly however and it’s one we’re very keen to see more of once Music is My Boyfriend sees release.
“It just allows you to grow constantly,” she says of recent sessions in studio. “I learn so much – I’m like a sponge! You just have to be in the room, learning and being open and just trying to stretch yourself as best as you can – as much as you can, so you can operate on the highest level that you can go. I’m just in the space where I’m in a great creative space and I’m definitely am clearer on who I am, or what my lane is, and how to carve that out.”
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Find out more about V. Bozeman here!
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