SOPHIA KAO
Hearing Sophia Kao’s voice for the first time is like stepping into a familiar, sultry, smoky bar at the end of a good night out. The warm, raspy, jazz-centered soul in her voice washes over you, wraps you up, keeps you company, and makes you want to stay a while.
For the singer-songwriter, injecting those feelings into her music is very intentional. A self-described introvert, she says her songs are her way to connect with people, to help her fans put their emotions into words, and to let them know they aren’t alone in whatever they’re going through.
Sophia grew up in a family that is heavily influenced by music, and got her start writing and performing in high school. She first gained a following when her covers of songs from the likes of Adele and Amy Winehouse started going viral, but it would be her own writing that would take her to the next level creatively.
In 2016, Sophia joined the second season of Song Kites, where her natural song-writing gifts blossomed. Her original song, “Hell”, which has garnered nearly 3 million streams on Spotify is a pared-down piano track, which showcases her lyrical chops and puts her emotionally-charged vocals front and center.
Since joining the Baramey team in 2020, Sophia has continued her musical evolution, incorporating R&B vibes into her jazz-inflected sound. Drawing on a range of inspirations from Sabrina Claudio to Billie Holiday, Summer Walker to Ella Fitzgerald, Sophia blends and bends genres in ways that have never been heard before in the Cambodian market.
Sophia’s ultimate goal, other than making her parents proud, is to push the Cambodian music industry even further. To give her country the sounds and lyrics they didn’t even know they were craving, and to prove to the world that Cambodian original music is a powerful force that’s here to stay.
