To define a genre like hyperpop is a daunting task. Notorious for its digital-glitch sounds, intentionally-tuned high-pitched singing, and communal embracement of the superficiality of pop music, its intentionally abrasive nature can be mistaken for outsider art.
In art galleries or other visual mediums, you can see an amalgamation of contrived methods in one foolproof measure and go about your day. Hyperpop, because it is music, is a bit abstruse. The genre originally hails from the late 80s, drawing inspiration from the Cocteau Twins.
SOPHIE, the woman who would lead the modern hyperpop revolution, in many ways was just as difficult to describe. Staying borderline anonymous for years, with a slim number of interviews available, information regarding SOPHIE was limited. Originating from a toss-up between Glasgow and Northampton (her history is as elusive as she is), she knew who she wanted to be from a very young age.
Reportedly expressing the desire to be a producer since she was around nine, she thanks her father for taking her to raves early on and introducing her to cassette tapes containing electronic music.
“I said I wanted to quit school when I was nine, ten years old. I wanted to be an electronic-music producer, and obviously they didn’t let me and I had to go through with the whole thing, but he definitely had some instincts that were really important to me. I think there is a creative aspect to that, certainly an ability to see into the future and not be about some bullshit nostalgia. Not someone that’s like, ‘Sixties, ’70s, this is the real rock and roll.’ He was always like, ‘That was rubbish. Electronic music’s the future.'”
SOPHIE, Lenny Letter
After getting her first keyboard and gathering any technical equipment she could get her hands on, she embarked on her musical journey. She would lock herself in her room every day after school in her adolescence, working to produce an album on her own. She would slowly start to take up DJ gigs, thanks to a request from her half-sister, making these first performances the highlight of her childhood.
Like many luminaries of the early 2010s, she gained a following from the musical social media platform SoundCloud. She originally started in the independent band Motherland, playing throughout Berlin and the UK from 2008 through 2009. Through Motherland, she remixed “A Certain Person” by Light Asylum and posted it to their respective Soundcloud. This remix was featured on Light Asylum’s EP In Tension, boosting her name separate from the band. Taking this opportunity in stride, she would work on other projects, including working with music label PC Music.
It was 2012 when she met A. G. Cook, the alleged Godfather of hyperpop, first named by Spotify editor Lizzy Szabo, who was also referred to as a “fate-maker” by artist Fraxiom, who also played a role in boosting hyperpop’s popularity via Spotify. A. G. Cook reached out to SOPHIE through her website after hearing her Soundcloud demos, ecstatic that he could find another person who shared his esoteric view on pop music.
“I first met Sophie on October 13th, 2012 – an unlikely meeting before BIPP and before PC Music, both of which would materialise the following June. I’d in fact stumbled on a demo of BIPP on SOPHIE’s soundcloud earlier that summer, and immediately emailed her elusive MSMSMSM.COM address… But right at the top, two 30 second tracks – BIPP (DEMO) and OOH (DEMO) – that I listened to on repeat. I couldn’t believe that there was someone out there, let alone someone in London, with such a strong vision and almost no regard for the walls between pop and experimental art.”
A. G. Cook, agcook.com
He would later run PC Music, with SOPHIE occasionally collaborating with artists under the label. One notable example is the one-off collaboration project Hey QT in 2014, which ended up being the debut single of artist Hayden Dunham.
2013 onwards is when SOPHIE’s career started to catapult. After 2013 when SOPHIE first started releasing music under Huntleys + Palmers with debut single “Nothing More to Say,” she would later release “BIPP,” receiving rave reviews from critics. What would be her most popular single that year was released in August– “LEMONADE.”
She would chart on Billboard for the first time, peaking at number 2 on the real-time Trending 140 chart, and number 8 on the Emerging Artists chart. This also led to the song being played in an advert for McDonald’s.
The success of the singles jumpstarted her collaboration with pop singers and rappers, most famously with Charli XCX, Kim Petras, and Madonna. Along with producing her compilation album, Product, she produced the majority of Charli XCX’s EP Vroom Vroom, and later, XCX’s next work Number 1 Angel. She would co-produce and write for Petras’s single, “1, 2, 3 Dayz Up” off the mixtape Era 1.
She would work on Vince Staples‘ single “Yeah Right”, with similar production fans would compare to her own single “Faceshopping,” and co-produce his single “Samo.” She would also work on the track “Bitch, I’m Madonna” by the aforementioned singer, and “B Who I Want to B” featuring Namie Amuro alongside singing software Hatsune Miku, tuned and arranged by the beloved Mitchie M.
In 2017, SOPHIE began rollout for promotion of studio album Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides. She released the music video “It’s Okay To Cry” featuring herself, one of the first instances where SOPHIE’s image was publicized. In various publications of any sort regarding the producer, there would be a noticeable lack of pictures, gendered terms only being used by associates regarding her in other settings.
One notable example of her former anonymity was when SOPHIE hired a performer to mime a DJ set at Boiler Room, with SOPHIE onlooking as a bodyguard. SOPHIE took the spotlight put on her from the video to answer questions about herself, specifically her identity and what she would like to be referred to as.
Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides was lauded with positive critical reception. Metacritic gave the album a whopping 86/100, Pitchfork giving a noteworthy 8.6/10, and Rolling Stone with 4/5 stars. The album would later secure SOPHIE’s first Grammy nomination for Best Dance/Electronic Album. This acknowledgment from the Grammys made her the first transgender woman to be nominated for this category, and one of few that have been nominated at all. SOPHIE would later release a remix album titled Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides Non-Stop Remix Album in 2019.
SOPHIE’s memory lives on after her unfortunate passing in 2021 in Athens. Her legacy acts as an endless source of inspiration for millions, a testimony to SOPHIE’s indescribable talent and kindness. Charli XCX has reportedly dedicated her album Crash to SOPHIE and recently announced the song “So I” on upcoming album Brat was also inspired by her.
Kim Petras has also gone on to thank SOPHIE during her acceptance speech at the Grammys, naming her prior accomplishments as laying the groundwork for her and others. A. G. Cook has also dedicated a blog post to SOPHIE, detailing their rich history up until her untimely passing. The list goes on for all the people SOPHIE has touched in one way or another. She was a true revolutionary and visionary. To know SOPHIE is to love her, and there will never be another force quite like her.
If you’re interested in getting to know more about the legend of SOPHIE, you can find her work on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music.
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