ESSENCE.com’s “New and Next” column spotlights the brightest new talents we think you should know. This week we highlight R&B’s newest treasure, singer/songwriter Stacy Barthe.
Who is Stacy Barthe? Barthe is a Brooklyn-born, Los Angeles-based singer, who started off as a songwriter, penning songs for the likes of Rihanna, Alicia Keys and Kelly Rowland. Last year Barthe was ready to transition from songwriter to artist so she released the EP, Sincerely Yours, to tons of buzz. The heavy 8-track EP, detailing Barthe’s heartbreak and journey to self-love proved to be cathartic. “I was really hurting,” she tells ESSENCE.com, “and through the music I healed.”
The 26-year-old’s latest release latest EP In the InBetween finds her in a happier place. “I took another vibe with this project, it’s more Caribbean,” she says with a nod to her Haitian roots. But finding her joy didn’t mean losing the depth of her writing. “It’s still raw emotion and everything that I’ve been through,” she says. Fan favorites include “Heart’s Off Switch” and “Let It Be.” “My music is organic,” she adds. “Whatever I am feeling at the time, I am going to create.”
The buzz about Stacy: Sean “Diddy” Combs recently tweeted he’d been blasting Barthe’s Sincerely Yours EP, and R&B singer John Legend was so impressed he signed her to his Homeschool imprint. Through Legend she was able to sign a publishing deal with Motown Records.
Where you’ll see her next? Fresh off of the BET Music Matters Tour where she performed with fellow songwriter-turned-artist Luke James, Elle Varner, and headliner Estelle, with two solid EP’s under her belt and a new contract with Motown via John Legend, Barthe has started crafting what she hopes will be a classic debut album, PS: I Love You. “I’m not going to rush it, but I’m in my zone,” she says. “When it does come out, it’s going to be special I’m putting every piece of me into this. I want it to be a quintessential piece of work,” she says.
Watch Stacy Barthe’s video, “Never Did,” and let us know what you think.