A.GIRL performs a soundtrack-like new take on her latest R&B-meets-Hip Hop release ‘Lola’ exclusively for mood on the roof. The original version is a winner, but you’ll love the injection of strings in this rendition. Hey, call me Lola!
We didn’t need to think twice about inviting this talented 19-year-old Maori-Australian R&B artist from Western Sydney to perform for mood on the roof. After the shoot, A.GIRL takes time out with the mood on the roof crew to tell us a bit about herself. The name A.GIRL came from merging two of her names together. “My nickname always has been Angel, so I took the ‘A’ from Angel and the beginning part of my real name, Hinenui [which means girl in Maori],” she says.
This winner of Triple J Unearthed slot for the 2019 Listen Out festival counts among artists she looks up to such as Jhené Aiko, Ella Mai, Doja Cat and SZA. And what about her top 3? “Definitely Lauryn Hill, The Weekend, and Freddie Mercury.”
“I reside in ’42!” Her debut single ‘2142’ released last year. This song told the story of the postcode in Western Sydney where she grew up and still resides. But A.GIRL doesn’t get hung-up on the meaning of ‘home’. “It’s not really a place or anything. … New Zealand is like motherland, and that’s where we’re from, but home is just wherever my family’s at.”
Bringing the Polynesian community together is something A.GIRL is passionate about. “I want to bring them together. I want them to see that if we did this together, if we stormed the world together we’d be much stronger as one. We’d be much stronger supporting each other, and loving each other, and showing each other the support that we deserve. I think it’s very important and I will make that my mission to do that.”
The follow-up singles ‘Play’ and ‘All Over You’ established A.GIRL as a emerging star on the R&B/Hip Hop scene, and in May 2020, she collaborated with popular Sydney Hip Hop artist B Wise on the track ‘NXT 2 U’.
Her latest track ‘Lola’ has deep meaning for her. “Lola to me is my alter ego. Her exterior is very staunch, very tough. She doesn’t let anybody in easily. She’s a hard worker. She gets what she wants when she wants it. … It’s just like seeing the softer, vulnerable side of me as well, and seeing who Lola is deep down inside.”
2020 has been a massive year for A.GIRL but we get the feeling that things are only just getting started! Stay tuned for more.
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