There have been so many times that I chose to feature an artist who provides me with special perspective. This week is another of those times as Weekly Music Commentary features young singer/songwriter Savannah Cristina. Why do I have a perspective that others do not? Simply because Savannah Cristina was born and raised in South Florida. I was not born or raised in South Florida, but I received my college education and professional musical start in the Miami community. I have recorded music, done artist searches, promoted artists and recordings and deliver the blog you are reading within this South Florida community. I worked here when the music community was small enough for everyone to know what and where they were creating. Therefore, I do have an innate understanding of South Florida music from a variety of angles. I also have a feel for the story that might be very compelling. Savannah Cristina has such a story.
Savannah Cristina was born in Miami, Florida on April 3, 1997. She moved to the Melrose Park neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale at the age of 6. Cristina began singing in church as well as local community events. She told American Songwriter that she discovered her love of music in second grade, when a choir teacher told her she had a gift. In high school, she started a poetry club and participated in slam competitions, studying performers like Aja Monet and Bertrand Boyd. In 2019, she told Miami New Times (my old place of employment), “I was raised by my church. I was raised by my school. I was raised by my Boys & Girls Club. I was really raised by the poetry teachers who took their time to invest in my art. All of those people created the woman I am today.” She attended Stranahan High School, and graduated from Florida International University with a degree in political science.
There have been many others before Savannah who are complete products of the South Florida community. We all are the products of our surroundings to some extent. However, not many are aware of how much a community invests into the children within. Savannah Cristina is more than aware of the effort of those surrounding her family that helped her find success.
Those years after high school were a whirlwind of activity for the young artist. In April 2016, she signed with the management company TheNuMiami, LLC, which posted her first single, “Spend It on Me,” on SoundCloud.In 2017, she released Mango Season. The title, she told The PoPular Society in 2017, was inspired by the mango trees that bloom in Fort Lauderdale every summer. The following year, she released Florida Girl. She also collaborated with South Florida artists such as Twelve’Len, ¡Mayday!, and Ice Billion Berg.
In 2019, Savannah Cristina signed a record deal with Dollaz N Dealz. She posted videos herself performing around her neighborhood, including a basketball court (for “Rebound”) and a busy intersection (for “Belong to the Streets”). She told Rated R&B, “I got to a point where I wanted people to see what I’m doing, and if that means I have to go out into the street or go into the middle of the beach or go to a basketball court, I’m going to get your attention. So, that’s where the inspiration came from. I came up with the idea myself and I love the way everybody accepted the way that they did.” She told Flaunt, “All these spots I pick are places from my childhood. The basketball court, I grew up going to that court playing with my dad. That street is the street I caught the city bus to go to school.”
Her “Self Care” video was filmed at a local beach. It went viral and eventually garnered 7 million views. She told Yahoo! Life that she was motivated to make the clip because “I felt like I was neglecting myself. I felt like as a woman, as a person, I was neglecting my feelings [and] my responsibilities that I had to myself.”
For a certainty Savannah Cristina made sure that her ties to the community that provided her with a foundation was a part of her artistic endeavors. That is not always the case for any artist. However, when I see something like this I think about Bruce Springsteen, who always makes sure his beloved New Jersey roots are always at the forefront of his music. It also reminds me of a piece of advice from a friend many years ago. “Never forget where you came from.” It’s fantastic when you can deliver a brand of music that elevates your surroundings in that way. Nevertheless, Savannah Cristina’s music has more than a few personal overtones.
“A lot of my songs start in one place and end in revolution,” Cristina says. “They start at hopeless points but at the end, I find my strength. ‘Soul therapy’ means that it’s music for the soul so that you can reach a different level of being. It’s comparable to sitting down with a therapist – those are the kinds of feelings that I put in my music.” She told American Songwriter, “There’s no other setting for me to talk about these things,” she says. “I’m somebody that, if you know me, I’m very distant. I dissociate myself from emotions for as long as I can. I don’t like saying what’s wrong or talking about myself very much. But in music, I can express a side of myself that’s very open, very emotional. Even if it’s embarrassing or too personal. I almost have to do it.”
For the young singer/songwriter, her song Self-Care is a little more than just your ordinary song. It’s so much more. “There was no way I could succeed as a person,” she says, “if I didn’t take the time out to take care of me. These days, a lot of people reach out to me for help with self-care, thinking I have all the answers – what crystals to use, what bath bombs, what soaps. But I tell them it’s so much more than the performative aspect of self-care. It’s about the inner-work you have to do. For me, I do that by making music.”
In this very complicated world, it is good to hear a young person speak about really taking care of herself. Many artists that I have featured really have mental and physical health issues that needed attention before the fame and fortune came along. Perhaps her music and life might act as a roadmap for others to care for themselves first and foremost.
I’m glad I had thee opportunity to feature another young artist on the rise. Especially one in my own backyard. We will all watch her career development and hope for something great.