Pop singer Kendra Erika and Grammy Award winning producer Damon Sharpe are together again this spring on “Authentic,” their dreamy, progressive track about the deterioration of social media. “What was once an important tool for inspiration, connection and freedom of speech has become an emotionally addictive breeding ground for bullying, jealousy, and fear,” says Erika. “All stimulated by mental synapses that project a fictitious depiction of what life should be like, making us feel like the true lives we are living are not good enough.” She wrote the song’s lyrics against music produced by Sharpe and Eric Sanicola, the same duo behind her hit dance singles, “Oasis,” “Sublime” and “Under My Skin”. Where their dance tracks were full-throttle club bangers, “Authentic” is a more cruise control pop single with a stronger message. “Authentic” is being released globally and will be available for purchase on iTunes, Amazon, and all other major retailers on Friday, April 13. It will also be available for streaming through Pandora and Spotify.
“I stopped believing the hype of people’s posts and started seeing through the pageantry of it all two years ago,” continues Kendra Erika from her Miami-area home. “These days, social media is all about rank-related validation; the amount of likes you can get on phony pictures that have been filtered and on opinionated memes that aren’t your own. It’s all mass-manipulating and we are literally being brainwashed by the constant feed of disingenuous content.”
Kendra Erika depicts the control that social media has on the world in the music video for “Authentic.” “The message I’m trying to convey in the video is for people to listen with their ears because our eyes are deceiving us. We’re gradually becoming more visual beings. However, what we are being shown is controlled. The posts we are seeing are contrived. That enticing photo on your wall may contain beauty on the surface, but it’s important to listen to the deep and meaningful ocean beneath it. We have to remember that whatever is controlled is not real. The uncontrolled message underneath the pretty picture is what’s real.”
“I, for one, am tired of conforming to what the masses want me to be. I have come to learn that being authentic means not following an echo, but leading by my own voice… and that’s what I’m doing.” Kendra Erika is a South Florida native singer/songwriter. Trained in classical and jazz, she draws inspiration from artists like Lana Del Rey, Solange, Ellie Goulding, and London Grammar who strive to make music that is written out of pure sentiment and felt in the bones. Erika implements bold and poetic messages in her music; a concept that is new to many of her club fans who often heed a song’s beat but pay less attention to its message.
“Authentic” is Kendra Erika’s fourth collaboration with producer Damon Sharpe, who has written and produced for a wide array of pop artists including Jennifer Lopez, Ariana Grande, Kylie Minogue, Kelly Rowland, Monica, 98 Degrees, Anastacia, and Natalie Cole. Their first single, “Oasis,” climbed to #9 on the Billboard Dance Chart in 2016. They followed it with “Under My Skin,” a song that climbed to #6 on the Billboard Dance Chart last summer. “Kendra and I have a chemistry that shines,” explains Sharpe. “Ultimately, I hope ’Authentic’ opens peoples’ eyes to the real danger that is lurking in our pockets. Social media is a man-made monster that we have allowed to seize our minds and it is destroying from within by triggering all of our darkest insecurities.”
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