Nigerian-born Mary Sho admits to being shy when singing as a child, despite being a very animated youngster. Through the years, music became her channel to level up her confidence by expressing what she felt and thought inside. The performer is proud of her South East London roots influencing her developed style of R&B, pop, 80’s electro pop and soul, and afro jazz. She integrated the culture of London with the Nigerian culture learnt from her parents. Mary Sho used to improvise scenes with imaginary characters with acting and singing, in addition to starting to explore songwriting at 8-years-old.
2011 sparked her musical journey when she recorded a freestyle in a studio that later released as a song. She later released 2 EPs between 2014-2016 named “Heart Trip,” producted by Dotinc, and “Lightlife,” produced by Team Salute. The latter was played by BBC London Introducing. Both EPs are available through the artist’s SoundCloud account. The most streamed song between both collections is the last track on “Lightlife,” titled “Yeah Yeah.”
In 2019, Mary Sho released “Black Girls” and “Ova,” both available on Spotify. The former immediately creates a suspenseful vibe and begins a nostalgic 80’s-esque trill by Mary Sho. In fact, she wrote this when she had tonsillitis and even recorded the chorus while sick. The YouTube description boldly states that the song was created to remind black girls of their worth and power and to not shy away from their beauty and influence in the world. The video was self-directed in partnership with Ubuntugraphy and choreographed in collaboration with Daniel Bailey. Later that year, “Ova” made a splash with a groovy disco soul track motivated by interest in late 70’s and early 80’s music. This track is about the need for balance for women juggling many roles.
The songstress describes her artistic mission to create healing, empowering, and ‘eargasm’ music. Her genres tap a bit of everything and ultimately blend into a soulful mix, aimed toward empowering black women. Mary Sho is creative all around, as she is also a creative director for Instagram account @hisuphotography, dedicated to storytelling through photography, fashion, and film.
Mary Sho’s two tracks released in 2020 are gaining traction, especially with her stunning self-directed or self-styled visuals. The funk soul “No Time,” contains elements of trap and was released in March 2020. The single addresses her personal experiences of focusing on her dreams by needing to break away from the tendency and desire to fit in when a person is at a different stage of life than his or her friends. Several months later in July, the 4-minute long “All My Girls” took on a different ambiance and showcased Mary Sho’s ability to croon sweet, sensual vocals. Thematically, her message was to celebrate all women and girls, encouraging all to embrace their bodies despite perceived flaws.
Advice Mary Sho would like to give to rising or aspiring musicians is to continue working on their craft, work on finding their voice, and firmly knowing what they want to do with music. Additionally, she notes that staying up to date with the music business is important. Following the pandemic, Mary Sho hopes to do more gigs and tour the UK in order to connect with fans.