A Chat With Jo Sarah

Jo Sarah is an Amsterdam-based artist & producer. Inspired by her multicultural roots (Dutch & Surinamese) and the cultures she grew up in around the world (Bhutan, Indonesia and Bangladesh), her artistic direction was ignited. Renowned for her music video showcases, Jo Sarah’s fantastic visuals portray the core primal strength of women+ and how we can unite, connected in nature. Since her most recent release ‘THE CALL‘ premiered in October, it has won ‘Best Music Video 2022’ at the Sea of Art international film festival.

How would you describe ‘The Call’ to new listeners?

The Call is tribal, empowering, transforming, and unifying and serves as an anthem for women+ to unite and empower each other. Sing the chorus melody for every woman+ that needs to be uplifted and supported. The story of The Call is that when you are having a hard time in life, you can sing the melody of the chorus, and a magical tribe of women, somewhere in the world, will start dancing in unity and send you the power to continue on. Together with Dutch director Leanne Vink, we transformed this story visually into the music video which we shot in Panama in 6 different landscapes with a film crew of 12 over 4 days. It’s my pride and joy.

Does Feminism/Women+ empowerment play a role in other Jo Sarah projects?

Yes for sure. My single GLOW is about walking into a place and just owning your glow, feeling sexy, and just wanting to have fun. Another song of mine called ME is all about self-love and not being labeled by anyone based on your hair, skin, body, or roots. This is a song against the bullshit standards society instills on women+, and I wrote from experience. My previous single, Juicy, is an ode to the female+ orgasm and celebrates female pleasure and the vulva as something beautiful, tasty, and luscious. And besides my music, I started a movement called Umaversity to improve the lack of education on female+ bodies and sexuality. The goal of Umaversity is to make sure that every women+ enjoys their sexuality and sex in a safe way without shame by curating events for women+ to go to and learn and share about their sexuality and body.

What are your aspirations for the track?

I wish that whenever women+ feel down that they can sing the melody of The Call and feel empowered by the tribal power and unity of women+ all around the world. I want to inspire people to work together and support each other.

Umaversity sounds like an amazing project – could you explain a bit about it?

Umaversity is a movement. It’s a unique movement of change against the lack of education on female+ bodies and sexuality. It’s for everybody that identifies as woman and/or has a vulva (women+) who no longer want to be kept in the dark but can gather and get better educated about their bodies and sexuality. This place will take place in the form of special events which will have expert talks on female+ bodies and sexuality, panels on the taboos, a market with brands and foundations for women+ and I will give a concert where I will share my story. The first event will take place on the 27th of November in the Adam Tower, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

What inspired you to take up music, and what would you say to inspire others?

I always knew that I wanted to be an artist, from my childhood upbringing living in many countries around the world and tasting the different cultures and music to watching MTV and seeing Mariah Carey and Sade sing. I am also very fortunate that my parents have always encouraged me to play instruments from the flute to piano, guitar, ukulele, and percussion. I’ve always known that my purpose was two things: to create and to help people. So I combined the two and aim to help people(especially women+) with my music and creations.