One of the most intriguing new artists in the Twin Cities is Zora, who fearlessly blends sounds from hip-hop, rock, R&B, and pop. Her debut album, Z1, arrived June 17 via Get Better Records, which has also released projects from Twin Cities artists Gully Boys and VIAL.

Prior to the album’s release, Zora gained national press for singles “RUNNITUP” and “ALL AROUND THE WORLD!” The latter, she dedicated to trans visibility, stating, “I wanted to create a song to remind us just how powerful we are, and to remind the masses that we’re not going anywhere.”

The Chicago native, who studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, has made Minneapolis her home in recent years. In a wide-ranging interview, we talked about her origins, how video games inspired her futuristic pop sound, and her desire to to stay true to herself in her work. 

How'd you get into music and who were some of your inspirations growing up?

Zora: I come from a pretty musical family. My grandma taught me initially how to play piano when I was younger. I was raised on piano and my family is pretty much all jazz and classical musicians. So a lot of the music I grew up on was Beethoven and older jazz artists like Miles Davis. My dad is a DJ, so I started getting into a lot of ‘80s and ‘90s rap music, like Run DMC and A Tribe Called Quest, which is my favorite group of all time. And then I started getting into my own stuff, like Kendrick Lamar, Sophie, Rihanna, Beyonce, Britney Spears, and Tyler, The Creator — all the big people now. And that's what shaped my initial sound.

How do your grandparents feel about both you and your pops deviating from jazz and classical?

So my grandma actually passed away in 2015, but that was right when I made the transition from jazz to more pop and R&B, hip-hop, and rock. She was always super proud of me. She definitely instilled in me the meaning of what it means to be fully authentic to yourself — you always gotta stay true to exactly what you want to do. Because even with her, she was raised as a classical musician, but then she wanted to do jazz. So she started doing jazz singing and jazz playing.

What are you pulling from these different sources that ultimately gives you the Zora sound?

I think it's just how I perceive the world. I was really raised on a lot of music and a lot of video game sound influences as well. My sound is so widespread. I literally go from the Lizzie McGuire theme song to Beyonce's Lemonade album in the same playlist. After a while, it just compiles in my brain as this weird mix of sounds.

I definitely heard the sample from Nickelodeon's The Amanda Show theme song on your single, "ALL AROUND THE WORLD!" That's crazy. You said you also pulled from some video games. What were some of the video game sounds that you loved growing up?

Kingdom Hearts was like the biggest one for me. The Legend of Zelda, Mario Kart, Final Fantasy, a lot PlayStation 1 and 2 games, and our Nintendo games that I played as a kid. I would just study them and try to recreate them in Logic. "How do I make this sound like that?

Are you still a big gamer today?

Oh, yeah, definitely. I'm a PlayStation person. Most of my friends are Xbox people. So it's hard, but you know, you got to do what you got to do.

So about Z1, your debut album. What does it represent for you?

Z1 is the embodiment of just me in general. The album has all of the different facets and sides of my life and my story. It reflects the music, too, where you have a rock song one moment, and then a drum and bass song, and then a really sad pop ballad, or a super happy pop-rock song. It really is just showcasing all the different parts of my heart. I really put my entire being into this album.

Rolling Stone’s feature on Z1 mentioned how the project was an anti-capitalist album. Would you describe it as such?

A big thing for me in music is everything I do is political, just down to being a Black woman. Even if I just wrote a song that wasn't about anything, it would just be political based off the fact that I'm just me. I think based off pure essence, Z1 is definitely an anti-capitalist album, whether intentional or unintentional. I pretty much paid for everything on that album myself, all the production I did it. It's very much not feeding into the system, and going against the system by just existing.

Also, I'm very much inspired by people who have come before me, specifically, like Black artists who use music to say very important messages. I really hope to do that a lot and stronger, like NWA. People like them, they had their songs that they couldn't perform. If the police came, they can't perform at the stadium. They still did it, and ended up getting kicked out. But they still decided to make the message. I really resonate with that or with Kendrick, with Beyonce, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott. There's so many people saying such powerful things in their music, and just being who they are, is just powerful enough. Just by existing in this industry, in this world, you're already making a statement. Period.

You talk about wanting to burn up one of your ops in the song, "Burn," or in "RUNNITUP," you say, "Give me this money or catch these hands for free." It's a beautiful contrast because your voice is so soft and healing as a listener. What role does aggression and the things you're taking in from society, as a Black woman, play into in your music and your songwriting? How do you put that into song? 

It definitely comes from a lot of my inspirations like Janet Jackson and Britney Spears, specifically. I love how soft they both were considered in the music world, especially Janet, as a Black woman. She was the blueprint for so many artists. I really looked up to that. I want to have that same softness with my voice, but I want to be saying some “rah rah” stuff in the microphone — saying exactly how I feel. In some of my earlier music, I kind of shied away from that. I would be very afraid of cussing or saying things that certain people wouldn't want to hear.

Then I was like, "Well, wait. Do I want to say that?" Is this what I want to say, then I'll say it. "Give me the money you owe me a catch these hands for free," is like, “That's how I'm feeling and that's what I want to say right now.” With “Burn” also, that one was about an ex as well. So when I wrote it in the moment, I was thinking, “I want to watch you burn. Straight up, I need you to watch me live my dreams and you burn. Period.”

What has been your experience as a Black woman and artist in Minneapolis? 

I definitely love it here. And I love my Black community that I've established here. I think like every other city, it definitely has its problems. But I think the biggest thing is that I love watching the Black community specifically come together. Whenever there is something that attacks one of us, it attacks all of us. And that's not something that I really see in a lot of places, so that's something that I really like.

I do feel sometimes I get caught off guard when it comes to the shows that I play, because I don't make specifically just hip-hop, R&B, or just pop. I have some elements of rock in there. Sometimes, as a Black woman, in that kind of scene, in that genre, I can be overlooked in spaces that are more predominantly white. It is a little disheartening, to be honest, because Black people created all genres of popular music. Like, when we get to those shows and I'm playing a rock song, and they're like, "Who produced you? Who's this on the song?" I'm like, "That's me. I'm the person that did that."

How'd you choose the Twin Cities as the place to ground yourself in your music and set your roots?

I'm from Chicago, Illinois, originally, so I've always loved the Midwest. I'm kind of a homebody, so Chicago can get a little bit too busy for me. So I was thinking, “How do I get to a place that's a little bit calmer, but still has a nice city vibe, but also more progressive in their politics?”

I moved here around two years ago, actually. I had just turned 21, and I was kind of guarded and not really focusing on myself at that time. So once I kind of got here and started getting involved with the community. It just helped me look at everything in a much more positive environment, because there wasn't the stress of, "Am I good enough? What am I supposed to be doing in this world?” It just gave me the freedom in the space to just really create and just write, make all this music and that music turned into Z1. I think this city really is one of those hidden gems for me. I thought, "Oh, yeah, I'll move here," and now I'm fully immersed in an amazing city with such amazing artists and people.

I really love downtown. That's where a lot of my favorite people live. I've also really liked Uptown, Whittier, Seward and North Minneapolis. That's where my ballroom mother lives and she's amazing. I really just like Minneapolis in general, all the different areas and circles that are here.

When can we expect some visuals or shows?

Visuals are coming, and I'm so excited. I cannot wait to share them with everybody. I'm so excited. For the album and everything, I do have a few shows that I'm going to be playing very soon. There's one happening in August that I'm going to start posting about pretty soon. I think the biggest thing is just more performances, more visuals, and I really want to tour pretty soon.

Zora’s debut album Z1 is now out on all platforms. Make sure to stream it wherever you get your music!

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.