Can’t. If you think SOPHIE isn’t amongst the all time greats in the forward movement of music history then think again. This is just unbelievably sad. SOPHIE was one of the pioneers of PC Music and one of the few figures to really flip the dinner table on the conventional music sound of the 2010s, not only a pioneer of music, but a pioneer of the arts in general. One of my first internships in college was working for arthouse film legend Muse Productions (Buffalo 66, American Psycho, Spring Breakers) who taught me about the importance of advancing your medium of art forward, which was SOPHIE in a film canister. To put it in the most mainstream music context possible, SOPHIE was a pioneering force in the PC Music movement alongside and working closely with Charlie XCX and A.G. Cook.
I’d like to get a bit more personal, and honest, about my relationship to SOPHIE’s music. The “It’s Okay To Cry” music video was THE formative piece of art that helped me fully accept the idea of transsexuality. I know nobody wants to admit that they didn’t come out of the womb accepting transsexuality, but alas. Now… I’ve always supported the transexual community solely based on the idea that I believe that people have the right to live however they want to live (less causing any harm to others), but the first time I ever felt like I fully understood, was the first time I saw this video starring one of my single favorite male, burgeoning musicians who after a long hiatus was appearing in front of me as a proud, and beautiful woman. Something about the artistry of this video (below) moved me through the acceptance stage of transsexuality and pushed me through to the understanding stage, and I am forever grateful.
SOPHIE will always be an impactful music figure in my life, and on the footprint of music moving forward. They say there are traces of house music in all of the major pop songs, well I think there will be a little bit of SOPHIE in all of the groudbreaking pop moving forward. RIP to an absolute icon.