The first time Sevyn Streeter realized the power of her music she was sitting in her Chevy Camaro as the song she co-wrote with Chris Brown, ‘Yeah 3X,’ came on the radio. Flushed with surprise, excitement, and pride, it was a moment that she’ll never forget. Not only did the 2011 electro house song peak at number fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but it marked a personal milestone for Streeter as it was also the first time that an artist had trusted her enough to leave her in the studio to finish a verse. 

“I was like, ‘Oh, shit. So that really worked,’” she tells V. “And the thing that I realized really worked was always leaning into that thing. ‘Yeah 3X’ it was the first time that I leaned in and honored an opportunity.”  

Fast forward nine years later, where Streeter is still leaning into it. With her loquacious spirit and soulful sound, the Florida-bred, Los Angeles-based creative has boldly merged the line between pop and R&B. Laced with real-life experiences that both men and women can relate to, her records speak of love, loyalty, and above all, liberation. The talented singer and songwriter has written chart-topping bangers for Alicia Keys (“New Day”), Ariana Grande (“The Way”) and Kelly Rowland (“Keep It Between Us”) while solidifying her own identity with “I Like It” and “It Won’t Stop.” Over the last few years, she went through a series of ups and downs – falling in love, going through a breakup, watching someone pass away from cancer – and thus, turned inward and probed deep into her identity. But now she’s back with a new album to celebrate all life has to offer. 

“I have to live my life in order to write,” she said on a Zoom call a month before the album dropped.“I love to hear artists take listeners through whatever journey they’ve been through, through a series of songs.”

There’s a buzzy giddiness about her, an uncontained excitement, as she discusses her upcoming album, Drunken Wordz Sober Thoughtz. And as there should be – this will be the first time Streeter is independently releasing her own album, which is released today. The album is a follow-up to Girl Disrupted, her 2017 debut that marked the start of her solo career. Honesty and growth were recurring themes in our conversation with the artist, and are the foundation for this 15-track release, featuring appearances from Chris Brown, Jeremih, A$AP Ferg, Lucky Daye, Lavish and BIA. Earlier this year, Sevyn teased the album release with “Nasty Girl,” a seductive single with BIA – which to date has over 400,000 streams. And that’s not all, her song with Chris Brown and A$AP Ferg, “Guilty,” has also garnered early support with over 20M streams from Apple Music and Spotify combined. 

“When you say Drunken Wordz Sober Thoughtz, you think they’re going to just say whatever the first thing that comes to their mind is because they’re under the influence of something,” Streeter says. “I’ve been under the influence of love and lust and grief and heartache and excitement and newness and all of these different things.”

The project, which she wrote with the help of longtime friend Melvin “4rest” Moore, is an intimate and intricate depiction of where her mind, body, spirit, and heart have been over the last three years. So much so, in fact, that her new tracks are super emotional and sometimes painful in a way that’s deeply moving. The album kicks off with “End Up,” an intoxicating song that details Streeter’s “don’t give a f*ck” personality that’s gotten her to her position today. With its empowering lyrics and straight-no-chaser chorus, it’s an ode to loving yourself. The song conveys the all too familiar struggle of avoiding developing deeper feelings in a casual relationship. What effortlessly pours out of Streeter happens to be prophetic in nature: “It’s just a regular night, I’ma just keep it real with’ you/We off tequila, can we just tell the truth?” 

“You can be as wild and free as the wind when under the influence of the moment,” she says. Her vulnerability and candidness reveal a comforting and universal truth: when you are following your heart, you don’t need to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you can be under other influences. Influences of love, grief, lust, or a breakup can push you to do things you probably would never do. 

Bedroom grooves like “Wet Dreamz” and the blush-inducing “97 (D Mile)” with its commanding hip-hop break flaunts her sensual nature, while “Feelz,” featuring Louisianna-bred singer Lucky Daye shows the tender side of her personality. Streeter hopes to make a song for every situation; one that no one has thought too much about, but has definitely felt. Moving farther into the album there’s 7WAYZ. Driven by an intoxicating melody, 7WAYZ is about sexual freedom and indulging in the present, without the burden of the future. Here, her Cancer nature radiates. She’s emotional, sensitive, and completely in tune with her feelings. 

“When I say f*ck you like you love me, it’s like, let’s not let this moment that we met in dictate what we want this to feel like right now,” says Streeter. “And I mean, like, f*ck me, like you care about me in the deepest way.” 

The beauty of Streeter’s songs lies in the way she writes. She writes the way a woman’s internal monologue actually sounds, seamlessly transitioning from outward public thoughts to privately-held insecurities. Despite the ranging topics she sings about, they all beat to the same drum, rolling off like a stream of consciousness, brimming with love stories and brutal honesty. More so, the album represents her growth over the past few years as a woman and artist as she comes to be unapologetic in her truth. 

Hailing from Haines City, right outside Orlando, Streeter cultivated her voice in the gospel choir, finding inspiration from the likes of Yolanda Adams, Kim Burrell, and the Clark Sisters. Outside of the church walls, Streeter draws inspiration from all over the musical industry — from Prince to Janet Jackson to Dru Hill to Beyonce. Back in 2009, Streeter actually opened for Beyonce during her I Am…World Tour. Speaking about garnering the attention of Beyonce, when asked about her greatest moment to date, Streeter laughs. “Oh, honey, I don’t even feel like that yet because I don’t look at things in my timing and I look at everything in God’s timing.”

And truly, the best is yet to come with the artist. Even though Streeter just finished an album, her “mind is already on the next project, I’m not gonna lie to you.” On the horizon for the singer-songwriter are more collaborations with Davido and A$AP Ferg, and even plans to enter the television space with Anthony Anderson. At the same time, she’s looking forward to the opportunity to connect more with her fans. 

“I want them to know more of this side of me they haven’t always had a chance to really really know,” she elaborates. 

It has been, in Streeter’s words, “a year that has forced everyone to shift and shape, and adapt.” She’s just beginning to process it all, through prayer, time with family, and her music. Now as we usher in 2021, the singer looks towards the future and offers a little advice for everyone in the coming year: “If you really, really work towards something and it’s fueled from a love of something, anything’s possible. There’s no wrong way of being creative. Life is about creation.”

Stream the album down below: