Sabi
Sabi during performance "(Drop Dead) Beautiful" on Femme Fatale Tour in 2011
Sabi during performance "(Drop Dead) Beautiful" on Femme Fatale Tour in 2011
Background information
Birth nameJenice Dena Portlock
Also known asSabi
Born (1987-11-24) November 24, 1987
Inglewood, California, United States
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • dancer
  • actress
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2008–present
Labels
Websiteofficialsabi.com

Jenice Dena Portlock (born November 24, 1987),[2] also known as Sabi, is an American pop singer, songwriter, dancer and actress from Los Angeles, California.

She was formerly part of the hip hop girl group The Bangz.[3][4]

Biography

Early life and career beginnings

As a kid growing up in Inglewood, California, daughter of a Salvadoran mother and African American father, Sabi was raised in a bilingual Spanish and English language household and spent every other weekend watching MTV at her father's house after her parents split up. Her father had cable television and her mother didn't, so she and her sisters were glued to the screen watching music videos all day – she especially loved watching Michael Jackson, Prince, and Sade. That's when she gained her immense passion for singing and song writing and made the decision that she wanted to be a performer. "I remember watching the Michael Jackson: Moonwalker video over and over and trying to pick up Michael's moves", she once said in an interview.

Sabi would also choreograph dance routines and marshal her younger sisters into performing them for the family. She got involved in theater in middle school and graduated from Westchester Senior High School in 2005. In 2008, she appeared in an independent short film called The Smallest River in Almirante, which was executive produced by actor Shia LaBeouf. She was cast in commercials for ABC Family, Universal Studios, and Pepsi while majoring in communications at California State University, Long Beach in 2009.

All the while, Sabi continued to work on her vocal technique trying to imitate other singers. "No matter who it was, Justin Timberlake, Brandy, or Alicia Keys, I could mimic exactly how they sounded. That's how I got comfortable with my voice." She began to write her own songs and record them on a voice recorder, but says that she really learned about the craft of songwriting after working with several producers that she had been introduced to through her then-manager.

2009–10: The Bangz and group disbandment

In the summer of 2009, Sabi was approached by The Co-Stars, a production team who were looking to launch a female duo. Urban/pop group The Bangz, featuring Sabi and Korttney Ann Elliott (a.k.a. Ella Ann) got signed to the indie recording label VNR, Asylum Records and Warner Bros. Records. With a video that hit almost a million views on YouTube and two singles ("Boys With Tattoos (We Jerkin')" and "Found My Swag" featuring the New Boyz) released, the group was starting to get national radio play and MTV exposure.

Shortly after, Ella Ann got seriously injured in a drive-by shooting and unable to continue, leaving Sabi to go on alone. She tried to continue without her; Sabi shot a video and did some performances on her own with back-up dancers, but no one felt the Bangz could continue without Ella, not even Sabi herself. The whole experience was an emotional rollercoaster for her. However, executives at Warner Bros. Records loved Sabi's talent and energy and wanted to continue the label's relationship with her as a solo artist.

2011–present: Solo career

In April 2011, Sabi released her song "Goodnight" on the internet as a buzz single to be included on her debut album.

Additionally, in 2011 Sabi was featured on Britney Spears' song "(Drop Dead) Beautiful" and the Cobra Starship single "You Make Me Feel...," the latter of which peaked at No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in New Zealand. She later accompanied Spears on Femme Fatale Tour and was featured on the tour's DVD release. She was also featured on the New Boyz' song "Tough Kids", from their album Too Cool to Care.

Shortly after, she released the Cirkut-produced "Wild Heart" which was later recorded in Simlish for The Sims 3 video game.[5] Her debut album, then titled All I Want, was to feature production from Benny Blanco, Klas (from the Teddybears), Diplo, Ammo, The Cataracs and The Co-Stars and was due to be released via Dr. Luke's Kemosabe imprint and Warner Bros. Records.[6] A video for "Wild Heart"' debuted on March 19, 2012.[7] A brand new Dr. Luke and Cirkut-produced track "Where They Do That At?" featuring Wale premiered unexpectedly on April 17, 2012, on Spotify.[8] The video for the song, directed by Tim Cruz, debuted on April 19, 2012, along with a behind-the-scenes video.[9]

Sabi was also announced to be host of her own web-series about fashion titled Found My Swag, named for The Bangz's single. The series premiered on The Warner Sound, the YouTube channel belonging to Sabi's record label Warner Brothers on November 1, 2012.[10]

In November 2012, Sabi released the Jakob Owens-directed video another new single, titled "Champagne". The song was produced by Crack For Kids.[11]

In August 2013, she released the Tyga-assisted "Cali Love", the lead single from her mixtape 0–60: Love Sounds, to be released later in 2013. Sabi released "Love Sounds", produced by Ryan McDermott, in November 2013 and announced that the mixtape would be released on November 13, 2013. On the eve of 0–60: Love Sounds's release, Sabi premiered a cover of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 No. 1 single, "Dreams", a track included on her mixtape.[12] The entire 11-song mixtape was released for free download via the site HotNewHipHop.com.[13]

After the release of the mixtape, Sabi parted ways with both Kemosabe and Warner Bros. Records and began recording music as an independent artist.

In 2017, Sabi released "The One", a promotional single made available exclusively via her SoundCloud account. Following three years of radio silence, she returned to music on Valentine's Day 2020 and released "Ready", produced by Malcolm D. McDaniel. Unlike "The One", the single was released to most major streaming platforms and digital download services via BlakBurd Ent. and Empire Distribution.[14]

Later in 2020, she began hosting an Apple Music radio program titled, "Easy Hits Radio with Sabi", geared toward adult contemporary music.[15]

Discography

Mixtapes

0–60: Love Sounds
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Intro"Ryan McDermott1:09
2."Cali Love" (featuring Tyga)Mark J. Feist3:37
3."Love Sounds"McDermott3:41
4."Better Than This"Mark J. Feist3:45
5."Hollywood Romance"McDermott, The Arsenals (co.)3:56
6."24K"Jonas Jeberg3:43
7."Both of Us" (featuring Ryan McDermott)McDermott, Mike McTaggard (co.)3:30
8."The Change"The Costars2:29
9."Body Language"Mark J. Feist2:34
10."Dreams"McDermott4:38
11."Cali Love" (Remix) (featuring Tyga)McDermott3:47

Singles

List of single
Title Year Album
"Wild Heart" 2011 N/A
"Where Do They Do That At?"
(featuring Wale)		 2012
"Champagne"
"Cali Love" (feat Tyga) 2013 0 to 60: Love Sounds
"Glow" 2016 N/A
"Ready" 2020
"—" denotes a title that was not released or did not chart in that territory.

Promotional singles

  • Goodnight (2011)
  • The One (2017)
List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
US
[16]		 AUS
[17]		 CAN
 FRA
[18]		 GER
 IRL
[19]		 NLD
[20]		 NZ
[21]		 SWI
[22]		 UK
[23]
"You Make Me Feel..."
(Cobra Starship featuring Sabi)		 2011 73413—122814716 Night Shades
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.

Other appearances

Year Song Artist(s) Album
2011 "(Drop Dead) Beautiful" Britney Spears Femme Fatale
"Tough Kids" New Boyz Too Cool to Care
2012 "Barely Standing" Diplo & Datsik Express Yourself
2013 "Overflow" Ryan McDermott Ryan Vs. The Sandman: Tale of The Sleepwalkers
2015 "Firestarter"[a] Sandro Silva[28] Non-album single
  • a Sabi's vocals are not officially credited on this release.

Music videos

Song Year Director
"Wild Heart" 2012 Mike Mahil
"Where They Do That At?" (feat. Wale) Tim Cruz
"Champagne" Jakob Owens
"Cali Love" (feat. Tyga) 2013 Mike Mahil

References

  1. ↑ 2ichard3rooks, none (April 18, 2012). "Sabi featuring Wale - Where They Do That At". hyperbeast.com. Hypebeast. Retrieved August 10, 2022. R&B songstress Sabi drops off her latest single "Where They Do That At,"{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ "Title unknown". Twitter. Archived from the original on November 25, 2012.
  3. ↑ Jocelyn Vena. "Sabi 'Grinding' Out Debut Album", MTV, August 9, 2011.
  4. ↑ Kelley L. Carter. "Britney Spears Is A VMA 'Icon', Sabi Says", MTV, August 26, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Wild Heart (Simlish version) by Sabi lyric video". YouTube.
  6. ↑ Sabi Lights Up the Screen in ‘Wild Heart’ Video. Rap-Up.com (March 5, 2012). Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  7. ↑ Sabi – Wild Heart [Official Music Video. YouTube. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  8. ↑ Sabi, Listen to the world premiere of Sabi’s new track Archived July 16, 2012, at archive.today. Officialsabi.com (April 17, 2012). Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  9. ↑ Video: Sabi f/ Wale – ‘Where They Do That At?’. Rap-Up.com (April 19, 2012). Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  10. ↑ Profile, rap-up.com, October 30, 2012.
  11. ↑ Sabi – Champagne, singersroom.com, November 29, 2012.
  12. ↑ Daw, Robbie (November 12, 2013). "Sabi's Cover Of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" From Her '0–60′ Mixtape: Idolator Premiere". Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  13. ↑ Ray, Jason (November 13, 2013). "Sabi – 0–60: Love Sounds". HNHH. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  14. ↑ Sabi - Ready on YouTube
  15. ↑ Easy Hits Radio with Sabi on Apple Music
  16. ↑ "You Make Me Feel... – Cobra Starship". Billboard. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Australian Discography Sabi". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  18. ↑ "French Charts Discography Sabi". Irish-charts.com. Les Charts. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  19. ↑ "Irish Charts Discography Sabi". Irish-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Dutch Discography Sabi" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  21. ↑ "New Zealand Discography Sabi". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Swiss Discography Sabi". Hitparade.ch (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  23. ↑ "The Official Charts Company – Sabi". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  24. ↑ Recording Industry Association of America. RIAA. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  25. ↑ Displaying Search Results for: Cobra starship Archived February 25, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Gold Platinum Database. musiccanada.com
  26. ↑ Top 50 Singles Chart – Australian Record Industry Association Archived September 2, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Ariacharts.com.au. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  27. ↑ recording industry association of New Zealand Archived March 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. RIANZ. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  28. ↑ "Firestarter". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
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