“I have imposter syndrome that nobody even knows who I am.”
Sabrina Claudio is grappling with self-doubt ahead of her Australian debut, despite being long overdue for her own headline tour Down Under.
She won a Grammy for co-writing Beyoncé’s “Plastic Off the Sofa”, has toured with 6LACK, and made songs with artists like Alicia Keys, A$AP Rocky, and The Weeknd. Despite all of her accomplishments, though, the feeling of not belonging still follows her.
“I don’t understand why I haven’t been there [Australia] before, but honestly, I’m not questioning the timing any longer,” she says over Zoom.
Claudio will open for GIVĒON’s Australia and New Zealand dates alongside Sasha Keable, which kicks off this week.
Now a decade into her career, she’s still coming to terms with her success and international fame.
“To think that you guys even know my music all the way across the world anywhere — I mean, I just went to South Africa and was like, ‘What the hell am I doing here? How do you guys know who I am?’” she says.
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Long before the tours and awards rolled in, Claudio was still figuring out what it meant to believe her voice deserved space in the first place. As a teen, she tried modelling and dancing before leaning fully into music. “I think it was getting other people to trust my voice — I’ve always been pretty sure of myself in terms of who I am.”
One might assume — and perhaps many artists of Claudio’s stature would say so themselves — that their ultimate goal is to grow as big as possible. Claudio, however, has intentionally shaped a decade-long career to fit her life. “I love to live a normal life. I just love being with my family. I love travelling, I love being with my friends. I love doing my own normal, basic life things.”
Growing up in Florida, she never really held ambitions to become an artist, but she was always supported by her parents in following her creative intuition.
“I just knew that I was creative and that I loved music, and I think that’s why I tried dancing and modelling, which didn’t go anywhere by the way,” she reflects. “My parents were trying to find an avenue for me because I knew I wanted to be creative somehow, but [I] didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do.”
She eventually began posting covers of artists like Frank Ocean, Jhene Aiko, Amy Winehouse, and Beyoncé online. “Once the YouTube covers really started happening, my parents encouraged me to start uploading videos just singing, and I started finding my path a little bit more,” she says.
“It really wasn’t until I got into a studio and discovered songwriting that I figured out you could make a career from writing songs. I thought that was pretty cool, so I just kept going with that.”
From covering her favourite artists to winning a Grammy with them, Claudio’s path has always been guided by curiosity over clout. “Honestly, till this day, I’m experimenting just to stay inspired and motivated,” she says.
“In an ideal world, I just want to disappear — that’s what I really want. Like, fully off the grid. I love eating, flea marketing, and walking around in the sun with people I love,” she continues. “I’m a very simple girl, I really am. My needs are not super high. But yeah, I still want to travel the world with my music.”
Credit: Supplied
That’s not to say Claudio lacks ambition; she’s just intentional in her chases.
“For me, it has always been a challenge to accept and be content and grateful for where I am in my life. I feel like a lot of my career was chasing, blaming, wondering, or questioning… constantly. I think I’m at a point in my life where my priorities have completely shifted, and I’m looking at my life from a more grateful perspective,” she says.
“I live a very beautiful life, and I think a lot of the time I take it for granted. I still struggle with this. I’m very lucky, I have incredible people in my life, and I’ve made a lot of decisions throughout my career where I’m finally at a place where I’m happy and accepting of my journey.
“I actually have more than I would have ever imagined.”
Claudio has watched the industry change around her in real time.
In 2016, her first official year as an artist, she released her first project on SoundCloud, Confidently Lost. She recalls what it felt like before recognition became algorithmic.
“I just kind of want to not be on the internet,” she says. “But I think that’s just my personality. I’ve never been good with the internet portion of being an artist and posting my stuff out there. It’s always felt like a chore ever since the YouTube covers.”
“I think it’s really easy for people to put themselves out there nowadays, which is amazing, but also can feel a little diluted. I think back then when I was releasing music, it was Daniel Caesars of the world, H.E.R., all the current R&B wave — it was an era, it was a really special time. Not that no other time has been special, but specifically 2016. Social media existed, but TikTok wasn’t a thing yet. It was a lot harder to find really amazing, special artists. And now it feels like there are millions of amazing artists, and we all have a chance now… which is great.
“In 2016, artists would put so much money into the visuals of everything. Now, you could do something on your phone like a selfie video, and that’ll get more attention than a million-dollar music video that’s actually extremely intricate and artistic and beautiful.
“It’s all situational. It can be great for some people, but for others, it feels like we’re drowning trying to be seen. I’m not creative with posting engaging content. For me, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like I’m falling behind now,’ because there are all these other people willing to do what it takes. It’s good and it’s bad.”
For Claudio, it only reinforces her longing for a simple life.
Becoming the person you’ve always hoped to be doesn’t always look exactly how you planned it, but it certainly doesn’t mean you abandon your old self. If Claudio had never developed self-understanding and self-acceptance through prioritising real life, she likely would have never won a Grammy, or collaborated with artists she used to cover.
Her Australian debut might be overdue, but for Claudio it’s just another checkpoint in a career shaped by self-trust.
Ticket information for GIVĒON’s Australia and New Zealand tour can be found here.
