R&B/Hip-Hop

In the five years since Opia, her Polaris Music Prize-shortlisted debut studio album, Canadian R&B singer-songwriter Savannah Ré has transitioned out of the major label system into an era of independence heralded by the self-assured melodies of Formed, her new full-length project. 
Executive produced by her husband Yogi the Producer — who won his first Grammy earlier this year, thanks to his work on Chris Brown’s 11:11 (Deluxe) — Formed finds Ré building on her previously established sonic profile of soulful, midtempo R&B with forays into country-esque guitar samples (“Go’ Head”), gutsy wordplay (“Nine Lives”) and candid moments of pure seduction (“East Side Demon”). A featureless affair, the new project flaunts the three-time Juno Award winner’s versatility while keeping her grounding themes of maturation and divine femininity centered. 

Formed was initially an expansion of Ré’s 2022 No Weapons EP, but her journey into the indie arena and general life changes caused the project to evolve into something entirely separate. The pitfalls and triumphs of that journey punctuate the entire project, from the testimonial that is “Made It Out” to the poignant self-reflection of “Where You Left Me.” Though she wades through a well of intensely personal experiences for Formed, the project feels notably looser than Opia – and that was intentional. 

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“I think I was hypercritical of everything during Opia,” Ré tells Billboard just days after returning from a seven-year anniversary trip to St. Lucia with her husband, who was honored with a parade celebrating his Grammy win. “Being a perfectionist can ruin the essence of what you’re doing. I’m having more fun making music this time around, to be honest.” 

In a wide-ranging conversation with Billboard, Savannah Ré breaks down Formed, reveals her initial reaction to Drake sampling her for 100 Gigs, and details how she’s navigating being an independent artist.

Opia, your last full-length project, dropped almost five years ago. Why the long wait between that album and Formed? 

How much time do we have? [Laughs]. Honestly, a lot of things changed very rapidly. I was in a deal with Universal Music Canada from 2018 all the way to 2023, when I finally went a different direction. It took some time for me to figure out what it is I want to do. For my entire career prior to [this moment], I’ve been a signed artist; [I’m] figuring out navigating things myself. I had to be in the driver’s seat.  

It’s a completely different process being independent versus being signed. There’s so many extra steps, so many things to have your eyes across, so much business that I’m doing now. I wanted to make sure that the music wasn’t getting lost in that process, and that I was still sticking to my vision. It took a little while, but we’re here now! 

Talk to me a little bit about Matrimony Records. 

Matrimony is the label that I started with my husband, Johann [Deterville], Yogi the Producer, last spring. We were like, “We do everything together already, so why don’t we make it official before thinking about signing anywhere else or going back to a major? We should have our own thing on paper.”  

A lot of our foundation, of course, is love and all the things that go into a relationship. But it’s music as well. That’s how we fell in love — so what better name than “Matrimony?” It’s marriage, as far as love, but it’s marriage to the music, as well. We’re also looking forward to finding and signing other artists as well. We want to build Matrimony up. 

You won the Juno Award for traditional R&B/soul recording three years in a row, effectively making you, if not the face, one of the defining voices of Canadian R&B. How does that make you feel? 

I hate that. No, I’m kidding! [Laughs.] Honestly, I felt seen. It was an honor to be the first artist to be nominated in both the traditional and contemporary R&B/soul categories in the same year. To be nominated, and then to win again and again and again, I was like, “OK, that’s enough now, guys!” I know everybody looks surprised, but I was genuinely surprised every single time I won. It’s been great, and it feels affirming. 

What was the first and last song you finished recording for Formed? 

“Go’ Head” was the first. It actually wasn’t for me because I’m a writer as well. I was pitching that song around, and from what I know, Chris Brown’s team had it for two years. We thought it was going to make it on [2022’s Breezy], and then it didn’t, so I kept the record. I played it for some of my non-musician friends, and they were like, “Oh my gosh, you need to release this song.” Seeing that visceral feeling, I was like, “I’m gonna put this on the project.” 

I think we wrote that song in 2018, so we went back in and rejigged it a little bit to be closer to what I would say. The production is exactly the same, and the topline is pretty much exactly the same. And now it’s the focus track for [Formed]. 

The last song was “Made It Out.” I have this thing with projects where I’ll get really close to finishing, and then I’m like, “It’s missing one song.” I won’t exactly know what it sounds like, but I’ll know how it’s gonna make me feel when I hear it. I wrote “Made It Out” with Marcus Semaj, who wrote several songs on Opia with me. He sent me the song, and I was like, “Brother… can I have it?” And he was like, “Of course.”   

Because I’m a writer, I’ll always change things or write another verse or whatever. But this song… it was like he was looking into my life. To me, it’s a message of, making it out of your circumstances and the things that were supposed to keep you down. After that, I knew the project was done. 

What would you say changed the most — or not at all — about your approach to songwriting and singing on Formed versus Opia? 

I’d say a lot changed. I think I was hypercritical of everything during Opia. While I’m still a perfectionist, I try not to ruin things anymore because, to be honest, being a perfectionist can ruin the essence of what you’re doing. Do you love the song? Does it make you feel something? Then you don’t need to scrutinize it into the ground or rewrite it 17 times or spend four or five studio sessions recording it. Go with your gut. I’m having more fun making music this time around, to be honest. 

A couple of weeks ago, you got on Instagram to address some people missing the message of “Nine Lives” because they couldn’t get past the use of the word “p—y.” Was that a first for you? How does that make you feel as an artist? 

It’s quite different! I’m not used to being on the “hate train” side of things. I was very clear that [“Nine Lives”] is for the girls. Unfortunately, it ended up, on the incel side of the Internet with older, non-Black men. And it’s like you, [this song] wasn’t for you. It’s a song about female empowerment sung by a very visibly Black woman. It doesn’t matter what I say when I open my mouth, you are not gonna like it. So, even when addressing it, I didn’t make it about them. I just doubled down on the song’s message. 

And with [the word “p—y”] especially, it’s so interesting that it’s okay for it to be said in all these negative ways. But then, I reclaim it in a positive way, and it’s an issue. Although that word may have been used mostly in a vulgar way, to me, it holds power. When I sing, “bring life,” I’m not just referring to childbirth. I mean that there is a woman in everybody’s life who breathes life into them. I’m talking about some serious stuff in the song. 

Formed also houses “Sex With My Ex,” which Drake sampled on his 100 Gigs website. Where were you when you found out about that? What was your initial reaction, and what, if anything, do you think will come of that at this point? 

We were in the studio working on finishing [Formed], funny enough. When it dropped, the internet started going crazy, so we went to check it out. We clicked around and found a Boi 1-da folder and started clicking through it. The first video was my voice, and then there was a second one, and a third one with a different vocal sample of mine. We’re sitting there flabbergasted at this point, because that third clip was actually Drake in the studio. 

I immediately FaceTimed 1-da, like, “What the helly?” And he didn’t even know much. Based on [Drake’s] haircut, the footage seemed to be from the Certified Lover Boy era, I guess. 1-da has always said that it takes a lot for Drake to record on a beat, so, generally speaking, it’s probably going to come out. He has a 99% kill rate. So, I was like, “OK… so what do I do?” Because “Sex with My Ex” was a freestyle I recorded in 2018! 

So, we ended up recutting the song in 2022, which is when I met Leon Thomas, and he, myself, and Yogi flipped it. “Sex” was already on [Formed] at that point, so to me, that was some universe stuff. What are the chances of a song that’s been sitting since 2018 ending up in this Drake 100 Gigs thing? Initially, it wasn’t a single, but the team quickly pivoted and dropped the song late last year.  

I don’t know if he’ll ever do a 100 Gigs mixtape, but it definitely put more eyes on me and the song. As a freshly independent artist, I’m just grateful either way. 

What’s the most important thing you learned from Boi 1-da while you were on his 1Music label? 

Prior to signing with him, I was like, “Hey, there aren’t a lot of female artists out there that look like me, maybe I should just focus on being a writer.” That’s how our initial connection was made. Someone of his caliber and stature looking at me and saying, “Not only do I think you should be an artist, but you should also be my artist…” that changed the game for me. It made me confident and self-assured. I was able to lean on him when it came to anything musical. 

People think being his artist made it easier – absolutely not. If he don’t like something, he [won’t mince words]. So that started to breed a certain standard within me as well. He would also start bringing me to [different artists’] sessions so I could be a fly on the wall and see how these things work. I was really fresh when he signed me, and I don’t think a better person could have ushered me into the music world and treated me with such respect. That’s like my brother for life, I talk to him every day, whether I’m signed to him or not. He changed my life. 

How do your Jamaican roots – and Yogi’s Lucian roots – manifest in your music? 

My Caribbean roots are what raised me. Even in the R&B space, [West Indians are] going to approach it a little differently. People have credited rap for some of my rhythmic choices, but I think it goes back to the different riddims and cadences we hear in our [reggae and dancehall] music. There’s always those little sprinkles, and they’ll definitely come through a lot more on the deluxe, [which will have three or four new songs and be out soon]. And Yogi be sneaking little riddims into things all the time! 

Do you have any plans to tour Formed yet? 

I do. And God willing, it will happen. But, chile, being independent is ghetto as hell, okay?! It’s an interesting climate for touring. We’re seeing so many major artists cancel their tours, and I just want to be very intentional about it and make sure I can give the best show possible. I’m sure I could figure out a way to just bring my little self and do my thing, but that’s not the show I want to bring for my first headlining tour. I want it to be as big as the music and as big as I can possibly make it. That’s one of my goals, and hopefully, this year, I can pull it off.