At 5 years old, Halle Abadi, from Scottsdale, was playing the piano when her music teacher noticed she was humming along to the music. So, she suggested to Abadi’s mother that the child also take vocal lessons. Today, at 19, Abadi has a producer and is busy recording music, with plans to release a five-song mini-album early this year.
“Early on, I figured out that I love to sing along with the piano, but then when I hit 14 or 15, I realized I liked to write about things that were going on in my life or things that interested me,” she says.
At 15, Abadi’s new vocal coach helped her connect with Christopher Ray Roberts (C-Ray), an established and credited music producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer.
“I recorded my first song with him when I was 16, and we’ve been working together ever since,” she says. “As I’ve gotten older, what I write about has matured, and it’s more emotional. Chris has always been very supportive of whatever direction I want to go in.”
Lately, Abadi has been incorporating Middle Eastern influences into her music to pay homage to her culture, which is Middle Eastern and South Asian.
“It’s infusing those elements into pop and modernizing it so it’s still palatable to an American audience,” she says.
This past year, Abadi and C-Ray worked on a lot of new music, and Abadi is excited to release it.
“I feel like this is my best, most vulnerable work, and the most representative of who I am,” she says. “I want to connect to an audience that can identify with the music, because that connection is so important.
“Right now, people are more divided than ever, and I think that music is the one thing that connects everybody. Everyone can appreciate a good song, a good performance, or a good artist, and that’s something that shows our humanity at the end of the day.”
Her advice to young people who want to pursue their dreams?
“Put yourself out there and believe in what you have. Practice your craft so that you can be confident about it. People love people who are passionate about what they do, and if you can be that person, you can inspire many others.”
In addition to her album, Abadi’s music can be heard on Spotify, SoundCloud, and other music streaming platforms.