A talented soul with the ability to enchant anyone with her music, Zola Johnson (known to the public as ZOLA), is an up-and-coming artist from San Francisco who has always found the arts to be wrapped around her finger. First strumming a guitar at age six, ZOLA found herself mesmerized by the noises that could come from it. Ever since, she has been extremely active in the art and music community, studying at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. First making her debut on Soundcloud with her newly-updated song called “Too Fast, Too Soon”, ZOLA quickly became popular. After perfecting the piece, it was later released on Spotify, Soundcloud, iTunes, and Apple Music. The song is one of the many that will be on her EP, being released in the fall. A brilliant combination of jazz, soul, and R&B, ZOLA provides a unique experience to her listeners that you cannot find anywhere else.
ZOLA has hit us with what might be one of the greatest combinations of soul, jazz, and R&B that we’ve seen in this generation. Her song, "Too Fast, Too Soon", was first debuted on Soundcloud as a rough draft. It quickly reached over 500,000 streams, and the re-recorded final draft was released on July 20 on various platforms. She fine-tuned and finalized the now-released version of “Too Fast, Too Soon” at the Frost School of Music. It is a single from her EP, coming out in the fall.
ZOLA’s debut EP was mostly written during her freshman and sophomore years at college. It speaks on many different topics, most of them relating to her experience at a university. Her songs speak to the listener by touching on many relatable subjects, letting them know that they aren’t alone in their experiences. ZOLA’s music provides a rare experience by combining different genres and blending them into a symphony - something you can only get from hearing her voice.
“Too Fast, Too Soon” immediately reminded me of Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment’s song “Sunday Candy” with the jumpy, eccentric piano playing at the beginning. The song has hints of resemblance to 2015 classic, but is more classy and poetic than anything. Bearing more resemblance to artists like Janis Joplin, ZOLA’s unique and soulful voice carries the song in a way like no other.
You can find ZOLA on her social media accounts:
Instagram - zolaofficialmusic
Facebook - zolaofficialmusic
Spotify - ZOLA/zolaofficialmusic
Youtube - ZOLA
Soundcloud - ZOLA/zolaofficialmusic
Written by: Zoe Steiner
Edited by: Hannah Schneider