Sarah Mansour’s voice is nothing you’ve heard before

If we have an advice for you today, it would be to Watch out for Sarah Mansour. The Lebanese- American RnB-Pop artist who makes “niche music for everyone” combines influences from her time spent in LA and her cultural heritage, her first EP “Uninterrupted” being a testimonial of both.
Over six different tracks, Sarah explores “a different persona with every song.”
Sometimes trilingual but always silky smooth, we vibed from song 1 to finish. JDEED spoke to Mansour to know more.

By Cynthia Jreige

Sarah on set for the ALTER EGO music video. Photograph by Tia Murr

When you listen to Sarah Mansour’s voice, it doesn’t take long to realize that her silky tone has the special something to set her aside.
For Mansour, Music was an obvious choice since she was “old enough to think.” She was only a 3 year old when she hit her first stage and has been writing music her whole life. The road to launching herself into the world as a real artist was however not without doubts: “the truth was always there but I got lost for a while and never dreamed it would become my career. I was afraid I didn’t have the discipline or the courage to put myself out there (…) It turns out that when you love anything that badly, you have no choice in the matter. You need to go after it.“

Combining what it takes to become a real sensation, Mansour recently released her first EP, Uninterrupted, which she rightfully qualifies as a milestone in her blossoming career: “It’s been surreal from start to finish (…) I can’t believe it’s out there because I gave so much to this project and there were moments where I was truly drained. But overall, I’m filled with gratitude for everything I learned along the way and I am now so excited for my next chapter.“

To say that we loved every song isn’t an understatement, which would obviously also be the case for Mansour. The artist feels “close to every song in a different way or depending on how [she’s] feeling.” Each song embodying a part of her or her story, she would feel closer to certain tracks at certain times; lately, she’s been feeling “closest to “Breakthrough” and “Midnight Kisses”

Sarah Mansour live for the “Uninterrupted” release concert at the Bedford, London UK. Photograph by Araxie Boyadjian.

Mansour carries her roots with her everywhere she goes. While some artists would try to detach themselves from a defined identity, being Lebanese is something the singer prides herself with: “I would be offended if I weren’t considered a Lebanese artist on the international scene. My country and its people are an intrinsic part of what makes me who I am. Of course I consider myself multicultural and it’s clear my inspirations come from all kinds of places – but there would be nothing more gratifying to me than making it out there as a Lebanese artist especially,” she says.

The multiculturalism she mentions speaks for itself in her trilingual songs, such as “Alter Ego”, which we particularly loved. Despite being common practice nowadays among young artists from the Middle East, Mansour wanted to make sure she’d be doing this right: ” (…)I consulted with French artists and other Arab artists to make sure it sounded good (…) I think there’s a different attitude that comes with each language and I practiced a lot in order to feel comfortable switching it up.“

This gorgeous trilingual EP was recently given a chance to be heard live and, truly not just anywhere. It’s in London that Mansour took the stage to perform last May, an experience she describes as “out-of-body“: “there wasn’t much thinking involved that day (…) it felt like it passed in a flash. A moment I had
been manifesting in the pit of my stomach for years came to fruition.”

A pinch-me moment, comforting her beliefs that anything is possible and making her number one fan, the proudest girl out there: “Little me wouldn’t have believed her eyes. Her opinion of me matters more to me than anyone else’s.”

The singer, whose international career has just started, is full of plans, ambitions and dreams, among which, collaborations that would make her “cry if they happened”: “so many artists have influenced me. As of late, I’m in love with Kali
Uchis, SZA, Beyoncé, and Lana Del Rey.”

But as she confessed in her own words, there’s nothing she can’t achieve.





Cover picture by Flo Husseini