Former SU student Goldie Scott smashes barriers in upcoming music video for new ‘RaRa’ single
Goldie Scott breaks societal barriers in upcoming ‘RaRa' video
Goldie Scott always knew her path in life was to become a full-time musician, but she didn’t pursue it until a year and a half into college.
As a television, radio, and film freshman at Syracuse University in 2018, Scott felt out of place carrying expensive cameras around the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications building and instead would write songs during her classes. Eventually one of her professors pulled her aside and asked why she never paid attention.
“I was very honest with her. I was like, ‘I’m writing music. I want to transfer out. This isn’t for me.’ And she respected it,” she said.
Scott’s doodles have turned into singles made with a Grammy-winning producer, and now an original music video.
Scott released her new single “RaRa” on March 17. The single is a testament to the false narratives that the media feeds people as a way to capitalize on them and says that there’s more going on behind the scenes of the government and the media.
Scott, also known as Stephanie Weisz, wrote the single in June 2020 after witnessing a number of chaotic events presented in the news during the first couple months of the coronavirus pandemic. She realized that no matter which news source she looked at, she never knew the true story because every source showed a different narrative and each had their own version of reality.
Scott believes that the general public wants to peace and tries be understanding of one another, but large media corporations make people seem more divided as a way to profit off of viewers.
“It’s really hard to know what is true and what is false. And the song isn’t saying this is the truth. It’s saying, there is more to the story. And what they’re telling us is not necessarily the truth, and you shouldn’t just believe whatever you see and that people in power will always abuse that power,” she said.
Along with the single, Scott is creating a music video, which she and her team filmed in February at the Westcott Theater. In the video, Goldie Scott plays four characters and one of them, the investigator, exposes all the corruption behind the media by discovering secret documents. She said the release date for the video is undecided.
The video fits her brand of stepping out of the box that society tries to put people in through social norms and unrealistic expectations. Scott tries to empower people to step out of the box and encourage them to question everything they hear.
“People are always going to try to tell you who to be, whether that be your family or your friends or, like I said, society. And I think — like — you get to choose who you want to be in your own path and what you believe and how you live your life,” she said.
Scott learned this halfway through her sophomore year at SU when she auditioned for American Idol and made it to the next round, Hollywood Week, where Lionel Richie called her a “genius songwriter.” It was that experience, in December 2019, that made her realize she was on the right path and needed to dedicate her life to her music so that she can be prepared to work in the professional industry and learn to stop comparing herself to other artists.
“I decided that no matter what happens, whether I progress (and) I go to Hawaii or I lose on the show, I don’t want to go back to Syracuse because I need to figure out who I am and I know I cannot focus in this environment,” she said.
Since then, she has connected with two music producers, one a 17-year-old she befriended in 2019, and Grammy Award-winning “Bassy” Bob Brockmann who has worked with artists like Mary J. Blige, Christina Aguilera, TLC, and Aretha Franklin. “ There’s a 17-year-old, an almost 21-year-old and a 58-year-old, so it’s a very interesting trio,” she said.
Scott said she connected with Brockmann in the summer of 2020 and has 10 songs in the works with him, “RaRa” being one of them. Scott said when she messaged him, he happened to be looking for a new female top-line artist, which she doesn’t see as a coincidence.
“I think everything happens for a reason,” she said. “That has changed my life completely.”
Along with her producers, Scott works with her two managers, SU juniors George Aloia and Alexandra Pepper, whom she met at SU her freshman year. Pepper said her responsibility is to be Scott’s “go-to man,” create Scott’s schedule and work with producers as well as distribution companies. Pepper said she’s excited to release Scott’s new music she’s been working on.
“We have a lot of music in store, and a lot to release. It’s not like I have to tell (Scott) to make music, she’s always making music. We have so much ready,” she said.
She also asked SU junior Jessie Zhai to direct, film and edit the music video for “RaRa.” Zhai said she felt honored that Scott chose her, but also pressure to create a story that matched the message of Scott’s song well.
In the video, Scott has four characters. The first is a puppet in a black and white 60s/70s movie scene being manipulated by strings, which represents people in power using the media to maintain their power over the people. The second is her as a detective who breaks into a top-secret cabinet to discover what’s underneath the media and third, the fighter character, who breaks the T.V. and cabinet to knock down the people manipulating her. The fourth is an Uncle Sam character during the line ‘standing tall untied.” Despite filming for seven hours, Jessie said it didn’t feel that long.
“Goldie was always trying to have fun whenever she did anything and she brings up this higher energy where everybody can be excited about what they’re working on,” Zhai said. “And she’s very open for opinions.”
Scott said filming gave her more confidence to try new things that she’s always been nervous to do such as acting and dancing. The video also allowed her to reconnect with a song she had written all the way back in June 2020 and reimagine it in a different way.
She hopes the video will help listeners pay attention to the lyrics of the song, especially if they don’t pay attention to the words while listening to the song itself. She said having the visual component to the song allows her to portray its overall message more effectively, which is important to her because the meaning of the song is the most important part.
“Having an impactful meaning that people need to be talking about, the fact that there’s a lot going on behind the scenes and a lot of things we don’t know is what I want people to get out of it. So I feel like having another medium for people to see it and understand it is really important for me. That’s why I really wanted a video,” she said.
Aloia’s goal is to see Scott become a RIAA-certified artist and become successful in the music business. Scott has performed in clubs in New York City, where he said the audience was very engaged and talked to Scott about her music after the show. However, he looks forward to when Scott can do more live shows after the coronavirus pandemic.
“Her main goal is to just perform for people honestly and have fun because that’s the number one thing that’s missing. If she can perform here and there, that’s golden to her. She just wants to have a good time,” he said.
Scott’s long-term goal as an artist is to instill confidence in younger people and show older people that it’s not too late to start a journey in life. She said when she was younger, she had no confidence and did what everyone else did in fear of what others thought of her. But now she has found the confidence to be fully herself.
“I really want people to listen to my music and also just hear my interviews and be like, ‘Wow, I could do that as well. I could decide that. I choose my own life. I can dress how I want. And I don’t have to give a (sic) what other people think,’” she said.
is a digital producer for The NewsHouse.
