Introducing Soul-Pop Songstress Cooper Phillip

With her stunning voice, beautiful looks and intense drive, Russian-born, Los Angeles-based soul-pop songstress Cooper Phillip is an artist looking to make a big splash in the pop world.

Cooper Phillip has always been a small town girl with dreams bigger than anyone could fully imagine. Born in Russia to a family of classical musicians, her early years were shaped by being raised by her grandmother and aunt while her mother, a master violin player, toured with various symphonies. That separation led Cooper to take comfort in music at an early age where she was mesmerized by the vocal stylings of Ella Fitzgerald. She learned her songs inside and out, noticing every nuance of Ella’s phrasing and jazz intonations.

"Something about being in front of an audience and winning a competition at such a young age only made me more curious and interested in seeing what I could do with my voice", says Cooper.

She began singing everyday, taking in the sounds of Barbra Streisand and studying a wide range of artist. Listening to her impressive pipes, her voice, which won singing competitions at 11 years old, easily elevates her above the rest of aspiring sirens. Not only gifted vocally, she learned classical piano and harp, being raised in a family of accomplished classical musicians. Making the courageous decision to follow her dreams thousands of miles away from her homeland, she made her way to New York and Los Angeles, with not much else besides perseverance and a will to succeed.

At 12 years old, Cooper permanently went to live with her mother. It was a major adjustment but her mother soon realized her daughter had a gift and decided to help expand her music talents. She enrolled Cooper in the prestigious Moscow State Classical Academy where she studied classical piano, theory, harp, jazz, blues, ballet and voice. And it was her vocal teacher at the academy who would prove to be the most pivotal in her development when she introduced her to the music of Mariah Carey. Cooper was obsessed. "I would just listen to her for hours upon hours", Cooper recalls. She worked diligently to expand her range and control her voice to impress her teachers. She loved the challenge.

All along, Cooper had her sights set on the big city. Determined to pursue a career in music, Cooper's mother let her move to New York at 17. With barely a dollar to her name, she worked and hustled, singing in weddings and clubs and sleeping in the storeroom of a restaurant where she sang. It wasn’t easy but she would not be deterred. After a few years in New York, COOPER jumped at an opportunity to sing at a gig in Los Angeles. She never went back. She met Yoni Blondy, a talented new producer who introduced her to Sundafu Kawah of Imaginary Ghost Management. The two clicked right away. With a strong sense of direction, Cooper began pouring her heart into songs she would write for debut EP called Walk A Mile. In writing she found an outlet to tell her story of lost love and pain in soul filled songs like "Black Box", "Tough Love" and her single, "Silence". Cooper also used writing as an outlet for songs of struggle and perseverance like the EP's title track, "Walk A Mile".

Speaking with Moda Dossier about her life experiences and how they've influenced her music, Cooper says :

"Where I'm from, you don’t aspire to be a songwriter. I felt uninspired and restricted there. It wasn't until coming to the states, where I had to start over from scratch and had to survive, that I felt inspiration. “Walk A Mile”, the title song from my EP, was the story of struggle and pain of not only myself, but everyone around me in New York trying to make it. It made me feel much stronger when I started sharing this story through my music."

With her natural charisma, limitless talent and genuine like-ability, the word "star quality" is used often when people meet Cooper. And the future only seems to be getting brighter for Cooper as her soaring voice shines and her focused passion continues to grow every step of the way.

Watch the music video for her newest single, "Silence", directed by famed photographer Scott Nathan as well as the four additional songs from her Walk A Mile EP below.








Cooper Phillip's new single "Silence" is available now on iTunes.

For more information on Cooper Phillips, please visit her website.
You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and SoundCloud.