Sasha Keable had been on my radar for a few years. A fiery red-head with incredible vocal range, there was just something different about the distinctly gritty beauty in her tone, like Mary J Blige, but London grit not New York. Then in 2023, I came across a Tiktok video where she was switching from South London slang to heavy Colombian Spanish. I thought, well there you are, just when you thought you knew everyone in your community, you realise we Latinos are now tied into the fabric of UK culture, assimilated, almost.
It is perhaps the refreshing trait of a new generation that you can have a style that is so London, a Colombianidad that's so, well Colombian and it's like, no biggie.
"It's never something that I really think about honestly, when you're just like, you are something. Our lives revolved around Elephant (South London's Colombian area). We'd spend every Mother's Day, Christmas, birthdays, do you know what I mean? So I don't know, it's just kind of one of those things that is part of me," says Sasha. "But I guess, because I don't sing in Spanish, people might think there's a bit of a disconnect between my heritage, my culture and I guess my music. But then people remark on the way I dress and kind of assume that it's from me growing up in South London or whatever. I'm like, no, it's...I'm Colombian."
The fact that Sasha doesn't feel she has to prove anything regarding her identity, is her strength. There is an ease and authenticity to her style, which reflects someone who is not trying too hard. When she is described as the "mouthpiece of modern British music," that is what she is. At the same time, the fact that she isn't trying to 'make it' into the 'Latin' space, doesn't mean that she isn't proud about being Latin. I put this to Sasha, adding: you are just doing your music, projecting your own thing, maybe you don't feel you need to prove that you're Latina.
"Yeah, I've never felt the need to prove it, but...as I get more and more into the public eye, I get comments obviously, being white and being Colombian..." she explains, and I know exactly where she's heading. "There's people that have this Latino stereotype, like you have to have long black hair. My sister looks like what you'd say, more stereotypical. And I just think, that's people being ignorant and not being educated on what our country looks like in terms of diversity. So I kind of don't really pay much attention to it. I don't feel I need to prove to anyone how Colombian I am."
"People come to you saying you're not Colombian. Is that real?"
"Yeah, absolutely...because I don't look Colombian enough for them."
"Wow, that's crazy."
"What do you want me to do, do you know what I mean?" She laughs. "Yeah. But I guess the thing is...I can cuss you out in Spanish, so shut up. It's just silly. It just blows my mind that people are kind of that ignorant. I'm like, don't even... the fact that you'd say that shows me you don't even know what a Colombian woman looks like."
When Sasha gets expressive like this, it kind of clicks, what is different about this artist from Lewisham who started making waves in 2021 with the sensational EP "Intermission" including the huge track "Killing Me" and, after a hiatus, has come back to make waves again with "Hold Up" (2024) and "Act Right" (2025). Without a single word of Spanish, there is something very Latina in Sasha's songs and style. The drama in her storytelling and her theatrical delivery in "Why" or "Hold Up", her playfulness and comedy, remind me of Latina women in my own life.
"I was raised by a Colombian woman, by multiple Colombian women actually; my mom, my nana and my sister, all three of them raised me. Yeah, so I was more raised within Colombian culture than English culture really." Sasha says. "And then, yeah, I've been back to Colombia every year since I was a baby. We used to spend a month there for Christmas. So, I've very much been surrounded by Colombian women."
Even down to the subject matter in many of Sasha's songs, the heartbreak, she is sharing the space with Colombian superstar Karol G, the queen of despecho (heartbreak). But in Sasha's version of despechada there is something distinctly real and raw, the fuck-you attitude, that is very London. Being Colombian comes out in her music in more subtle ways than brandishing a flag.
"Yeah, I think that passion really shaped me. I used to come home and my mom would be listening to vallenatos and I'd be like, okay, she's either crying or she's cleaning and I'm not sure which one. And I'd be scared of both. I'd be like... what's going on. We are very passionate people, whether it's about each other, our country, anything you can be passionate about...a piece of paper. Do you know what I mean? It's just how we are. And we're loud, do you know what I mean? All of these things definitely shaped me. Massively."
The look and feel in Sasha's latest release, "Act right", which she says is inspired by her memories of spending time with her family in Colombia, is more telenovela than ever. The skinny London girl of a few years ago, has blossomed into a passionate woman, a suffering protagonist, confident in her curves, more mamasota than mamacita. At the same time, the Londoner is evident, more defiant and natural than the tanned, super-operated, over-sexualised Colombian aesthetic.
"I think my biggest way of being Colombian is the not being scared of showing that I care, and even just loving really hard. I think that's my biggest downfall sometimes also. But I mean, it is what it is. I can't help it. People see me and think, that's just how I am, but the way I am is probably more Colombian than anything else. Do you know what I mean? We Colombians don't do nonchalant. We do passion. We either give it 100% or what's the point? Whatever it is, partying, drinking, whatever. We just don't party. We party hard and we love hard…”
And you went full on Medellin ambience in "Act Right," I laugh, referring to her mother's birthplace Bello, just outside Medellin, where Sasha spent much of her childhood.
"Yeah, I mean I think aesthetically there's so many things that come through. For "Take Your Time" as well, the video for that, the director was talking about, we want your Colombian heritage to come through dah, dah, dah, dah, whatever. And they were sending me references and I was like, this is the thing, these are Mexican references. I'm not Mexican, I'm Colombian, you know what I mean? So then I started sending over a bunch of stuff and they were like, oh, okay...
Even how I decorate my house and stuff. Houses in Colombia, they're like my dream homes, when you go just outside of Medellin and all of that, places like Concepción, to me that's my perfect aesthetic. And I'm obsessed with flowers, obviously. That's just a huge thing in our culture. We're so abundant with flora. So I think there's things that slip through a lot more than I realised. And it just naturally lends into my aesthetic. Yeah."
Around four and a half years ago, Sasha took a break from music, citing burnout and the intense pressures from the music industry. Not everyone comes back from taking a break, you could have given up...your mum seems to be a big inspiration for you, did that immigrant mentality help?
"My family have always been very resilient. My mom came over from Colombia, couldn't speak a word of English, working in the hospital cleaning, even though in Colombia she was a nurse. I watched her build a life for herself. Do you know what I mean? She grew up in Niquía in Medellin. It was not cute. Just watching someone build a life for themselves out of nothing gives you a reality check. It's like she can really turn to you and be like, you don't even know how lucky you have it for real. I remember the first time going to the area that my mom grew up in and I was like, 'oh shit, okay'. It teaches you to appreciate what the fuck you have and to be resilient and to work hard because you could always have it worse. You need to get up and keep fighting for real and be resilient. In music you have to, so I'm sure that's played into it massively."
You mentioned your mum listening to vallenatos and that is music of the heart really. Can you see yourself doing Latin music?
"I'd love to do a Cumbia record, but that seems like it's later down the line for me. I have started writing in Spanglish. But I'm just like, I don't feel like I'm drawn to doing reggaetón. I'd never say never. I don't know what the future holds. Don't get me wrong, I love reggaetón, to party, to dance, to shake my ass, but for me to make it, noooo, I'm good actually. I think that I'm trying to find how to mesh the two worlds in a way that makes sense to me because I don't want to do it just for the sake of doing it. I want to do it because it feels right, because a lot of people when they find out I'm Colombian, they're like, oh my God, you should make music in Spanish. And I'm like, I mean, yeah, I should, but when it feels right, I don't feel any massive pressure to do it because, again, I don't feel the need to prove that I'm Colombian just by recording in Spanish. Am I making sense?"
Yeah, because you see a lot of people copying each other and then they end up all sounding the same.
"Yeah, I mean, look, I just want to make good music. R&B is my bread and butter, but I don't even really put myself into just one genre because I listen to so many genres. I grew up around so many different types of music. So, I just make what feels right. That's why I would never be like, 'I'll never do'. If the feeling's right, if I write the right song, who knows what the future holds. But right now I'm just enjoying the journey of writing more in Spanish, which is stretching my abilities, because I've never had to be poetic in Spanish, if that makes sense. And I feel like I make music for myself. I don't make music for anyone else. I love the fact that other people enjoy it, but it's therapy to me, and it's such a personal thing, that if I end up just enjoying the process, and never releasing it, then that's OK."
I have to ask this…let's say in a few years time, you could choose any Latino or Colombian artist to collaborate with, who would you pick?
Sasha laughs: "Do you know what I'm going to say? Just because it would be such a full circle moment. The first time I really started listening to music in Spanish was when I was listening to Juanes, to La Camisa Negra when I was a kid and learned all the lyrics. So yeah, just for that, because it would just be like, wow, iconic. I would love to work with him."
That would be a great collaboration! And lastly, what would be your advice to any young Latina in the UK wanting to be an artist.
"Yeah, I would just say, honestly, follow your gut. Follow your instinct. Your instinct is always right and just keep going. This is not an easy industry and you really have to know that this is what you want because you could get multiple knock backs. It is not just going to be one knockback, it could be 10, 15, and you have to be able to be like, okay, cool. Get back up. How do I do this? But I think just being true to yourself, always, and realising that your gut is always right. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. I'd say that."
Sasha Keable plays at SxSw on Tuesday 3 June at Shoreditch Town Hall, 9pm. She'll also perform this year at Glastonbury, Colors NYC and Meltdown festival
