Singer-songwriter/actress Sabi started her path to music stardom as part of the girl group The Bangz, but truly caught the attention of listeners last summer when she was featured on Cobra Starship’s dance hit “You Make Me Feel” and Britney Spears’ "Drop Dead Beautiful". Sabi recently dropped her newest single “Where They Do That At”, find out more in her Kidzworld Bio!
California Kid
Jenice Sab-bion Dena Portlock (Sabi) grew up in Inglewood, California. Sabi says that her first love was dance and she longed to attend a dance school in Los Angeles but the tuition was too expensive for her mother, so she turned her attention to acting. Because of her parent’s divorce Sabi could only watch music videos at her father’s place, but if she couldn’t dance like the stars in the videos, then she would sing!
“My dad had cable and my mom didn’t, so my sisters and I were glued to the screen watching music videos all day. We especially loved Michael Jackson, Prince, and Sade. That’s when I made the decision that I wanted to be a performer. But I knew, even then, that I didn’t want to be the girl who’s shaking her butt in the corner. I wanted to be the girl running the show.”
The Bangz
Sabi got involved with acting while she was in middle school, and was cast in commercials for ABC Family, Universal Studios and even Pepsi. While she was a Communications student at California State University in Long Beach she was even a part of an independent film by Shia LaBoeuf called The Smallest River in Almirante. But Sabi still hadn’t lost sight of wanting to sing as well.
In 2009 Sabi was approached by The Co-Stars to form a girl group with another performer, Ella Ann, called The Bangz. The girls were immediately signed and it seemed as if Sabi’s dreams were finally coming true when tragedy struck. After releasing two singles Ella Ann was in an accident that forced her to quit the industry.
“The whole experience was an emotional rollercoaster.We were so excited because all this stuff was happening. We had shot our first video and it had close to a million views on YouTube. But no one felt the Bangz could continue without Ella. We tried. I shot a video and did some performances on my own with back-up dancers.”
Solo Sabi
Luckily for Sabi the execs at Warner Brothers loved her enthusiasm and raw energy and saw her potential as a solo performer and wanted to continue working with her. Last summer she was featured on Cobra Starship’s track “You Make Me Feel” and her idol Britney Spears’ “Drop Dead Beautiful”. She’s currently working on her debut album, but her latest single “Where They Do That” is already making waves. Listen below!
Have Your Say
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