Music is an essential part of our everyday lives and has been for thousands of years. It is a way in which people express their feelings and the inner parts of themselves, with people from all backgrounds and walks of life participating in the culture of music. Sapphire Walters is a fourteen year old girl with an intense passion for music, having already ‘written around twenty songs’, her ‘favourites’ being ‘Sunshine Smile, Be Who You Are, Melanin and Beautifully Crushed Petals’, which she has been writing since she was very young. Her love for music has been influenced by artist such as Beyoncé and Michael Jackson, in fact Jackson’s ‘Man in the Mirror’ inspired her song ‘Be Who You Are’, sending messages of self-love, and that change can only be made by oneself.
As a young artist Sapphire’s love for Beyoncé is ever-growing, and is ‘the person’ she ‘looks up to’, believing that Beyoncé is an artist who ‘worked hard to get where she is and is always willing to give more than her best to get the best’ results, and is inspired by the young age Beyoncé began working, Beyoncé’s work shows girls in Sapphire’s ‘age group’ that ‘work and dedication’ truly ‘does pay off’.
If you search Sapphire on Instagram to listen to the marvellous melodies she blesses our ears with you will find her under the stage name ‘Young Athena’, when asked about the story behind the name she said that ‘The name Athena is one of my middle names and my father chose it for me. It is a Greek goddess so is quite a special name and I am exceptionally privileged to have a name like that and be able to share it with others.’ When it comes to Sapphire’s music she wants people to ‘to hear a message that will make them look at the world in a different or better way’ for example, her ‘current’ personal ‘favourite song’ is called ‘Melanin’, the inspiring message behind this song ‘is about how all of us have melanin in our skins and we should embrace that similarity. There are many dividing factors about skin tone and people in general, but as soon as I found out that everyone has melanin, in large or small amounts, in their skin I had to write a doing about it! I had to spread the word to tell people that we are different but all are connected even though we have so many differences.’ Teaching young people to embrace their skin tones, and not to distinguish others based on something that we all have, ‘Melanin’.
Sapphire, or Young Athena as the music world knows her has been writing songs since the young age of 12, her first song was ‘Be Who You Are’, since then she has performed many times and to various sizes of crowd, though she ‘used to feel a bit scared and worried to perform in front of people’ she acknowledges this is completely ‘natural’ and she ‘still gets a bit nervous sometimes but’ she ‘loves it because of people appreciating and loving’ her music. In five to ten years’ time she hopes to change the lives of ‘millions’ through her music, though it sounds difficult she hope that through her unique sound she will change the way people think about certain situations, conveying positive and beautiful messages through her songs.
For other young artists, Young Athena is an inspiration like none other, she works hard, constantly writing songs and posting her music online, but for her it’s not just all work, her passion makes her career a whole lot more fun, and you can simply see this when watching her sing in her YouTube videos by the way she sings, where it is only her and the music, nothing else. She advises that other young aspiring artist practice their talents ‘every day and make sure they love what they are doing’ and makes sure to point out that ‘it won’t be working if you love it’ after all. With such talent and grace, you can’t help but want to wish the young artist all the success in the world! Keep making music Young Athena, we’ll keep an eye out for the Top 40, only to see your name at number one soon.
If you would like to check out some of Young Athena’s incredible songs make sure to search her up on YouTube and Instagram where she is most commonly seen posting her newest songs. There are also links down below:
By Anjali Narbheram, Woodford County High School for Girls
