Artists come and go everyday, but phenomenal musicians are something to be prized and coveted like gold. Stacy Barthe is indeed a phenomenal musician, wooing listeners with her heartfelt songwriting and undeniable voice. After penning songs behind the scenes, Stacy decided it was time to step into her true element and embark on her own artistry.

Making her debut with her Without You EP, Stacy cultivated a fan base off of her ability to speak to the soul. Her honest music is quite irresistible, covering different facets of love and human emotion. Her music is a drug for your soul.

But all the mushy stuff aside, I had an opportunity to speak with Stacy Barthe about her art and unlikely start as a label intern. Maybe not that unlikely–but for a songwriter it is. She talks about her creative process, linking up with producer Hit-Boy, and drops some gems on her follow up project, P.S., I Love You.

You can read the full interview after the break.

Talk a little bit about your break into the music industry.

I started out interning at labels, my first internship was at Geffen Records where I worked for a woman named Necole Brown. My second internship was in 2005 at Jive Records, and I interned initially in the pop department, ending up in urban marketing. During that time is when I met Hit-Boy, we actually met on Myspace and he posted up something asking if someone wanted to write to this beat, so I told him to send it to my email and that was the beginning of our connection.

He would just send me tracks via email and I would record to them, write to them and send them back, and he loved it. In 2006 he found Polow Da Don on Myspace as well and started working with Chase N. Cashe. They became a duo and moved to Atlanta…I was back and forth. He invited me to come down and work with him because he believed in me. We had a very strong connection just because we would speak everyday and both going through transition.

I left school and I went down [to Atlanta] on a whim, and he had me whether it was food, clothes, whatever. He introduced me to Polow Da Don who then introduced me to Ethiopia who signed me to my publishing deal. We’ve been rocking ever since. So Hit-Boy put me on.

Did you have any initial hesitations of coming out from behind the scenes?

My dream was never to become a hit songwriter, that just kind of fell into my lap, and it was an easy way in because I was good at it. I got burned out writing songs that I didn’t care about or writing things that I wouldn’t particularly listen to.

What’s your creative process like?

I write a lot in the studio, just because I like the production process. I’m starting from scratch, I’m working with a producer now who produced my entire Christmas EP, The Seven Days of Christmas. He’s phenomenal. How we work is it’s whatever we feel like at that moment. He’ll pick up a guitar, start playing on the keys, and we build from scratch.  Where I draw inspiration from is a lot of my own life experiences and things that I’ve been through. My music is very autobiographic.

Will your next project be an extension of Sincerely Yours or a new concept entirely?

Sincerely Yours was representing a time in my life. I’m working on my next project P.S. I love you, which is where I’m at in life.  It’s basically the sequel to Sincerely Yours, the last song on that EP was “Let It Be,” basically saying when it’s over, it’s over, let it be. The number eight happens to be the number of completion. So that chapter in my life is done, I call that the “dark ages.” P.S. I love you is a happier piece of work.

It’s about recuperating, and not holding on to anything and focusing on the love. Love of myself, love of whomever. It’s a love story.

Stay tuned for part 2, where Stacy talks about how her Frank Ocean collaboration happened, as well as her new videos and concert rituals.