Review | Sa-Roc Shines at Santa Barbara’s SOhO

Sa-Roc, also known as Assata Perkins, graced SOhO Restaurant and Music Club on August 24 with her magnetic stage presence, ceaseless smile, and seemingly boundless energy — even ending the night with a new song.

But, beyond her impressive stage presence, Sa-Roc’s lyrical composition equally shined. Woven into her tracks are a myriad of personal anecdotes she carefully crafts into eloquent lyrics delivered with passion. She maintains an easily recognizable yet original sound through groovy melodies and dynamic beats.

Sa-Roc crafted an all-encompassing performance through seamless transitions where she delved into various personally significant subjects that parallel her songs, the most prominent being authenticity, transformation, vulnerability, and self-love.

Sa-Roc first paused her performance to discuss authenticity. She stressed the importance of being unapologetically oneself. To that, she sang “Forever,” a tribute to authenticity and a top track on her album The Sharecropper’s Daughter. Though each track is inspired by her own life, she encouraged the audience to draw upon their individual experiences, fostering an environment where everyone comes together through their shared struggles rather than being divided by them. “Unapologetically vow tonight to be you and only you,” she exclaimed to the crowd.

As one track transformed to the next, transformation itself became a paramount theme.

She invited the audience to lean into change. For the theme of transformation, she sang “MetaMorpheus,” — a 2016 track from her MetaMorpheus EP, highlighting the beauty of change  — stressing that one’s potential is boundless.

In the last part of the concert, Sar-Roc spoke against “hustle culture,” which is an idea that supports overworking as the only path to success. Instead, she called on the audience to live in the moment and not give in to the hustle culture often perpetuated by a certain subset of successful people. To that, she sang a new song, “Soft Life,” an ode to soft living.

Closing out the night,  Sa-Roc spotlighted self-love. Her 2018 single “Goddess Gang” — a tribute to women — perfectly segued the audience into this message. Through her self-love speech, Sa-Roc championed confidence among the entire audience. Her inclusivity left no fan out.

Keeping the theme of self-love alive, she sang “Forever” for a second time and curtained the night with a moving testament. She wore a smile, fanned herself, and asked the audience to repeat the words “I love myself.” We happily obliged.