In Quentin Tarantino’s iconic 2003 film Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Gogo Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama) is introduced as a timid schoolgirl. However, it’s quickly revealed that it’s all an act and she’s actually a cold-blooded assassin. Although she only appears for less than 10 minutes in the nearly two-hour film, the character garnered a massive cult following. For GoGo Morrow, those few minutes have had a lasting impact.
“She’s this 17-year-old, [who’s] really cute and sweet but she’s literally the deadliest person in the movie,” Morrow tells Rated R&B, “and I related to that so much. I don’t enjoy being the underdog. I do want to change that narrative for myself. I enjoy the process of showing people who I am.”
It’s an early afternoon, and the blue-haired singer is reflecting on her duality as an artist, which she compares to Yubari. While she may not be slaying with a meteor hammer like the character she adores, Morrow is serving an alternate side of her with her sophomore EP, SET. Whereas her 2022 debut EP, Ready, signaled hard-earned alignment, the latter project is where she cements herself in unrefined truth. “SET is a true embodiment of who I am,” says Morrow. “Ready was my introduction to the people, and SET gives you an inside look at my deepest, darkest thoughts; it’s a very vulnerable project.”
SET is the second installment of Morrow’s EP trilogy. She conceptualized the three-part project in 2021 after signing with Universal Music Canada. “That was always the vision from the beginning,” says Morrow. Even though she experienced some changes on the business side, including a new label (MNRK Records) and new management, she maintains, “My vision has remained the same.”
Executive produced by Harmony Samuels, who also helmed Ready, SET features the singles “Touch Me” and “Hard To Love.” It includes additional production and songwriting by D’Mile, JV Ettiene, Jamil “Deputy” Pierre, Ant Clemons and Varren Wade.
Your Ready EP was your official introduction. Now that we are in the SET era, who is the GoGo Morrow we hear four years later?
You’re going to be introduced to the darker side of me. I’m always chipper and everything, but you are going to hear things you wouldn’t normally hear a woman say. I think it speaks to a lot of people who go through the situations I’m speaking about on this project. It’s so relevant now because of the times we’re in, and how it’s really hard dating, making yourself vulnerable and trusting people. It’s hard having your heart broken and finding the courage to try love again; that’s what the whole project is about.
“Hard To Love” speaks to that difficulty of opening yourself up. Could you talk more about that one?
“Hard To Love” introduces the story of SET. I’m tapping into a different persona that I haven’t really shown people yet. I’m still new to most people, so they’ll be introduced to this version of me and they’ll probably have to go back and find out who Ready GoGo was.
The visual for “Hard To Love” is minimalistic but expressive. It’s a silhouette of you performing choreography by yourself, with red lights. What inspired that?
The inspiration for the visualizer came from Kill Bill, which also inspired my name. I talk a lot about being a superhero — that’s on my bucket list: becoming a Marvel superhero or an assassin. It’s my favorite movie genre. When I was talking to my director and creative director, I was like, “This is how I want to be presented.” They were great at taking my notes and shaping it into something doable for the budget we had. That’s how we came up with that silhouette. Its red look is reminiscent of Uma Thurman in Kill Bill when she’s doing those fight scenes.
Since you mentioned wanting to be a superhero. If you were to create a character for yourself, who would she be?
Oh, trust me. I have this character laid out already. I have my anime created. So GoGo, in the anime, is a singer by day and a crime fighter by night. It’s like a double life: a singer and somebody who saves whoever needs to be saved. That’s how I see myself. If I had to choose superpowers, it would be mind control. I would choose that because I could determine the fate of anything if I could control everybody’s mind.
Are you a hero by nature? Where does that instinct actually come from?
That’s a good question; I feel like that’s a therapy question. I do think I’m a hero by nature for a lot of people in my life. I don’t get close to a lot of people, but for the people I’m the closest to, I am always the person they vent to or get advice from. There is a part of me that loves helping people. I never really thought about it on a deeper level, but that’s probably where that comes from: my desire to help and support the people I love most.
That brings me to “Emotionally Unavailable.” Is that your way of protecting your peace?
Yes. When I wrote that song, I was really hurt from a past relationship. It’s similar to the story of “Hard to Love.” It’s the space of leaving [what] you thought was your forever situation and mourning the reality that it’s not a thing anymore — and the [idea] of something new. It’s like, “I’m good right now. I can’t make myself vulnerable for the next person while I’m trying to navigate through this — whatever this is.”
Which song on SET would you say brought you the most healing?
“Smoke and Mirrors.” It was the last song I wrote for the project. When I ended the writing for SET, I was in a different place. I was more open to the idea of falling in love and starting a new chapter with someone. “Smoke and Mirrors” is the veil coming down of being this person in this hard shell. It’s the softer side of the Cancer, which I am.
Was it time that helped with healing or making the music?
It was time. I think that is the serendipitous part of how long this project took. It wasn’t supposed to be this long in between, but I was able to live life. I was able to experience more heartbreak, not even so much in love, but also in business. It broke me down to where I’m like, “I have no choice now but to be honest and show people who I am; this is all I have.” Time definitely heals and time reveals.
“La La Lies” is the standout bop of the project. It shifts the moody sound to something more danceable. What was your intention with that record?
That one was fun. It was produced by Harmony Samuels and Deputy. Me and Harmony, were like, “We need something uptempo.” The project is pretty emotional, but I’m a dancer and a performer, so I figured we needed something I can perform that will be exciting. For this particular song, Harmony had this topline of horns he wanted to use. He gave that to Deputy, and they created the beat from there. Varren Wade and I wrote the song. It was a perfect marriage of all the different creative minds in the room.
What’s the inspiration behind “Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda”?
It reminds me of my childhood. It’s so Brandy-coded; that was intentional, how we stacked the backgrounds and the layers. I just want her to listen to it and be like, “I would sing this song.” We were going to put a rapper on it, but I was like, “Nah, let’s end it right here. We can go back later and extend it if we want.” I loved how finite the ending of the record was.
How do you want listeners to feel after playing SET?
I want them to feel like it’s OK to feel. One of my missions is to get people to feel something. There’s not a lot of music that does that in the space right now. I’ve made myself very vulnerable at the expense of my own whatever, so people can feel — that is the purpose. I would love for people to relate to the emotion of that particular song and use it as their soundtrack to get through whatever they’re going through. My mission for SET is if this is your first time discovering me, feel all the feels.
Stream GoGo Morrow’s new EPSET.