About

As the tide in Australian music culture shifts, a collective of emerging local artists are shaping a contemporary sound on our shores. Central Coast bred, Australian-Samoan, Eora-based artist BOY SODA is an undisputed leader in this new school of thought, utilising R&B and intricately crafted pop music to captivate his swiftly growing audience nationwide.

BOY SODA aka Brae Luafalealo has been on the rise since 2019, where his early singles and signature styles had him hand selected as a part of Converse’s All Stars program. Those early original pieces of work were scattered vignettes into the flourishing creative mind of Luafalealo. As his sonic footprint began to grow, the world stopped due to the great pause. Rather than halting alongside it, he utilised the time to create his debut EP THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THINKING AND FEELING, home to the acclaimed single 'BIG' which was featured on the global hit Netflix series Heartbreak High - but he didn't stop there. The project began a momentum tidal wave, with editorial support from Notion Magazine, Spingle Mag, Revamp, Complex, Rolling Stone, NME, Acclaim and Purple Sneakers, all culminating in a sold out hometown show at The Lansdowne Hotel.

. Shifting gears to collaborate with Taka Perry on the high-energy single 'LEMONADE', which quickly made it onto rotation on triple j, BOY SODA took a career-changing writing trip to London, honing in on his newly found inspiration; the catalyst for his monumental debut mixtape was born, 'YC-TAPES: VOL.1'.

“I was hoping to go to London and be divinely inspired. I came back and was refreshed. I was in a new place and was reminded that Australia is very far away.”

Breaking the mold of traditional releases, BOY SODA drip-fed the mixtape advent-calendar- style over the month of December, introducing us to soulful bass-driven jams and traditional pop-infused R&B cuts across its prolific tracklist, glued seamlessly together by his evocative lyrical excellence.

On YC-TAPES: VOL. 1, Brae deeply explores his love for hip-hop, flaunting his class through a range of contemporary rap cuts. Take 3 Little Piggies alongside Charbel and Jordan Dennis, a glitchy, percussion driven instrumental lay the perfect platform for Brae to experiment vocally, drifting between quick witted bars, roleplay driven dialogue and a range of vocal effects. On the flipside of his palette sits a downtempo, bedroom worthy slow burner Body. Rather than relying on vocal effects, Brae showcases his glowing full vocal range, crooning over a trippy, synthy contemporary R&B number.

2022 has also been a big year on the touring side for BOY SODA, seeing him open for Seth Sentry on his national tour, as well as showcasing at BIGSOUND in Brisbane. In October, he performed at the HermesFit event at Hordern Pavilion, and at the Hoops Capital x Sydney Kings basketball game at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Continuing his relationship with Converse, BOY SODA was also selected to participate in the coveted Converse All-Star Series in Sydney, spearheaded by Tyler The Creator, was then invited to New York to be part of the Spring/Summer '23 Converse global Campaign, and took part in the latest Converse All-Star Writing Camp in Byron Bay.

This year, BOY SODA embarked on a trip to New Zealand to participate in APRA AMCOS' Songhubs, wrapped up a co-headline tour with fellow Sydney-sider, Taj Ralph, and was also selected for Live Nation’s OnesToWatch Melbourne Showcase.