Cooper Phillip

Written by Kelly Holm

As a child, Cooper Phillip took Russia by storm, and now, she’s looking to conquer the rest of the music world as well. Perhaps you’ve heard “Thank You Heartbreak,” her Rachel Platten-esque power anthem that celebrates breakthroughs over breakups.

Phillip was lucky to grow up in a family that believed in the power of performance. A classical violinist’s daughter, she’s been on stage since she was two and despite a childhood battle with asthma, she won dozens of singing competitions by the time she turned 14.

“My mom… was taking me to the theater often and I was getting a chance to perform twice a month,” she said. “My first ever performance was in… one of Tchaikovsky’s operas. It was phenomenal. I fell in love with the audience and wanted to do it more and more.”

At age 17, Phillip left behind the Motherland for a change of scenery: namely, the Big Apple. Moving across continents and oceans to New York was a risky decision, but a necessary one because, as she says, action motivates her the most.

“I believe in doing and not flowing with the universe,” she says. “I think we should take responsibility for what we want, and act.”

Phillip dove head-first into every opportunity the city had to offer, never looking back.

“I really didn’t know much about the mentality or the industry in America. I followed my heart,” she recalls. “I have no regrets. America gave me so many opportunities. Russia is very different as it is more based on placements in commercials.”

A handful of singles later, Phillip is poised to become a mainstay in pop music. Always penning new tracks on the piano, her creations range from the elegiac “Silence” to the triumphant “Thank You Heartbreak.”

Silence,” a crowd favorite, sits right at home on any album by Sia or Adele. Phillip comments, “It was the first song I wrote by myself and it’s a true story and a very personal story.”

“The words are written on my face/I can’t fix myself to say/Loving me now and again, silence take the stage,” she croons.

Her latest single “Exceptional Feelings” came out a month ago, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

“I wrote this song about the magical day when I met my husband and how he proved that magic and fairy tales are real,” Phillip said. “It’s very soulful. We recorded all the instruments live in the studio and it gives this record a very emotive feel.”

She promises there’s soon to be more where that came from.

As she gears up for the big year ahead, Phillip sets her sights on creating more original tracks, as well as touring and teaching singing and breathing. She’s got Grammy aspirations and longs to produce “innovative and remarkable songs” with Khalid.

In the long run, though, she hopes that her music inspires fans to be true to themselves and practice self-love, and she’s trying to do that herself as well.

“Singing gave me all the answers… and helped me recover,” she said. “I want my music to change people’s lives for the better.”

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Listen To Cooper’s Latest Single “Exceptional Feelings”