Nick Sgroi has felt a connection with music like no other. It was that one interest that always spoke to Sgroi. The one interest that he easily resonated with.

Come March 11 he will be opening up for hip-hop group Migos at The Main Street Armory in Rochester. This huge opportunity has led to Sgroi and his manager, Jake O’Donnell to book four other shows after the Migos one.

“We’re both super excited for the opportunity to have him open for an artist who is arguably the hottest in the industry right now,” said O’Donnell, who along with managing Sgroi, has been his good friend since they were children. “I told him when we decided to do this for real that all he needed to do was focus on the music and I would take care of the rest. Him and I are always on FaceTime making plans, and discussing his next career move.”

A 20-year-old born and raised in Syracuse, Sgroi graduated from the West Genesee school district before enrolling in Onondaga Community College. After a year of attending the college, he realized his music was being put on the backburner, and decided to terminate his education to put all of his time and effort into his music career.

“Throughout high school, I had always dreamed about eventually putting out music and living that lifestyle, but always sold myself short of the progress I would make if I tried. It wasn’t until the end of my first year of college when I started to experiment around, searching for beats and writing lyrics,” Sgroi said.

The decision Sgroi made to follow his dream really paid off. Four months ago, Sgroi — stage name, Sig Roy — released his first song, “Her.” It already has 132,000 listens on SoundCloud. Since then he has released four other songs, which all have the about the same amount of success as the first. He also has created two music videos which can be found on YouTube.

Within the four months that Sgroi has been in the scene, he has not stopped working. He has a few more songs in the works right now, and wants to perfect them before they’re released. He records his music at SubCat studios in downtown Syracuse but hopes to soon create a recording studio at home — as soon as he gathers all the necessary equipment.

Although he likes to consider himself as an artist in general rather than labeling himself, Sgroi has a very R&B-mixed-with-hip-hop vibe, his influences including Post Malone, PARTYNEXTDOOR, The Weeknd and Drake. At the same time, he grew up playing percussion since elementary school and can also pick up a guitar to play some country or rock. He likes to do it all.

“Nick’s music is special,” said Rob Sherrill, a friend who has been with Sgroi from the start and often provides advice during Sgroi’s creativity process. “The songs have a great flow to them, and lyrically people can relate to what he is saying. Also, Nick’s music is very versatile. The type of music everyone can vibe with — your little sister, your mother, and your grandmother.”

Sgroi finds most of his musical inspiration from different aspects of his love life, along with general hardships he deals with. For him, writing has become a great way for him to escape and express his own stories and fantasies.

“When people tell me that they use my music to escape their own reality, and how my music describes what they’re going through, is a crazy feeling,” Sgroi said, adding that his biggest challenges are dealing with writer’s block or making sure that his music has a sense of originality to it.

So what is the next career move for Sgroi? With his name quickly getting out into the music industry, Sgroi is reaching his ultimate goal of getting to the point where he is making music as a full time job and is living comfortable doing so.

“Then once I’m settled in, my next goal would be to inspire and influence others to not sell themselves short and to do what makes them happy,” said Sgroi.

Published on February 7, 2017 at 9:12 pm

Contact: lmeyers@syr.edu