Sofi Tukker is the duo of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern. Sophie Hawley-Weld was born in Frankfurt, Germany, but grew up in rural Canada and Atlanta. She then attended
United World College of the Adriatic, a
UWC in
Duino, Italy. While in college Hawley-Weld studied Portuguese; her love for
Brazilian culture and the
Portuguese language inspired a move to Brazil afterwards, to further learn the language and collaborate with local poets and artists. Tucker Halpern was born in
Brookline, Massachusetts. Growing up, he was a basketball player who was recruited by
Noble and Greenough School, ending up at
Brown University where he played three years and was the captain for a year. Due to an illness, he changed his career, started DJing, occasionally with musician
Nicolas Jaar, and concentrated on making music. Halpern and Hawley-Weld first met at Brown University in 2014 at an art gallery where Hawley-Weld was performing. Halpern approached her and they began writing and performing songs together. They then moved to New York City to focus on their artist projects and performing. After an accident that left Hawley-Weld in a wheelchair for four months, the two had to maintain their relationship over
Skype calls. This gave Hawley-Weld an opportunity to learn how to use
Ableton Live. Sofi Tukker released an EP,
Soft Animals on July 8, 2016. The EP includes "Drinkee", "Matadora", "Awoo", "Déjà Vu Affair", "Moon Tattoo", and "Hey Lion". The title comes from the 1986
Mary Oliver poem “Wild Geese” ("You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves"). Their song "Drinkee" from the
Soft Animals EP was nominated for a 2017 Grammy for Best Dance Recording. "Drinkee" is adapted from a poem written by the Brazilian poet Chacal, sung sensually amidst cowbells, bongos, electric guitars and deep driving bass. The song is featured in
The Incredible Jessica James. In June 2019, "Feeling Good" played in the trailer for the television series
Dead to Me. This track was also featured in the soundtrack of the 2020 feature film
Birds of Prey. On April 24, 2020, Australian radio station
Triple J premiered a new song created by the duo titled "When the Rona's Over", as part of a
COVID-19 self-isolation musical challenge nicknamed Quarantune. Sofi Tukker began DJing while sheltering at home due to the
COVID-19 outbreak, reaching 400 performances on April 19, 2021. Along the way, the show was expanded to Twitch, Facebook, Discord, Instagram Live. A social media-connected community of fans, known as the "Freak Fam", have even formed their own channels and held Zoom dance parties during the livestream. In February 2022, Sofi Tukker debuted "Original Sin", the first single from their upcoming second album
Wet Tennis. Sofi Tukker's second studio album
Wet Tennis was released on April 29, 2022. Sofi Tukker performed at the
22nd Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2023. In May 2025 they released their new album,
butter, exploring diverse brazilian genres such as
samba,
MPB,
bossa nova,
brazilian funk and
carimbó and featuring brazilian artists such as
Seu Jorge and
Liniker. ==Features and appearances==