Turning Around to Kyriah Dee

There's a new diva in town, and if you're a fellow Zimbo/Twimbo you know exactly who I'm talking about. It can be none other than the fabulous Miss Kyriah Dee hailing all the way from Ireland. This Zimbabwean born songstress is turning heads wherever she decides to go. She started her musical journey at the age of 16, singing in her local church. From winning various competitions, awards and performing at the Kirk Franklin Live in Concert, she has been moving from strength to strength ever since.

Her latest accomplishment is the hot new single, Turn Around. With Chris Kabs on production, this tune is one of those feel good songs that makes you want to get up, dance and sing along. Even if you're sitting in a train station filled with unimpressed, suited commuters. In fact especially so. The uplifting lyrics and heartfelt message is something that everyone can relate to and in my opinion, if you can manage to get my four year old cousin to memorise every word of a song, it's a guaranteed hit.

Turn Around comes out on the first of the first of 2011 (1/11/2011) on iTunes and I've also heard little whisperings of a possible tour, but you didn't hear that from me. Check her out on her Website and hit her up on Twitter. This is definitely one to watch.

Underage Festival

I know it's a little late but that doesn't matter because it was the coolest event of the summer, and if you weren't there you missed out. If you couldn't be there then ha! in your face! Besides I'm feeling quite nostalgic for the summer. I know, already! ;-S

Dylan from Rivieras' Blog

http://skrillexx.tumblr.com/

Five words: Check-it-out. Follow-it.

The Rivieras

Time for some Kicks!

I first met Rizzle Kicks on the BBC Blast website while entering the BBC Blast Portraiture Competition. I was minding my own business trying to learn how to design an album cover really until Charming Man and 17 exploded into my life. I didn't win the competition, but who cares? I found the future of British music in the youngest, hottest MCs on the scene.

And of course, as I do, I made it my mission to someday interview these guys and find out what it is that makes them so brilliant. Guess what? That day has come... and gone. I did indeed get to e-nterview (email interview) them and we e-spoke about  music, obviously, school and stereotypes:

C: You are still in college right? What subjects are you studying? 

RK: We’ve both actually just finished our second year of college, meaning we are now “adults” (so say our parents) so we are free to do whatever we pretty much want. But I (Sylvester) have always had a passion for acting and did a two year course of straight theatre. Rizzle studied Media, where he has developed a passion for writing, presenting and directing, all of which are strong hobbies behind music. We studied these at the BRIT school.

C: Oh, so how did you juggle school and music? 

RK: There’s always time for music… ALWAYS! Whether it’s sitting at home and working out a nice little riff on guitar or on the train to college and thinking of punch line after punch line and scribbling them down on any piece of paper you could find. I don’t think we see juggling the two an issue.

C: Do you have any other influences outside of music? If so, what are they? 

RK: Well as I said earlier I (Sylvester) have always had a passion for acting which, believe it or not, strongly contributes to music; giving me more confidence and also being able to put on a show on stage. Rizzle’s other influences mainly stem from a growing passion within the media industry. He can find his influences from a day to day occurrence, which he has cleverly based a short film on, or his general cheeky personality giving him a lot of stage presence and also a love for being on camera. 

C: What is it that you want your fans to get from your music? 

RK: We don’t just want our fans to just “hear” our music we want them to truly listen. A lot of the songs we write are simply based on our teenage life style, something I believe many artists don’t think about when writing lyrics. I think the reason why we have the fans we do is because a lot of the lyrics can easily relate to their lives but also has a banging beat behind it so they can jive along at the same time.

C: Your music seems to focus very much on youth culture. What are your views on some of the stereotypes perpetuated by the media about young people?

RK: I believe the image that the media has given young people is, in such a small sense true but also SO unfair. For example, we find it hilarious when we meet somebody and they’re shocked that two young mixed race boys, who are making hip hop, talk with proper English language and don’t want to rob them, ha. Something else that really gets to me, is the way in a newspaper article or a news broadcast, if it was a young black or Asian male who committed a crime, it would be made so clear to the public, whereas If it was a young white male it would only state them as being male. That’s something that has always got to us, definitely something to write a formal complaint about I think!

C: Do you feel that you break away from those stereotypes in your music? If so, how?   

RK: Well in a some of our songs we do talk a lot about going out and drinking and what not but who doesn’t go out and drink ? The only thing that’s different is that we talk about it in our songs. We wouldn’t EVER write a song about guns or knives or crime etc because it’s just not us.

C: What are your plans for the future?

RK: We just want to carry on making music as we are really, but now we’re free from college we can just fully focus on it. We would like to be successful not famous. And for our music to be respected and thought as “good” music, not just any other throw away band you hear on the radio.


Make sure you look out for RK's profile coming out in Live Magazine's Indie Special in August and get Your Daily Kicks on their BANGING website.


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http://rnd0mz.blogspot.com/

Woza World Cup!

Before I came to England I hated soccer. In the words of my much beloved Auntie, "What is the purpose of grown men chasing a rubber ball up and down a field?" I couldn't see one. Till now.

On the 11 June 2010, at the Custard Factory in Birmingham, there will be a great gathering of football lovers,  "football girlfriends" and even those, like myself, who've learnt to love it. In fact I've even started to recognise players like Drogba and Anelka. Yes, I am indeed a Chelsea fan.

But I'm also a South African football fan, so I strongly advise you to head down to Birmingham on the 11th because even if you're not so crazy about football, with a braai and a line up of Southern African DJ's playing the best house music to be found in the northern hemisphere, you've got no reason not to go.   http://bit.ly/9yBZNM 

Introducing... Rivieras

After some extensive research, I have recently discovered that there exist quite a large number of styles of rock. And a colossal number of bands. Everyone's friend's friend is in one! Most are good, some are questionable, while yet others are unmentionable. It is very rare that you come across a band that posseses that most alluring quality. It.

It does happen though. I not only believe that Rivieras have "It". They are "It". Now that is a pretty strong conviction, I know. It will make more sense when I tell you the whole story:

Let's back track a little to September 2009. I'm sitting in the Sports Hall at Thomas Tallis School waiting for my registration number to be called. I notice a large group of boys sitting in front of me because I really can't help it. They throw some kind of paper device at me, okay fine, in my direction. A boy whose name I later learn is Robert apologises. I give him a fake but convincing grin.

They are the rowdiest bunch of boys I've seen and believe me, I've seen rowdy. Later on, I discovered some of those boys included Felix North, le lead singer and rhythm guitar, Matt Coomb, le bassist, and Sean Grey, le lead guitar. All I think is, Silly British children, no discipline! Shameful! Dylan, le drummer, wasn't there because he decided to go to Brit School, so he is spared my judgement.

Fast forward to February 2010. I am in registration and Sean saunters in. Mr O'Brien, our tutor, asks him why he wasn't at enrichment the day before. "I had band practise sir," Sean calmly replies. The class giggles and I stifle an amused smile in spite of myself. I have now come to quite like these British children who are not so much rowdy as expressive, free, true.

Mr O'brien gives him the grown up are-you-serious look and just as calmly states, "That's a pretty lame excuse, even for you Sean." The nonchalant response, "I know."

Fast forward again to a few weeks ago. "Our group" which I like to believe I am a part of, is sitting in the cafe in Dover. I've been hearing about this band that Sean, Felix, Matt and Dylan are apparently a part of. Haven't we all heard that one before? My interest is strangely piqued, regardless.

I love discovering fresh musical talent. The idea of it being right under my nose and missing the opportunity to have been there at the start is simply too much for me to bear. I impulsively blurt, "I could PR for you guys if you want," and I instantly regret it. What if they are not good? What if they aren't even questionable but surely unmentionable? I will have to tell them the truth and have to face them at school everyday for the next year and a half!

I should never have fretted.

Their first gig, Friday April 9, 2010. It's at Dirty South, also known as the-coolest-bar-in-the-whole-world, and Rivieras are doing their sound check. The god-like voice in the booth behind me says, "Give us a little tune." I'm sitting in a corner with Ellz, Vicky, Felix's girlfriend and Dylan's girlfriend. Rivieras begin to play. It's only sound check, but they get into it straight away. Felix's smooth vocals intertwine with the complex melodies he and Sean weave while Dylan keeps the tempo going on drums. Matt can't make it because he is away. The show must go on.

All I can think is wow. Wow. I go to school with these guys and see them goof off every day. This is what they can come up with in their free time to perform for a sound check. This was a classic aha! moment also known as an epiphany.

It is needless to say that they soon had the kids jumping around wildly, mosh pit style to their fast paced song, swaying rhythmically to their slow song and caught in between with their slow then fast song. Felix's parents and Sean's parents sit in the back and I can only imagine how proud the coolest parents in the world feel about their sons being in the coolest band I know. I try my best to capture the magic on Ellie's camera, even though I know it is an inadequate tool for such a purpose. The best camera is one's own eyes.

Poetic language is all well and good, Chenai, but what about the bottom line, huh? For my retort, I shall quote Felix, as best as my memory serves, "We're not doing this for the money. Not yet anyway, the money will come later. Right now, it's just about the music."

So it is now time for me to finally give my honest opinion and honestly, I was right. The Rivieras aren't good at all. Let me finish. They are not questionable, neither are they unmentionable. In fact, far from it. They are indescribable.