Saturday, June 22, 2013
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
I Like Afton Booking and My Afton Shows
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http://www.YOUTUBE.com/aftonshows
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Thursday, January 12, 2012
Mic Check S.K.R HIP-HOP MC's with DJ 1-Beat
When you hear their music for the first time, you'll immediately know why they are S.K.R, talent versatility and a profound sound that makes their production up market, unique, smart and tantalizing. S.K.R. has been featured in the South Africa’s No.1 hip-hop magazine called HYPE in 2008 and landed their music on Africa's largest reality show Big Brother. They moved on to clinch a 4 track recording deal with an American recording company, Nomadicwax based in New York which also has a radio station. They have been given considerable airplay, so i caught up with S.K.R and this is who they are.
Q: Who is SKR and what does it mean?
A: RIZLA: SKR is a an acronym for our names being Spinx, Kompozitioner and Rizla. Spinx
and Rizla do the rapping and Kompozitioner does the production.
Q: How did you come about to do hip hop and rap?
A: RIZLA: I had been horning my skills since I was 16 and was looking for beats to produce
my first project. Then by chance I bumped into Kompozitioner who was making beats
and already working with Spinx. Then after hearing Spinx rap... the rest is the present.
KOMPOZITIONER: I’ve been hooked on hip hop ever since I heard Biggie and how
the breaks were chopped on those records was madness, it actually inspired me to put
pen to paper and create my own classic.
Q: When did you start your music?
A: RIZLA: We have been working on our music since 2006.
Q: What stable are you co signed under?
A: RIZLA: At the moment we are Independent and loving it.
Q: When did your careers start?
A: RIZLA: My career started in the year 2000. That's when I started writing and rapping
with other students back in school.
KOMPOZITIONER: Well I started out rapping at school around year 2002 and naturally
with no beats I started investing time and money into the art of beat making to produce
a complete product .
Q: How is your music important to you?
A: RIZLA: It's the one thing i can never get bored of doing. Getting into the studio and
creating music is the ultimate high for me. So to share my life experiences with the world
is like the most important thing when it comes to our music.
KOMPOZITIONER: On the real for me it’s Therapy, an escape into a world I created were
a baseline tells a story and a note played on a record is not just a sound but a piece
of me….my story with no words I guess.
Q: Who or what influenced you to become musicians?
A: RIZLA: Eventually after so many years of being part of the culture it comes natural to
start contributing to it one way or another. I think for me the urge to tell my story and
represent were I'm from was the biggest push I got to getting into this.
KOMPOZITIONER: Life did from my parents playing UB40 to my sisters listening to
Macarena and the amount of music I had at the time about 3000 hours of Cassette
tapes and Video tapes. Oh! yeah, and my constant adding of melodies to every song I hear.
Q: What kind of message does your music portray?
A: RIZLA: It's basically our different life stories which somehow tend to be the same most of
the times. Our everyday hustle is what we talk about. It's all positive good music meant
to invoke emotion one way or another. Laugh, cry, dance and so on. Above all like
Spinx always says...'You got to keep it real”.
Q: Have you performed anywhere outside Zimbabwe?
A: RIZLA: No! Hopefully from this interview we will get a few gigs lined up.
Q: What does Hip-Hop mean to you?
A: RIZLA: Hip Hop to me is a culture. It's a way of life filled with ways of expressing oneself. It's
a unifying force that has brought the world together through it's different expressions.To me
it also means freedom. I am so at ease expressing myself through a pen and pad it's crazy.
Q: Do you have a favorite song/ track from your mix-tape?
A:RIZLA: At the moment it has to be the track called Gossip that we did. The lyrics are so
real. Spinx killed that verse Of The Top. Yes, he just got into studio and started spitting
fire. No pen, no pad, no phones...lol Look out for the video for that track.
Q: What has been the general response to your music?
A: RIZLA: Most people don't believe that we from Bulawayo right here in Zimbabwe coz
our quality is too good to be from Zimbabwe, so they say! Feedback is good so far
so hopefully we can market ourselves more. KOMPOZITIONER: I left Zimbabwe two
years ago so the reaction to the Mixtape in Zim I wouldn’t know about but people from
Down Under are feeling the Music and the fact that it’s coming from Africa it’s showing them
a different side to the continent.
A: RIZLA: Our music has been on radio for 2 years now. We recently sent the mixtape so
yeah, best believe we “Occupying the Airwaves” for real.
Q: What makes a good artist in your opinion?
A: RIZLA: A good artist respects his work. It starts from the respect you have for your work
first, then from then on you will see the discipline and hard work will naturally follow in
place. Artist need to take time out to learn and appreciate how things work so that they
can best be able to produce quality products in whatever they do.
KOMPOZITIONER: A person that knows him/her self to the point where their character
is reflected in their music or art.
Q: What do you enjoy most about Hip hop?
A: RIZLA: Being able to express yourself freely is what I enjoy most. Watching people use
what they have to create something beautiful is also in there but freedom stands out more.
Q: What have been your biggest challenges?
A: RIZLA: Financing our projects has been the biggest problem. So, because of
this financial constraint we can’t solely concentrate on music alone because we have bills
to pay.
to pay.
Q: What motivates S.K.R to do what you do?
A: RIZLA: The fact that we can eventually spend the rest of our lives doing what we love
the most and that's contributing to Hip Hop is the greatest motivation of all. Life is too short
so we are planning on spending it wisely.
KOMPOZITIONER : The prospects of one day being able to provide for my family and buildthe most and that's contributing to Hip Hop is the greatest motivation of all. Life is too short
so we are planning on spending it wisely.
a name that lasts for generations……Lineage. Like a phrase I engraved in my brain
(I’m trying to feed my Grandchildren 5 years before I know 30)!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Jeweler Ma Naka with DJ 1-Beat
What is jewellery, does it have to be shiny, whats the marvel behind it, should it tell a story? These are just but a few questions i presented to a stunning jeweler, Manaka located in the United Kingdom, and this is what she had to say.
Q: Who is Manaka?
A: My name is Mary and I live in the bustling & cosmopolitan city of London... I was born in a small mining town in the Midlands of Zimbabwe where we speak a language called Shona. Manaka translates to 'possessing beauty'
Q: What did you do to gain so much knowledge in this area?
Q:When did your career start?
Q: What does your art mean to you?
A: Art to me is a form of expression... Q: Do you think that a person must possess talent to capture emotion, expression and style?
Q: Does the price of materials matter in ways that it affects the quality of your work and products?
Q: Do you have a special style in your work that can single you out like strokes in a painting?
Q: What makes a good hand craft design in your opinion?
Q: What do you enjoy most about hand craft design?
Q: What motivates you to do what you do?
Q: What have been your most favorable moments?
Love & Light.¸¸.•*¨`* ✩
Mary...✿✄-----------------------------
Manaka Handmade Jewellery Accessories
Sold Exclusively @
Divine Canvas Tattoos\ 179 Caledonian Road\ London\ N1 0SL
tel. +44(0)20 7502 7736
Shop online - www.manakahandmade.etsy.com
Facebook - www.facebook.com/
Blog - www.manakahandmade.tumblr.com/
Friday, December 9, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
One on one with Jamaica's Dance-hall-Diamond Hawkeye
I caught up with Jamaican born dance-hall artist Hawkeye fresh from his Europe tour and had a very uplifting and inspirational interview about the dance-hall-diamond behind the unmistakable voice of Hawkeye. Asked to to tell us more about himself , he had this to say "Hawkeye is a creative artist inspired by positiveness, hope and love for the music, joy of creating music to enhance to help move away from oppression of one another and to be positive about goodness in whom we are as people".
Hawkeye began his professional musical career in 1993 with the famous hit "Money making guy" spiraling him then to be one of the youngest and most talented artists in the birth of dance-hall then. His greatest influence in music was a friend of his whom used to visit Jamaica who told him to start singing, and immediately he began his musical journey under the guidance of Danny Brown and has been Hawkeye ever since.
I went on to ask him when and where he has had his most memorable concert and tour, Jamaica remains the hub of his inspiration , but he had a lot of words from his recent tour of Europe in August where he showcased himself as Hawkeye, the reception and level of appreciation of reggae and dance-hall music is large in European circles. Asked about General Degree he calls him daddy describing how General Degree mentored and gave him guidance.
Currently working on six songs he is releasing his promo tracks from probably an upcoming album not titled yet, tracks namely eh eh and can squeeze my bum are club hits and a must hear dance-hall tunes. Hawkeye not married yet but is a family man, balances both his worlds, smoothly. He has other talents besides his music and that's his cooking many feel he will open a restaurant soon. He has had successful collaborations in the past and recently has had a collaboration with another dance-hall artist in Europe whom Hawkeye believes is going to be a world hit soon. You can also sample his one drop album online.
It was a pleasure having this interview with Hawkeye who signed off with an immaculate freestyle soon to be heard on the Beat-Lock and the Pasa-Pasa dancehall radio show on www.africainyourear.com. to catch more of Hawkeye online you can follow these links and dial these numbers.
http://www.facebook.com/hawkeyemusic, http://www.myspace.com/hawkeyedancehall, http://twitter.com/#!/hawkeyemusik +18763607998 +18768665874
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