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)!
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