Beatz Magazine - Issue 9 by Beatz Magazine

#9 - summer 2014

the uk is

crossing over the pond

tinashe

songwriting & storytelling

PLUS

soulja boy • ziggy marley • dom kennedy • dappy angel haze • bishop nehru • Teedra moses More

Editor’s Letter Guess whose back, back again - Yeah it’s us.

HELLO! It always feels like three months zoom past between each issue; so let’s recap some of the big events! Solange became Jay Z’s 100th problem after their infamous lift argument; Michael Jackson’s hologram performed at the Billboard Music Awards; Kanye West finally got married to Kimmy Kardashian; And the first police officer at the scene of Tupac Shakur’s 1996 drive-by murder revealed the less than peaceful last words spoken by the late rap legend when asked ‘Who shot you?’ - He said ‘F**k you’. We’ve got another incredible lineup of interviews this issue! We have an exclusive Soulja Boy interview on the eve of 4/20 (we’ll let you take a guess what he talks about!). We caught up with LA artists Tinashe and Dom Kennedy before their debut UK shows before showing some East Coast love to Angel Haze and Bishop Nehru in Paris, on their European tours. We talked with son of the greatest reggae artist of all time – Ziggy Marley and interviewed UK rapper Dappy and gorgeous pop singer Tanika. We examined the crossover between the UK and US music scenes with UK artists such as Tinie Tempah and Rita Ora breaking the states and looked into the mindframe of the classier, more modern diva. With all this and plenty more, we want to thank every single one of you who’s been following since Issue 1 when we had Jhene Aiko as the cover interview! If you’re a new Beatzhead, then welcome! We hope you love what you see!

A Forrester5 Andy Forrester Editor

EDIToR: Andy Forrester, andy@beatzmag.com Managing Director: Ayaz Hussain, yaz@beatzmag.com

Advertising Officers: Blaine Evans, Simon Phelan, advertising@ beatzmag.com Deputy editor: Simran Gill, simran@beatzmag.com Feature Editor: Sham Makhecha, sham@beatzmag.com Interview Editors: Gregory Linford, greg@beatzmag.com, Raychel Addo, raychel@beatzmag.com FASHION EDITOR: Chardaé Jones DESIGN: Maddy Rueda, Kate Monaghan, Paul Magosfalvi, Crystal Cré Teya, Selorm Amuzu Contributors: Sam Maffia, Rory Foster, Lasé Anthony Laleye,

4 Beatz Magazine | www.beatzmag.com

Socialize with us

facebook.com/beatzonline twitter.com/beatzmag instagram.com/beatzmag youtube.com/user/beatzmagtv George Rowland, Jack Roberts, Laura Garner, Alice Michelle Oadie, Lozzamusic.com Web: Brendan Davis, Davis@beatzmag.com, Uthman Olomide, Ashley Torres-Vidal © 2014 Beatz Magazine. All rights reserved. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced , in part or full, without written permission. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which Beatz Magazine holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Beatz Magazine or it’s staff and we disclaims liability for those impressions.

#9 - summer 2014

W O N K DID YOU the uk is

crossing over the ponded.

optim e l i b o m s i e agazin

Beatz M

tinashe

songwriting & storytelling

PLUS

soulja boy • ziggy marley • dom kennedy • dappy angel haze • bishop nehru • Teedra moses More

Beatz Magazine is fully supported by most tablet pc’s and smartphones. Simply visit our site, and open the issue then scroll through the pages by swiping the screen left or right. www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 5

CONTENT

June 1st Issue 9

Regulars

3 10

Gossip The latest chatter broken down.

Mailroom We dig through the mountain of reader letters.

Top 5 We bring you 5 artists that you should be watching out for

Reviews A look at the best music releases of the last 3 months

Fashion All the hottest fashion all in one convenient place.

Features

14 UK/US CROSSOVER

Today’s Divas From iconic songstresses to contemporary pop stars 6

Beatz Magazine | www.beatzmag.com

The US had always experienced the occasional British invasion when it came to music, from the late great “Beatles” to the super energetic “Spice Girls”. The world of pop experienced this plenty of times and, and does so even more immensely today.

fea

tur

LA’s singing prodigy, Tinishe, opens up about her plans for global domination.

Angel Haze opens up on her rapping obsession

Ziggy Marley talks everything from Marjuana culture to yoga The Rap Renaissance HipHop’s New Golden Era

Musical Innovation the sonic evolution of the modern generation

Bishop Nehru The child prodigy to MF Doom and WuTang Clan has landed

Interviews

Dappy talks new music, his relationship with Luisa and what he has his sights set on

Tanika Llfe doesn’t end when you become a mother

Teedra Moses stopped off in the UK for some ‘Cognac and Conversations’ Dom Kennedy on how a passion for sport influenced his rap career

Soulja Boy The Crank That star gets Super Dope on 4/20

www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine

BEATZ MAGAZINE’S BEATZ MAGAZINE’S BEATZGOSSIP MAGAZINE’S OWN OWN GOSSIP OWN GOSSIPSAM COLUMNIST COLUMNIST SAM COLUMNIST SAM MAFFIA BREAKS MAFFIA BREAKS MAFFIATHE BREAKS DOWN HOTTEST DOWN HOTTEST DOWN THE THE HOTTEST GOSSIP OF RECENT GOSSIP OF RECENT GOSSIP OF RECENT WEEKS. WEEKS. WEEKS.

By Maffia By Sam Sam Maffia

Why Iggy Azalea is an up & comming superstar Why Why Iggy Iggy Azalea Azalea is is an an up up & & comming comming superstar superstar

Why Iggy Azalea is an up & coming superstar

or the past two years, Iggy or two years, or the the past past two years,I Iggy Iggy Azalea was two the artist had or the past years, Iggy Azalea was the artist II had Azalea for wasthe themost artistsuccess. had tipped Azalea was the artist I had tipped for success. or thewatching past twomost years, Iggy tipped for the the most success. After her video’s tipped for the most success. After watching her video’s Azalea was the artist I had After watching her video’s for “My World” and video’s “Pussy” After watching her for “My World” and “Pussy” tipped for the most success. for “My World” and “Pussy” for “My World” and “Pussy” there was something about Azalea there was about Azalea Aftersomething watching her video's there something about Azalea thereI was was something about Azalea that became intrigued by. Was "My World" and by. "P*$$y" that II for became intrigued by. Was that became intrigued Was that I balshy becameattitude intrigued by. Was it her and style? there was something about her it balshy attitude and it her hertongue balshy attitude and style? style? it her balshy and Her inattitude cheek Or that intrigued me. Waslyrics? it herstyle? balshy Her tongue in cheek lyrics? Or Her tongue in cheek lyrics? Or Her tongue in cheek lyrics? Orno the fact that she came out of attitude and style? Her tongue the fact fact that that she she came came out out of ofinno no the the fact that she came out of where spawning such confidence cheek lyrics? Or the fact that sheno where spawning spawning such such confidence confidence where where spawning suchspawning confidence and aout superstar glow that hadsuch came of nowhere and a superstar glow that had and a superstar glow that had and a superstar glow that had confidence andfrom a superstar glow been missing every other been missing from every other been missing from every other that been missing from every beenhad missing from every other female emcee of recent years. female emcee of recent recent years. female emcee of years. other female emcee of recent years. female emcee of recent years. In every interview, Iggy Azalea In every every interview, Iggy Iggy Azalea In In every interview, interview, Iggy Azalea Azalea

appeared humble, despite various appeared humble, humble, despite despite various various appeared appeared including humble, despite various setbacks an Interscope setbacks including including an an Interscope Interscope setbacks setbacks including anthrough, Interscope record deal that fellIggy In every interview, Azalea record deal that fell fell through, through, record deal that record deal that fell through, Twitter hatred started by fellow appeared humble, despite various Twitter hatred hatred started started by by fellow fellow Twitter Twitter hatred started by fellow female emcee Azealia Banks, a setbacks including an Interscope female emcee emcee Azealia Azealia Banks, Banks, a a female female emcee Azealia Banks, a record deal that fell through, Twitter breakup with rapper A$AP rocky breakup with rapper A$AP rocky breakup with rapper A$AP rocky hatred started by fellow female breakup withalbum rapper A$AP rocky and several pushbacks by and several album pushbacks by and several album pushbacks by emcee Azealia Banks, a breakup and several album pushbacks by current label Def Jam. Whilst such current label Def Jam. Whilst such with rapper A$AP Rocky and several current label Def Jam. Whilst such current label Defhave Jam.made Whilstmost such struggles would album pushbacks by current struggles would have have made label most struggles would most struggles wouldartists have made made most up and coming crumble, Defand Jam. Whilst artists such struggles up and coming artists crumble,would up coming crumble, up and coming artists crumble, Iggy came through on top, have made most up and coming Iggy came came through through on on top, top, Iggy Iggy came through on top, stronger than ever. Each struggle artists crumble, Iggy came through stronger than than ever. ever. Each Each struggle struggle stronger stronger than ever. Each struggle on top, stronger than into ever.her Each has been channeled long has beenhas channeled into her herinto long has been channeled into long struggle been channeled has beenalbum channeled into long awaited “The New her Classic” awaited album album “The “The New New Classic” Classic” awaited awaited album “The New Classic”

which details her journey every which details details her her journey journey every every which whichofdetails herWhilst journey every step the way. TNC may step of of the the way. way. Whilst Whilst TNC TNC may may step stepbe of athe way. Whilst TNC may not classic, it’s not far off, her long awaited album "The New not be a classic, it’s not far off, not be a classic, it’s not far off, not be a classic, it’s not far off, featuring hits such as her “Fancy” Classic" which details journey featuring hits hits such such as as “Fancy” “Fancy” featuring featuring as “Fancy” (touted ashits the ultimate bad girl every step of such the way. Whilst TNC (touted as the ultimate bad girl girl (touted as the ultimate bad (touted as the ultimate bad girl may notbybeBuzzfeed) a classic, it's not far anthem and “Work” anthem by Buzzfeed) Buzzfeed) and “Work” anthem by and “Work” off, featuring hits such as "Fancy" anthem by and “Work” (named theBuzzfeed) ultimate workout (named the ultimate workout (named the ultimate workout (touted as the ultimate bad girl (named the ultimate workout anthem by everyone). Whether anthem byand everyone). Whether anthem) "Work" (named the anthem by everyone). Whether anthem Whether you loveby or everyone). hate Iggy, you can’t ultimate workout anthem). Whether you love or or hate Iggy, Iggy, you can’t can’t you love hate you you love hate Iggy, you can’t deny she or is quickly becoming a deny you love or quickly hate Iggy, you can'ta deny she is is quickly becoming a deny she becoming deny she is quickly becoming force toquickly reckonbecoming with, with the a to she is a force force to to reckon reckon with, with, with with the the force force to with, reckon with, the to possibility to become the newest reckon with the with possibility possibility to become the newest possibility to become the newest possibility to become the newest become the newest superstar within the superstar hip hop within superstar within the hip hip hop superstar within the the Hip-Hop world. superstar within the hip hop hop world. world. world. world.

Hot Not Who’s Who’s

Beyonce Beyonce

Named the highest paid black Names the highest paid musician all timepaid earning a Names the Names theofhighest highest paid black musician earning a reported £126m million from black musician earning aa black musician earning reported $212 ‘Mrs million from her worldwide Carter reported $212 million from reported $212 millionMichael from Show’ tour, overtaking her worldwide her worldwide Jackson and Prince’s records. her worldwide ‘Mrs Carter Tour’

Rita Rita ora ora

‘Mrs ‘Mrs Carter Carter Tour’ Tour’

The ‘R.I.P.’ singer has The ‘R.I.P.’ singer has justThe signed a deal with ‘R.I.P.’ singer has The ‘R.I.P.’ just a deal has with The signed ‘R.I.P.’ singer singer has Roberto Cavalli as its latest just signed a deal with just a with Robert Cavalli as its latest just signed signed a deal deal with brand ambassador. Robert Cavalli as its latest Robert Cavalli brand Robertambassador. Cavalli as as its its latest latest brand ambassador. brand brand ambassador. ambassador.

Pharrell Pharrell williams williams

N.E.R.D’s frontman has sold over N.E.R.D’s frontman frontman has has sold sold over N.E.R.D’s 5 million copies worldwide of N.E.R.D’s frontman has sold over over 5 million million copies copies worldwide worldwide of of 5 single ‘Happy’ of 5comeback million copies worldwide comeback single single ‘Happy’ ‘Happy’ comeback comeback single ‘Happy’

8 Beatz Magazine | www.beatzmag.com

Who’s Who’s

Solange Solange

The younger sister Of The sister Of The younger younger sister Of Beyoncé was sister filmedOf attacking The younger Beyoncé was filmed attacking Beyoncé was2014 filmed attacking Jay-Z at the Met Gala Beyoncé was filmed attacking Jay-Z at the 2014 Met Gala Jay-Z the at the the 2014had Met‘got Gala after rapper too Jay-Z at 2014 Met Gala after the rapper had ‘got after the the rapper had had ‘got too too close’ to designer Rachel Roy, after rapper ‘got too close’ Rachel Roy, close’ to to designer designer RachelLife. Roy, according to Hollywood close’ to designer Rachel Roy, according to Hollywood Life. according to to Hollywood Hollywood Life. Life. according

TLC TLC

Reportedly being sued for $40 Reportedly being being sued sued for for $40 $40 Reportedly million by former manager for the Reportedly being sued for $40 million by by former former manager manager for for the the million 2013 ‘TLC: manager Crazy Sexy millionmovie by former forCool’ the 2013 movie movie ‘TLC: ‘TLC: Crazy Crazy Sexy Sexy Cool’ Cool’ 2013 in which she‘TLC: feels Crazy portrays herCool’ “as 2013 movie Sexy in which which she she feels feels portrays portrays her her “as “as in a conniving in which sheand feelsdishonest portrays business her “as a conniving conniving and and dishonest dishonest business business a woman whoand hoodwinked a conniving dishonestthree business woman who who hoodwinked hoodwinked three three woman innocent girlshoodwinked and exploited their woman who three innocent girls girls and and exploited exploited their their innocent talent for girls her own personal gain.” innocent and exploited their talent for for her her own own personal personal gain.” gain.” talent talent for her own personal gain.”

Kelis Kelis

The Milkshake singer failed to hit The Milkshake singer failed to The Billboard Milkshakealbum singerchart failedselling to hit hit the The Milkshake singer failed to hit the Billboard album chart selling the Billboard Billboard album chart selling less than 3000 copies of her new the album chart selling less 3000 less than than 3000 copies copies of of her her new new album ‘Food’ less than 3000 copies of her new album ‘Food’ album ‘Food’ ‘Food’ album

Infamous Fall

uts

1. Tupac vs Notorious B.I.G.

The most famous beef is also the saddest. It's the one that went way too far. Biggie and 2Pac started out as best friends, but rumours and politics ruined a good thing. In 1994, 2Pac got shot while leaving New York's Quad Studios; he claimed P Diddy and Biggie set him up. (It didn't help that Big put out "Who Shot Ya?" shortly after.) Pac responded with "Hit Em Up," where the opening lines were, "I ain't got no motherfucking friends / That's why I fucked your bitch, you fat motherfucker." At the Source Awards in 1995, Death Row's Suge Knight stood onstage and berated Puffy as a dancing, camera-hogging wannabe. Things escalated quickly: Tupac was shot in 1996, and Biggie, six months later. Both murders remain a mystery.

2. Lil Kim vs Nicki Minaj

When Minaj subliminally dissed the queen bee in various songs, Kim did not take too kindly accusing Nicki Minaj of swagger jacking her image and dedicating a whole mixtape to Minaj titled "Black Friday".

3. Azealia Banks vs Rita Ora

Rita Ora posted an innocent picture on her Instagram wearing jelly shoes and saying she was "bringin' them back." Which lead to the 212 rapper claiming she had worn them years before Ora. "She's mad she's Rihanna's understudy" and calling her "thirsty." Banks posted a text allegedly written by Ora saying, "I don't know who the f-k u think you are...u don't know me...I've done nothing but try b nice to u."

4. Ciara vs Rihanna

The beef started in 2011 when Ciara made a guest experience on the E! Network show “Fashion Police” saying that she ran into Rihanna at a party and was surprised that the Bajan beauty ignored her. “She wasn’t the nicest…it wasn’t the most pleasant run-in.” said Ciara. Rihanna fired backed on Twitter with a harsh “My bad ci, did I 4get to tip u? #howrudeofme”. Ouch

Top 5 most played tracks this month 1. “2 On”-Tinashe 2. “Goddess”-Iggy Azalea 3. “She Know’s”-J Cole 4. “Admire”-DEVolution feat. Aaron Soul 5. “I Will Never Let You Down”-Rita Ora www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine

The MailRoom LETTER OF THE Month! Kid Ink

I really think that Kid Ink should be nominated for Artist/Producer of the Year! Every single track he produced for his album had a killer beat! Plus after reading the interview I’ve realised that he’s such a cool guy!

Johnny Via email

We have to admit, that was a dope album but don’t forget DJ Mustard played his part in making three of those tracks into club bangers! He’s dominating the scene right now! Our favourite track on that album has got to be the Elle Varner vocalled ‘No Miracles’ with a guest verse from Machine Gun Kelly! It’s not a hood beat, but it’s uplifting and inspiring!

Great Music Taste!

Thanks for helping me discover my new favourite artist! I had a listen to some of Isaiah Rashad’s music on your recommendations section and now I love him!

Imran Via Twiiter

Glad you like his vibe! Have you checked out his dope XXL Freshman Freestyle yet? We’ve put it up on our website! TDE are killing it this year! We can’t wait for the AbSoul album, have you heard his first track ‘Stigmata’ with Action Bronson and Phill rapper Asaad?

Win £100

Jacob Banks

You guy’s seem to have a very good knowledge about all upcoming music releases. Do you have any idea when is Jacob Banks will be releasing more good music?! I NEED to find more of his music!

Joe, Via Email

You’re in luck! Being the magical music pixies that we are, we can tell you that he just released a brand new track with All About She titled ‘I Can’t Wait’ and neither can we wait any longer for his new album! Press play and listen via our website!

Kwabs!

Thank you for introducing me to Kwabs in your Top 5 Artists To Watch; I’ve since been hearing him getting airtime on BBC Radio 1 and he is actually quite amazing!

Sarah Via Facebook

No problem at all Sarah! Make sure you cop his debut EP ‘Pray For Love’ which is now on iTunes! He has such a powerful voice! Our favourite track is ‘Brother’, what’s yours?

Here is your chance to appear in the pages of Beatz - and get paid for doing it! All that you have to do is send us your letters, jokes, funny pictures to mailroom@beatzmag. com, via Facebook (www.fb.com/beatzonline) or through twitter @BeatzMag. The sender of the issues best letter wins the awesome cash prize of £100! Terms & Conditions: 1. Competitions are open to UK/Channel Island residents, except staff of Beatz Magazine and their families. 2. There is no alternatives to the prize. 3. Winners will be notified by email/phone 4. Editors decision is final. 5. Entry implies acceptance of these terms.

10 Beatz Magazine | www.beatzmag.com

w w w. b e a t z m a g . c o m - B e a t z M a g a z i n e 1 1

Today’s Divas G

eneration after generation, female R&B musicians empower young listeners and aspiring singers that follow them. Ask any of your favorite R&B singers who inspired them, and they’ll drop names like Aretha, Whitney, Mary, and Mariah. The truth is that without those artists there would be no Ariana Grande, no Jhene Aiko and no Elle Varner. R&B music seems to evolve every generation whilst leaving a little bit behind for those afterward. Inspiration has had to come from somewhere, and some of the greats will undoubtedly smile when listening to today’s artists who they’ve inspired to find their own voice. When you think of female soul and emerging talent in recent years, Janelle Monae must surely be amongst the first to come to mind. When Monae first came on to the scene in 2010, she didn’t just think outside of the box, she destroyed the box. She released her debut album “Arch Android” in 2010, and soon had all eyes and ears on her. From her bright smile, to her signature coifed hair and tuxedo style, she was something that other female R&B artists most certainly weren’t. She saw a void for funk music and went for it. Most don’t even try to categorise Monae’s music, because put simply, if fabulous was a genre of music, she’d be it. After the success of her debut album, a Grammy Nomination confirmed that she was here to stay. When asked who inspires her, it’s not hard to believe that Monae responded with answers including Grace Jones and Josephine Baker. Anyone born after the turn of the millennium most likely wouldn’t even

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recognize each of those divas, yet that’s the greatness of music; we always get a little today and a little bit of yesterday’s music. Twenty-six year old Jhené Aiko is no stranger to the music industry. The singer sat back seat to B2K and Immature in the early 2000s. She appeared on many songs at Sony Entertainment, and after having a child took a short career hiatus. When she returned, there was definitely a change in her music, as listeners got more soul, and considerably less pop. Her break made her go even harder, and the vulnerability that she now pours into her music made everyone listen to what she had to say. Listeners can tell that Jhené Aiko doesn’t care about opinions about her, as she just wants to sing. Some might even compare her narrative style of singing to that of all time great Lauryn Hill. Aiko’s sultry sound and aggressive lyrics make her stand out on the R&B scene. She’s come a long way from the girl featured on everyone’s songs. Last year’s “Sail Out” EP proved that she could hold her own. Critics are putting her in the same category as artists like Frank Ocean who has more of an alternative R&B style, but has enjoyed huge success himself. When nineteen year old Ariana Grande belted out high notes over a melody similar to Big Pun’s “Still Not a Player,” listeners had to check their ears and make sure they were hearing right. “The Way,” Grande’s first single off her debut album “Yours Truly,” simply forced listeners to hear what she had to say. Seven hours after

its release, “The Way” was on top of the iTunes Top Singles Chart and she was getting comparisons to one of the greats, as critics couldn’t wait to dub her the next Mariah Carey. The remarkable thing is that Ariana Grande seemed to appear out of nowhere. She was a TV star, yet noone expected her to sound quite like she did. Grande often says she feels flattered about the Mariah Carey comparisons but claims the CubanAmerican singer Gloria Estefan inspired her soulful voice. 2014 has many of her fans new and old, dutifully wondering what she’s going to bring to the table next. Grande is

before her. 2014 will be an interesting year all around for female R&B music. There are a lot of established singers who are stepping up to release “comeback” albums while these new hungry artists are leaving their mark. The great thing about yesterday’s divas inspiring today’s music is no matter what generation is listening to the music, listeners can always find someone of today that has yesterday’s sound. Who knows - years from now singers may say “Ariana Grande inspired me to sing,” and have no idea who Mariah Carey herself was.

readying up her sophomore album and if it’s anything like “Yours Truly”, she’ll be on her way to breaking records that her idols set

Asher Roth announces volume 2 of The GreenHouse Effect www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 13

C R O S S UK / US O V E R 14 Beatz Magazine | www.beatzmag.com

trying to make it on both ponds

he US had always experienced the occasional British invasion when it came to music, from the late great “Beatles” to the super energetic “Spice Girls”. The world of pop experienced this plenty of times, and does so even more immensely today. Yet urban artists in the UK haven’t really received the same hype or attention from fans in the US. They were constantly overshadowed by “bubblegum pop” and Rock and Roll. However these days, things seem to be shifting and we are seeing more British artists with American supporters than ever before. Artists like Rita Ora, Jay Sean, and Emily Sande are leaving their mark in the states; and with support from names like Roc Nation, Young Money, and Alicia Keys these British artists are sure to change the course of British urban artist’s presence in the US. Within music, there is always a set of greats who have paved the way for the rest. There have been many UK artists who have inspired those who are here today. Craig David has released 4 albums to date, with his album sales collectively reaching 13 million, and had 13 top ten hits in the course of his 20 year career. He had 2 big hits in the US “Seven Days” and “Fill Me In” in the early 2000’s, yet it didn’t take long before his buzz in the states began to diminish. He continued to be a household name in the UK and was even nominated for several awards in the MTV Europe Awards. Yet Craig David wasn’t the only household name in the UK. How can anyone ever forget the So Solid Crew? It’s Impossible, and it is often said that they are generally recognized as the responsible party for helping to pave the way for the current generation of crossover UK Hip Hop stars. The crew consisted of a large number of members, as they had about a total of 19 rappers and singers who

eventually pursued careers of their own. However, it wasn’t until they displayed the presence of their individual stars that they really started off their careers. The So Solid Crew participated in reality shows, such as The Games, Celebrity Big Brother and This Is So Solid - a reality show based on the group itself. One of their biggest roles in the US was Asher D’s role in 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin’”. All of these apperances and publicity stunts allowed these group members to make the proper connection with American executives, artists, and companies in order to pave the way for other artists to do the same. The new breed of artists started out small and local, as most do. However they soon began to branch out and started to make their presence known in the US. These days, Emeli Sande works so closely with Alicia Keys that few would believe the

all avenues of mu sic was the progression of technology. As the 2000’s progressed, we saw advancements in technology we once talked about. Things we once believed were too farfetched were happening right before our guys. From video interaction via phones and computers to the introduction of the always evolving social media, the music world would never be the same. There were negatives to this advancement, but more than anything there were positives. Talent exposure and promotion has never been the same. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many other online networking sites have provided a platform for all artists. With outlets like YouTube, it is now easier for American audiences to enjoy British shows that they never thought we could enjoy. Being able to hashtag a feeling or word has made it easy to find

Networking has always been a huge piece of the success puzzle. In order to succeed, it is said one needs to work hard. input Sande had on the “Girl On Fire” album. Tinie Tempah and Chipmunk, who worked with Rita Ora early in her career, used their experiences as a starting point to link with 2 Chainz. American artists are also becoming more open to working hand in hand with British artists. It is a revolving circle of support and promotion between artists in both groups. While it may appear that this suddenly happened overnight, the transition didn’t solely occur through personal connections. Networking has always been a huge piece of the success puzzle. In order to succeed, it is said one needs to work hard. You have to promote and meet as many supporters as possible. However, the turning point for

songs and videos. It has made it easy for UK artists to gain the attention of American artists and fans. These are all things amazing artists like Craig David and So Solid Crew were not given the luxury of, as online social media was almost non-existent during their peak and made it hard for their international presence to be truly great. As technology continues to advance, we can only assume British urban artists will continue to crossover. British Artists have the power to have a greater presence than American artists do in their own country. The possibilities are endless, and with continuing technological advances, the opportunities continue to grow. www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 15

The Rap Renaissance Hip-Hop’s New Golden Era

ip-Hop’s first golden age began in the mid-1980s and reached it’s conclusion in the late-1990s. It was an incredible period for Hip-Hop, as it helped assimilate the music and the culture to the mainstream in a previously unseen way. The era saw the rise of artists such as Jay-Z, DMX & Snoop Dogg, who joined the already established groups like The Beastie Boys & De La Soul. It also saw hip-hop feuds come to the forefront of the genre with the heavily publicised rivalry of The Notorious B.I.G. & Tupac Shakur, and later on the feud between Nas & Jay-Z. If we look at the current state of Hip-Hop, it could be argued that we are in yet another golden age and we don’t even realise it. The abundance of top quality mainstream rappers mixed with a talented group

of millions of CD copies. Talented lyricists and persistent hit makers flooded the market and left a lasting legacy. Albums such as Paid in Full (Rakim & Eric B.), Straight Outta Compton (N.W.A.), The Chronic (Dr. Dre), Illmatic (Nas), 36 Chambers (Wu Tang Clan) and many more were dominant and are now universally revered. If we look at Hip-Hop’s current landscape, it shows a striking resemblance to the state of affairs in that period. Over the last few years we have seen an emergence of a number of new talented artists paving their own ways in the search for their own lasting legacies. Artists such as Drake, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole have dropped impactful albums including Nothing Was the Same, Good Kid Maad City and Born Sinner. There is incredible depth

If we look at the current state of Hip-Hop, it could be argued that we are in yet another golden age and we don’t even realise it.t of underground artists’ means that in today’s talent pool of rappers. these artists are producing just as We have the aforementioned much publicity and insight into the mainstream rappers joined by artists culture as their predecessors once such as Meek Mill, Big Sean, Pusha did. T & Wale who all bring something From 1985-1998, Hip-Hop went fresh to the table. Then there are through a massive transformation the less mainstream rappers who are and became a hotbed for budding just as skillful like Jay Electronica, new rappers and musicians. Gone Chance the Rapper, ScHoolboy Q, were the days of mainstream Ab Soul and many more. A huge inattention and low album sales and difference in this era from the in came constant radio play, heavy previous golden era is the fact that Jay-Z announced new album Magna Holy Grail 7thof music rotation and the sales thereCarta are rappers fromout allJuly walks i video 16 Beatz Magazine | www.beatzmag.com

Asher Roth announces volume 2 of The GreenHouse Effect www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 17â&#x20AC;&#x201A;

If we look at Hip-Hop’s current landscape, it shows a striking resemblance to the state of affairs in that period. Over the last few years we have seen an emergence of a number of new talented artists paving their own ways in the search for their own lasting legacies. life. The Beastie Boys & Eminem were the previous focal points of the white rapper stereotype, nowadays Macklemore, Mac Miller, Action Bronson & Yelawolf all have hundred thousands of album sales and mixtape downloads. Furthermore, female rappers are finally beginning to get as much respect as there once was for Lauryn Hill & Lil Kim, and there is a growing trend of femcees getting more and more recognition, 18 Beatz Magazine | www.beatzmag.com

anchored by the trail blazing of Nicki Minaj and complimented with the growing potential of Iggy Azalea, Angel Haze & Lola Monroe. Gone are the days when every Hip-Hop artist had the same backstory of living in the ghetto and going through hardships when they were younger, which led to the whole genre being boxed as ‘gangsta rap’. We now have Jewish rappers from Canada or Australian rappers who are models in

their spare time. Aside from individual talent, a staple of the original golden era was the presence of ‘super groups’ with many artists joining together to create powerful rapping conglomerates. The Beastie Boys, N.W.A & Wu Tang Clan are remembered for bringing together innovative rapping styles and combining them to create special music. This type of group

seemed to have become unpopular for a number of years yet rather suddenly modern super groups are beginning to reappear. The A$AP Mob (led by A$AP Rocky) have been praised for bringing a new flavour to New York Hip-Hop. TDE (or Top Dog Entertainment) which includes Kendrick Lamar, have been described as’ N.W.A 2.0’. Finally, the often controversial Odd Future, with members including Tyler the Creator & Earl Sweatshirt, are popular amongst youthful listeners for their explicitly provocative lyrics. The leaders of the old generation have been integral in helping blood the new school, and it has helped Hip-Hop enter this second golden era. Kendrick Lamar entered under the tutelage of Dr. Dre, whilst Drake was guided in by Lil Wayne and Jay-Z took J. Cole under his wing. Further to this, we have seen HipHop heavyweights such as Eminem & Nas collaborate with younger artists including Nicki Minaj & Big Sean, helping to make a positive transition. You would think the old guard would simply fade away, but Eminem, Jay-Z & Nas have each released their own acclaimed albums over the past couple of years. The generation of Hip-Hop we are currently in is fruitful and varied. There is such a vast roster of artists, and even some R & B artists have tried to create rap records! New super groups are forming and there is a healthy competitive spirit amongst artists to outshine their peers. It has become so easy for people to simply pick up a camera and record themselves rapping some catchy bars in order to become the next overnight sensation. This has almost led to an over flooding of the market and has meant that the airwaves can be diluted with a lot of below par music. It is perhaps this fact means that this era of Hip-Hop will not be recognised as a golden period until long after it is over. However, if we look at the most popular artists whilst also digging a little below the surface, you can see that Hip-Hop is in ‘golden’ health. www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 19

MUSICAL INNOVATION 20 Beatz Magazine | www.beatzmag.com

n 1989 The Beastie Boys released Paul’s Boutique, and in many, many ways hip-hop, and indeed music in general was changed forever. In the late 80’s hiphop was solely in the domain of the streets, and was dominated by African-American’s. When the Beasties released their first album, Licensed to Ill, in 1986 they were one of the first white hip hop groups to be received with critical acclaim. But more than that they were successful without appropriating black culture, they were completely real. Paul’s Boutique was a commercial flop in comparison to Licensed to Ill, but the album was The Beasties best, and arguably the greatest hip hop record ever made. Cut together with umpteen different samples the energy of the record reflects the energy of the artists, quickly jumping around from sample to sample, bouncing off the walls. But as the extent of sampling was brought into the mainstream, we also saw a slew of lawsuits against hiphop artists for failing to ‘clear’ (or come to an agreement with the original owner of the sample about permission to use them) their samples. While this could be simple in the case of some tracks which use long excerpts from one song (think of Puff Daddy using Every Breath You Take by The Police on I’ll Be Missing You), but with complex albums like Paul’s Boutique and the equally fantastic Endtroducing….. by DJ Shadow, it was nigh on impossible to be able to clear the hundreds and hundreds of samples that were used. Furthermore it seems to inhabit a moral grey area, should an artist have to clear a sample that is very short, or is it in our best interest for it to be a public good? This grey area led largely to the death of this kind of sampling, or at least the marginalisation, as artists increasingly feared lawsuits from established artists; especially with lawsuits from albums such as Licensed to Ill and Paul’s Boutique still rumbling on past 2012. However this didn’t stop some great producers from making music, with artists like J Dilla coming to the fore. However, stylistically Dilla tended to use different excerpts from the same song rather than the mish-mash effect of the Beasties. However with the rapid growth of the internet and mediums such as SoundCloud and BandCamp it is much, much easier not only for fans to find these artists that are on the margins but also to interact with them. While it may be tough to find the unique use of samples in mainstream music we see artists such as Girl Talk using ‘pay what you like’ and free releases in order to wrangle around the complex laws. Given the restrictive nature of US copyright law though, samples will likely remain controversial for a long time to come. Unless some legislation is passed it is difficult to see anything changing, ideally either a ‘safe harbour’ scheme where samples that don’t reach over a certain length constitutes fair use, or a predetermined fee for sampling would both simplify the current system. But with the power of record companies it seems very, very unlikely that steps would be taken to empower small time producers, even though it is often the area where musical innovation occurs. www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 21

Top 5 Artist Each issue, we search far and wide across the interwebs to find the next breakthrough artist. One of the best ways to do that is to see which undiscovered starlet features on a major artist album and then discover more about them Alternatively, go out into your city, find out who is gigging most frequently and get to know them. Coincidentally, this issue we’re showing a lot of love for London, but the whole of the globe is filled with inspiring talent. Get to know each of these artists, they have the Beatz Magazine seal of approval. If you’d like to hear the music that these artists release, click the image of the artist and you’ll be taken to their music collection page.

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Sampha

Little Simz

You might have heard of Sampha on Drake’s tracks “Too Much” and “The Motion” but the Young Turks (the London based record label) have been curating his unique sound for over three years. His material from “Happens” gives us that heartache soundtrack to a recent breakup. Having worked with the likes of Jessie Ware, Katy B, Solange Knowles and SBTRKT, the future is bright for the Morden based singer.

This young 19 year old MC is defying every rule in the book right now. Crossing from Shoreditch, East London to Los Angeles to work with JMSN, Jakwob and Future to name a few is just the start for the young rapper. Shutting down stages at SXSW with Soundcloud and Soulection to Camden’s The Roundhouse; she is currently on tour with Schoolboy Q and Top Dawg Entertainment as their support act!

From: London, UK

ts to watCH

Raheem Bakaré Sohn From: London, UK

From: London, UK

mila J

A native to South London, the impressive singer/songwriter was the first artist to ever perform on a Transport For London bus and has stunned the UK with his mellow voice. With a powerful, deep voice and an incredible song writing ability, the sky is the limit for this young soul singer. With a phenomenal lead single and even a remix from garage legend DJ Q; the ‘Portrait Of Love’ singer’s debut AWOL EP is a must listen!

This London native is working his way through the electronic scene with his debut album Tremors which was released back in April. His mysterious and dark voice sends the listener on a musical journey and SOHN’s production that has received praise from Miguel and Lorde. Currently, SOHN is working extensively with Lana Del Rey, Kwabs and Rhye so expect an injection of soul into this electronic producer’s sound.

With her latest single “Smoke, Drink, Breakup” and forthcoming studio album, M.I.L.A (Made In Los Angeles) on the horizon; this talented beauty and older sister to Jhene Aiko is sure to take over. After recently signing to Motown Records, Mila is due to release her album towards the latter half of 2014. With an alterego named Japollonia; Mila says there is no sibling rivalry with Jhene or any of their three other siblings.

From: California, USA

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Y P P A D

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for everyone to hear it. The ultimate goal is to get an album to go straight to number 1.

wraps, and I’m not letting any names slip. It's great to have all this support - people are everywhere and supporting me and I really appreciate it.

Twitter has been buzzing as you’ve apparently written a song about Luisa? The song isn't about her per se, it’s fair to say she influenced the song because she’s a great girl. The song is called 'Whipped' and it's coming out soon. It's gonna be my next single!!!

You have a clothing line (MiGi) how have you found the transition into fashion? I have been spending a lot of time in Milan with my stylist, working on my clothing range. Everyone is going to be shocked and it will be something you've never seen before yet instantly recognisable as mine. I'll be featuring some items in

Are you one of those artists who take their work home with them? Unfortunately yes! I love embracing the musical inspiration as it strikes, so I've built a studio by my bed! On the plus side, it allows me to jot down my most inspired thoughts at a moment’s notice, but on the downside, I’m not sleeping! I'm working with some great people, but I'm keeping that under

my upcoming video but I can say that the range is smart, casual and features variations of black, red, cream and white! It's taken a long time to get it right but I can't wait to get it out.

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fter your Celebrity Big Brother experience, would you consider using it as a base to be a presenter or contestant in another show? Starting off, Celebrity Big Brother was amazing! Before I went in, I thought this could either do me the world of good or

e per sharp sid u s a g in k c o r k appy talks Dappy is bac D . e y e is h inkle in Luisa and par t and a tw h it w ip h s n o is relati new music, h t on this year. e s ts h ig s is h what he has

IhIIcpeople ar and I really a e everywhere and suppo ppreciate it. rting me

make things worse. The media has painted me as this bad person, this monster and I wanted to change that perception. I think I can say I did that. I still keep in touch with every single one of the housemates because living with such a mix of people so closely creates special long lasting friendships. That said, TV isn’t in my game plan right now, my focus is my music. I’m excited with what I’ve been working on and I can’t wait

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To find out more about Dappy and his music you can follow him on twitter, @thedappy, or visit his website, www.thedappy.com.

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tarting off why don’t you tell me about the concept of the EP ‘F*cking With My Heart’? Honestly, there was no thought out concept. It was me choosing the best song that I want. It sounds so self indulgent to make a track called ‘F*cking With My Heart’ but in my defense, I didn’t think anyone was gonna hear it in a million years. I wrote ‘Party Til We Fight’ for Professor Green about three years ago as well. I didn’t have any expectations of trying to put something together that sounds like its thought of. I just wanted to put honest songs on there, songs that I had written and I had loved and felt it would represent me. Entering the mind of a songwriter, do you write from your personal experiences? Or do you put your experiences into a character and then represent through that character? I can’t wait to start doing that... when I’ve run out of things to say myself. I write about the situations of people close to me; my family, my sisters and friends. A lot of what I have been writing is from my personal experience of each life juncture or what I’m going through. It’s like therapy to me and I’m exploiting that. It might be what happened in my relationship or what’s going on in my head. I just speak about it on the beat and then we just go with it. Does the next set of writing have a new theme? To be honest with you, I don’t know.

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I might find Prince Charming today and then I might write an amazing love song next week. Or my ex might just holla at me and touch a nerve, and I just might get into that dark place again. My music is my reality because I might be happy today I might just be having fun and write a sick party tune tomorrow. It all depends what im going through. Your romances aren’t the only big deal in your life, you also have a son? How is motherhood going to present itself in your music? I think people have this misconception that being a mother means being all saint-like. That once you have a child you’re not supposed to speak about sex or about relationships. My son loves my music, he will tell me if he doesn’t like a song. When he wants to go skating or running I can catch up with him, like we’re two best friends. He knows I’m his mother and there’s that discipline, but mothers are still humans too. Everyone’s mom still gets their heart broken it’s no different. When Beyonce came out with that last record, all the news was about how she shouldn’t be wearing that; she just had a baby. So what!? That’s not how it goes. We have the power to be mothers without losing ourselves. You’ve got a very unique working combination with

Naughty Boy right? Naughty Boy is like family to me. On Mother’s Day I was with my son and my mom and we were with Naughty Boy and his family. I love him so much! He’s very spiritual, he doesn’t force it, it never feels like work. During my first writing session with him, I was thinking of ideas and he said: “Don’t go fishing for ideas, don’t fish for nothing. It will come to you when it comes to you.” Four and a half years later that was the best advice I’ve ever got.If I’m in a session and everyone is fishing, I make sure we all go and have a drink. Let’s just chill and then it will just come up in a conversation.

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if you had to give one piece of advice, what would it be? Honestly I think just not caring what people think. I had my son young like aged seventeen so your body changes and you start feeling

the dumb stuff and being scared of everyone’s comments. Just love yourself because that’s when everyone else will love you. From your Instagram, we can see that you love travelling. If you could travel to any part of the world for yourself where would you go? I would pick Syria because that’s where my mum’s granddad came from; they where Syrian Jews. I wanna go there with a donation of money to the shelters and help the woman and the kids. I also just want to see how my great granddad use to live.

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Your style is very urban chic, where does your stylistic influences come from? The truth is I don’t see why you can’t mix H&M and Cavalli; I just like looking cute. In my family there’s five of us five girls and my mum. Even when she was trying to break the bread every month, she would still go and buy us super cute clothes. She would put it together with some ribbons from Brixton Market in our hair. I dress how I feel and I feel good when I look good.

Don’t go fishing for ideas, don’t fish for nothing. It will come to you when it comes to you.

For all the young mum’s reading,

very judged by others. You might be crying about stretch marks, or putting on weight but at the end of the day, it’s how you feel. Everyone gets insecure but life’s too short for

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Your family have heavily influenced your musical origins. How far back does it go? My great grandmother was a Jazz singer, she used to sing in New York and around Europe. My mum naturally followed her, so she learnt saxophone and piano. Her sister is now a classical teacher, so it’s in the blood. She never taught me to play though; she used to play records by Bob Marley, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick. We’d to watch their tours 24/7 on video so I always used to try and copy the notes and that’s when I knew that I could sing. when I hit that note. It kinda stemmed from there it was all natural, my mum was busy working 24/7 to ever try and make anyone a superstar. How would you define your sound? It depends what your perception of R&B is and if you are talking about the characteristics that I can make with my voice. I’ve learnt to accept the term ‘soulful pop’ but I’ve never tried to be edgy intentionally; I just write music that makes sense. When I’m doing pop songs you can always hear my soulful singer inside. I can’t wait for those moments where it’s just me singing the air out of my lungs. Having an Adele or Tina Turner moment; but I think that’s gonna come with age and time. Right now I wanna have fun and enjoy getting the opportunity to sing to people. We mentioned giving back to the people, would you want to put the spotlight back on Brixton? It’s very important for the spotlight to be on Brixton. I’ve got family growing up there, I’ve got nephews who are on the street, there’s real sh*t happening in Brixton. There’s a lot of people still living the street life, so it’s very important to see that I am coming from nothing to something. It’s just about vision, knowing what you wanna do and keeping out of trouble because once they lock you up its a wrap. To find out more about Tanika and her music you can follow her on twitter, @iamtanika, or visit his website, www. iamtanika.com. 30 Beatz Magazine | www.beatzmag.com

FACEBOOK.COM/BEATZONLINE

@BEATZMAG

INSTAGRAM.COM/BEATZMAG

YOUTUBE.COM/BEATZMAGTV

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ZIGGY H

ow did you find growing up and being born in the family of the most icon artist of all time – Bob Marley. I remember back when we were growing up in Jamaica, Father wasn’t as big as he is today – being the musical legend we all know. We had no idea we were growing up as children of an icon; so we never felt a burden or a responsibility because to us that’s Daddy. My mother was a huge inspiration to me in my younger years and there was always music being played in the house, never a moment of silence. The roots of Reggae played a huge part in defining your sound, how wide do you look for your inspiration? Whatever it calls for; which is everything and anything. From Indian music to Rock music, Blues to Jazz, everything is open in my universe; because music IS my universe. I’ve used everything I possibly can

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on my records; with a Reggae foundation, because I do not believe in genres of music. I only believe in good music. Music touches your soul, it makes you feel and love, which is the most powerful emotion of all. On my new record ‘Fly Rasta’, nothing is closed off. I am inspired by the world of music; not just Reggae. What types of themes were there in the music? Well, growing up in hardship and overcoming obstacles mostly, because my music is a way to ease that pain. It was not easy being poor and oppressed. I would have wanted a voice of hope myself during those times of hardship. My music is about finding myself and my relationships with the people and

MARLEY planet around me. I put all my thoughts and opinions on these matters into my music. Tell us a bit about your love for yoga? Well, I started learning yoga in high school. I was looking into different philosophies about life and I found a book. When I started doing the exercises, I felt so much more flexible and spiritual. I just do my own thing and let my body move how it wants to and connect to the natural energy. For me, reggae music is a form of mantra and a spiritual happening that is from the spirit. Yoga is the same to me in that aspect except I don’t really follow any poses or anything, I just let my body move how it wants to and connect to the natural energy. You recently performed at Electric Brixton in London, what were the differences in culture that you noticed between the UK and Jamaica? I don’t make it to England very often but I see

light shine in the darkest of corners. I don’t really look at the differences, I look at the similarities. People struggle all over the world, from Kingston to London but I see a city that loves Reggae music and came out to support that music. Were you surprised that marijuana is illegal in the UK? Exactly, I see the similiarity. I don’t care why it is illegal, because I see why the UK population use marjuana too. The marijuana plant is one of care, nurturing and giving. The way I grew up with marijuana is through the Rastafarian religion and a ceremony. The music is its own item. Smoking herb is not necessary to force good music; good music is from the heart, not the pipe. The spirit of the most creative force in the world is To find out more about Ziggy Marley and his music, follow him on twitter - @ziggymarley or you can visit his website, www.ziggymarley.com.

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BISHOP NEHRU

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The child prodigy to MF Doom and Wu-Tang Clan has landed!

hat influence did the film Juice have on your career especially on how you created your name? Well the first half of my name. 'Bishop' came from the character that 2Pac played in the film Juice. I like his attitude of wanting respect from people. This is something I can relate to in looking for my respect in my work especially in an industry where the major players are so much older than me.

one of your major hobbies and skills is film directing and video editing. How did you get into this culture? I learnt when I was in the 7th or 8th grade. It wasn’t really to film videos but more like create montages of clips together and I would chop them up and sync them. I started off with Call of Duty game play that I would edit, but I took my knowledge to edit video games and switched it and made it into music and art and connect everything together.

Since the beginning of your career you have changed your name a few times, what made you change your name? Well the previous names were just names; they were just aliases to hide myself. At the time I was just making music and didn’t really know what I was making music for. I didn’t know why I was making it, I just knew I liked making music. So that was just early stuff out there to see if it was

Tell us about the selection process in the opening for Wu-Tang-Clan on the 20th anniversary; was it a surprise to hear the news? Yeah it was awesome, at the time that the tour was happening it took me by storm because it was so spontaneous. It was overwhelming and I was really happy about it. Opening for them was an honour, it wasn’t like they thought I was just

All your mixtapes so far have used the phrase Nehruvia, what’s the deeper meaning besides being an adaptation of new and does it have any ties with the icon Ghandi? I just put “via” on everything, from what I see I want it to be peaceful. I want it to mean something that makes you feel a certain way, like an override of emotion. To me that’s what ‘Nehruvia’ is which is just music that hits the soul. Anything that is ‘Nehruvia’’ is something that comes straight from another person and that’s 100% emotion. There’s talk that you’re the future of New York rap; what you think about such predictions? In my eyes, I'm a normal kid so I don't really pay attention to it.. I'm just a teenager that makes music and I like doing it. I don't see it as

“

them to start off their career.

I'm just a teenager that makes music and I like doing it. I don't see it as a way to get rich quick

good. The response that my early stuff got wasn’t supposed to happen like that, it just sort of occurred without any real push. I find it weird because the older stuff with the older name is like a demo to me, so I don’t really pay much attention to it but the name change happened when I finally managed to get my hands on everything and I knew I wanted to make this particular style of music. There’s no doubt about it, you’re an extremely gifted lyricist, but only a few fans will know that

some punk warming up for them, I had their respect, which just blows my mind because they were so cool towards me.

You’ve managed to do collaboration with MF Doom, what can you tell us about the concept of a joint album? The concept of it is just about combining peace and evil together and putting all the factors into them. All I can say is picture red and yellow together. He’s one of my influences, and not a lot of artists ever get to work with someone that inspired

a way to get rich quick, it's an art to me so if people think I'm the next big thing, then that's their personal opinion, I can't really change their minds. In my eyes, that's not what I am but I'm more than happy to keep doing me and raise my game to make that one day, but in my eyes I'm still the same normal teenager. To find out more about Bishop Nehru and his music, you can folllow him on twitter @twitter.com/BishopNehru and on facebook at www.facebook. com/BishopNehru www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 35

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Hailing from Leimert Park, Los Angeles, Dom Kennedy tells how a passion for sports influenced his rap career and kept him off the streets

think there’s no better way to start an interview than by saying ‘Leimert Park what’s good?’ (Laughs) yeah yeah! This man knows already!

You’ve always show a lot of love for your hometown. How did your hometown develop your craft over the years? Growing up in LA as a kid in Leimert Park really cultivated my love for music; I started rapping there and that’s why it’s so prominent in my music. I hung around a lot of older guys there and I just picked up on what they were into. Rap wise, I use to follow them because we use to hang out and play football, play basketball, listen to music. Two of my older homies had their own rap group in the 90’s and they were the

first people I ever heard say Leimert Park on a song. Fast forward to me growing older and living with my sister, I started writing and writing more and that’s when I had the idea and courage to be a rapper’s rapper myself. I started with Leimert Park as my subject and I thought to myself “I might as well just start from here” and then I wanna go to takeover America and then the sky is the limit. Why was growing up with baseball and basketball such a key part of your music? We were just being kids in America and kids play a lot of sports! Basketball was the most prominent activity in the inner city and American football was number two, but I played baseball. Surprisingly, a lot of the kids I grew up with in that

area they didn’t play baseball with me, it was something I had to travel to other areas to play in a more structured way than just a ball and court. Best of all, having a passion for sports kept me off the streets and out of trouble! You’ve stated that your early influences were from Biggie and LL Cool J, which is quite unique for a West Coast artist to be influenced by the East Coast. What particular elements do you take from their music? Man, I took a lot from their music and it’s not to say I’m not heavily influenced by the West Coast, but it’s all in the details. Back then, the East Coast dudes were a little more versatile and open-minded, it was ok to have like multiple sides like Big www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 37

If we take your region of south Los Angeles it’s a melting pot of talent with artists such as Nipsey Hustle and Casey Veggies coming out of there. What is it about that environment that nurtures quality music? All the talent I guess that’s in there right now, it just forces everybody to just up their game. Especially nowadays because you

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know a lot about myself. ‘From The Westside With Love’ was special because it was the first time I wrote songs that I saw other people rap along to when I was performing and know every word. Going from that to present day where I’ve been performing in Poland, London, France and places where people don’t even know English, but they know my music it’s like definitely a big change. With all the success you’ve encountered from your previous projects, what was the deciding factor to stay independent and not sign with the majors? There wasn’t one single factor, it’s all about the music and I never wanted to lose sight of that. Amongst any type of business deal or any amount of success, I don’t want to lose sight of what I’m here for which is the music. It’s through music that people keep growing and the fact that there are people out there knowing any artist’s song lyrics is not something that should be taken for granted

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Daddy Kane did in his videos. He had a girl on each arm but he didn’t really look anything like a soft dude you know what I mean? In LA it was more about the gangsta life and not needing a woman; which is one hundred percent lies. My favorite song by Biggie was ‘Big Poppa’, and Biggie wasn’t the super romantic type but he gave you a perspective from all sides; which as a kid drew me in to his words because I could relate to that. I wasn’t the toughest dude, I had nice looking girls around me, but I wasn’t robbing people either; I was just hanging out.

Let’s move onto your videos, your cousin Jason Madison directed quite a few of your older visuals, how does his creative vision match up to yours? When we first did a project together it was obviously a unique opportunity because we grew up together, so he has the ability to capture and understand what I’m talking about from a first person perspective almost. There’s probably no other person that’s as close to understanding what I’m talking about other than me! When we started with ‘25th Hour’ and ‘Watermelon Sunday’ it was real easy for him to hear a song and capture what I’m expressing. If I was working with any other director I would have to explain everything whereas with him it’s like he already knows what I mean before I say it! And is that the same thing when you work with producers you trust such as The Futuristic and DrewByrd? Do you just vibe because you’re on the same wave length?

Everybody knows each other so it’s not like competition in terms of I wanna take you off the map, but it a competition like ‘I want to go as hard as I can because I know you’re going as hard as you can.

know you’re not alone, it’s just like a competition within a competition. Everybody knows each other so it’s not like competition in terms of I wanna take you off the map, but it a competition like ‘I want to go as hard as I can because I know you’re going as hard as you can’. I feel like that keeps everybody pushing as hard as they can and it keeps setting the bar higher and higher. How have you transitioned from your starting project ‘From The Westside With Love’ to your latet project ‘Get Home Safely’? Man, I’ve travelled ya know what I mean? I hadn’t been to a lot of places when I did ‘From The Westside With Love’, my perspective was really narrow and I didn’t really

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at any time. So while I have this opportunity, I just always tell myself to focus on getting better as an artist. Are there any resources from a label that you wish you had? yeah (Laughs) the money! … that’s really it! The structure of a company can work for your benefit if you’re working on releasing an album or a tour and having a staff of 10, 12 people solely dedicated to an artist. It’s a lot of man power that goes into making big albums successful and that all comes with paying people, because there’s a big difference between my small team with my business partner Archie and I and having a team from a major label.

Yup, exactly. From sitting around and being with somebody you gain a certain relationship and understand where your thought processes align on the same. When I was making ‘Get Home Safely’ I was working with The Futuristics and before we even started composing a song I was just talking to them and I saw their hunger and their desire for change, it sounded so raw and authentic. Mentality wise, that’s exactly where my rapping was at the time so we would talk about things and it was going good that we just kept working and working to get the most of it. To find out more about Dom and his music, you can follow him on twitter @dopeitsdom or you can visit his website, www.dopeitsdom.com

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ANGEL HAZE Moving from Detroit, Michigan to the Big Apple, Angel Haze opens up on her rapping obsession

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rowing up in a place like Detroit, Michigan you were very much shielded from music until you moved to Brooklyn at the age of 16. Once you discovered your love of music which emotion did you have to share? I think when I discovered how much I loved music it was a sharp contrast of emotion that I had inside. Part of me was ecstatic that I had found it but I found music to be really cathartic, so I thought of it as like a waste-bin for all my darkness. For most artists they design their sound as an evolution of what is around them, but since you had the choice why did you become captivated by Brooklyn rap and which artists influenced you in particular? I don’t even know, beause when I moved to New York actually I was about 9 and then I had to live there until I turned about 19. I think the rap scene there was pretty scarce; so I think what I was more fascinated by was New York and how overall as a city you had to sort of be brash, you had to be confident you had to be everything that all these rappers from New York are. For me, it was like how the hell could I do this because I’m quite shy to begin with. I was fascinated more by how tough people are and how brave were and that inspired me to connect with the sound of New York. You sing a little bit in the ‘Drunk in Love’ cover you did at BBC 1Xtra, why don’t you choose to sing much more in your albums? I was obsessed with rapping but I was really bad at it. When I started I was so shit at it and it made me angry and got obsessed with it, until I improved. I actually was a singer, and when I became hooked with rapping, it was all I could think off so that I could conquer all the technicalities and all that stuff. Now I do actually sing a lot more, I’ve been in the studio the next project I’m working on is lightyears ahead from

like the album I put out 3 months ago. Nowadays a lot of people throw around the term femcee or female MC, but in your eyes do you think artists should be compared solely by music instead of gender? Definitely, I think honestly there are no comparative grounds for artists anyway because everyone does something which is so distinctive to who they are. If you do try and compare it based off any particular means for comparison, I don’t think that girls should be compared to another girl just because they are girls cos that’s f**king stupid. Overall, people should be allowed the privilege to just be an artist. After just a few months with your label you leaked your own album, Dirty Gold for free online. Considering the thousands of hours of hard work that went into your debut project, what was the motivation to give the music away for free and do you regret it? No I don’t regret it, I did it and I suppose the record label were extremely mad at me for it. It was like 8 months of going back and forth with them deliberating when they were going to give me a release date. They asked me to deliver my end and I did. Then they fucked me over so they had to pay and because music is easy I could write a new album in 3 weeks if I wanted to, it’s not a big deal to me that I’m putting out free music, but for them it’s crucial. I think that overall I did it as a display because sometimes you have to take your life into your own hands but when I thought about it…I could have been sued for like $30 million! It could of gone really, really bad but it didn’t so I’m really happy about it. How will your next project differ from Dirty Gold, what things will you change in the process to keep creative control?

I think the project I’m working on now is lightyears different from what I’ve just done simply because I’ve got a lot more creative control and I don’t go in the studio with someone who has sent me a beat. I prefer to sit down with the producer and build everything from scratch or I don’t want to be a part of it. That’s a part of keeping the creativity to yourself because you don’t have to bend yourself to anyone else. There’s a lot more singing in this project as I mentioned obviously but the whole thing with my label now they have a reason because if I say no it’d just blow everything up. What’s your summer looking like for the festival season and will you be unveiling new material in any of your major shows or maybe very soon? Definitely, I’ve got the Wireless festival going on, I’ve got tons of huge festivals in summer and definitely there will be new stuff, there will be acoustic bits with me playing the guitar and doing crazy shit, and everyone will get to meet my band. Recently you performed a freestyle cover of Stromae, how did you discover the song? I was actually in my American label and working on something for another artist actually and Stromae was recording in another room and one of his representatives came over and was like Stromae really likes you, and I was like who’s Stromae? Then they played me the song and I was like wow, I’ll do it. It’s obviously really catchy and I had my friend translate it for me and as much as I know it means something to him it definitely became something to me as well. I think he found out about me because I did something with Woodkid aswell. To find out more about Angel Haze and her music, follow her on twitter - @angelhaze or you can visit her website, www.angelhazemusic.com. www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 41

s an expressive songwriter, you want to stick to your musical roots but never be stuck in the same box. How do you evolve your songwriting with each song you write? I make sure I always go with what I feel. Musically, I like classic artists like Anita Baker to modern artists like

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Jhene Aiko. I love jazz, gospel and hip hop so much, so I just try to be as sincere as possible with myself when I make music and please myself first. I don’t believe in putting my sound in a box, I believe that we all love great art, so I don’t think about it in the sense of, ‘Will my audience like this?’My audience is whoever likes

what I like and I’m a person that likes everything so I don’t - I just don’t put myself in a box. That is characterised by the track that your recent single, ‘All I Ever Wanted’ in that track one of the lyrics was, ‘I never wanted your money/ All I wanted was your love’. So what

TEEDRA MOSES R&B songstress, Lady Hennessy aka Teedra Moses stopped off in the UK for some ‘Cognac and Conversations’

It’s very interesting that you use the word ‘character’, so as a songwriter, are you writing from your personal experiences, your passions, your fears, your relationships – or are you

putting this into the mind of someone else and capturing their emotions sometimes? I’m writing from my point of view, I’m writing from my experiences but I look at them as little characters so I can understand the story and their true emotions. The characters in ‘All I Ever Wanted’ might not be the same character in a song like ‘Rescue Me’ or whatever. We are all dimensional so I just – it’s easier for me to look at them like characters. During the process of songwriting do you pick an emotion and pour your heart out

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I don’t have to stay current, I’d be lying if I said I did. I try to make sure I stay good, because current doesn’t matter. Timeless is all that matter and good is always timeless

“

was going through your mind when you were writing that particular song? I feel like people are too crazy for money. A lot of men I meet are wealthy people and they also feel that if they give you money, that’s special. There’s men who are doctors and lawyers they feel like money solves the problems saying “my wife takes care of the kids and everything herself but she has a nanny, she has a big house, she has a maid” – but who cares about those things? I can get all those things myself. And that’s what it’s really about, the character in that song, she loves this man, she’s offering her heart and he’s offering money back. Well, you give me your money, I’m gonna take your money, I’ma flip it and get my own money. Now I’m sitting across from you, we both have money, what’s the point of you now? If you can’t give me love, what’s the point of you now? We can all acquire material things. We’re all searching for something that we can’t give ourselves. As much as I can love myself, I can’t love myself in a way that you can love me because my self-love is different from exterior love that comes in and we all need that.This song is really shallow when you listen, but to me it means a lot deeper because I feel like love reigns and feel that money’s not that important. I’m trying to get more – I want a lot but it’s not because I love it, it’s because it makes life more comfortable and I like nice things! But if you took all that away from me - the love I have my life, it’s priceless.

to that or do you lock yourself away and play the track over and over and over until you get it right? Sometimes I just look in the mirror and look at myself and just sing it over and over until I get something. Sometimes I just go into the studio and sing melodies and I’ll write a whole song, just melodies and go back two days, three days later and write words. It just depends, all of it for me is just sincere vibes and honesty. The more honest I am with myself, I feel, the more I connect with somebody else. Where did the title of your upcoming project, ‘Cognac Conversation’ stem from? I love cognac, let’s start with that!

I did a tour with Hennessy in the States and I had started drinking cognac but I’d started drinking it neat before because I realise that cognac with honey and lemon is good for my throat, so I started that like ‘”Oh I don’t really drink, just give me a little bit of cognac with some honey and lemon’. If you look at how the process of cognac is made, it’s made the same way as wine, but it’s just aged longer. So we get to the place of cognac in conversation and now when I’m hanging out with my home girls, I’ve probably got a glass of cognac in my hand. So I realised I have a glass of cognac and that’s my zone and so I was like, it’ll probably be a great name for my album so I’m really just having a conversation with the listener. All these different records I’m making are just really conversations of how I feel and where I’m at right now and wherever I was, I was probably drinking some cognac when I was writing. What’s the state of play with Rick Ross and the Maybach Music Crew? We know you’re not signed to them but you are on the credits for ‘Nobody’ Yes, I’m on the credits. I’m not a feature, I’m on the credits. I love them, they love me. I’m not signed to them, I’m affiliated with them. Anything I need from Rick Ross, he gives, he supports. Anything I need from Wale or Migo – it’s gonna be taken care of. Anything they need from me - anytime Ross needs someone to put ambience on his record, he’s gonna call me. It’s just a family, it’s an alliance, it’s an affiliation. It’s not anything deeper than that or more shallow than that and you know, who knows what it’ll become as time goes by. The state of play that R&B is in www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 43

has a definitive house vibe, how do you make sure you evolve and move with the times as well? I don’t have to stay current, I’d be lying if I said I did. I try to make sure I stay good, because current doesn’t matter. Timeless is all that matter and good is always timeless, so I just focus on trying to be good. I like house music, I don’t like dance music. I like soul house music so, there’s record I’m doing with a guy by the name of Boddhi Satva who does like ancestral soul, I think he calls it – something I’d never really do. People might say “Oh, that’s different for Teedra” but, it’s gonna be Teedra’s vibe on that. I mean, I might try and do something else for someone that’s different or whatever but it’s gonna be Teedra’s vibe. My objective is to make good music. Good music has no expiration date. I have records I’m gonna give to you on this project that were probably done 4-5 years ago because I try to make timeless good music. Staying current is not of importance to me, because what current today can be garbage tomorrow and I don’t think that should be any artist’s objective. To find out more about Teedra Moses and her music, you can follow her on twitter - @ teedramoses or you can visit her website, www.teedramoses.net. 44 Beatz Magazine | www.beatzmag.com

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ou kickstarted your career in the entertainment industry as an actress. How did that first happen? I really got into acting because my dad was a stage actor and he did a lot of auditions when I really young, I’m talking three or four years old. He took me into an agency one day and they were like “oooh she’s so cute, we wanna sign her up to do some modelling.” I started off baby modelling and I remember I booked my first movie when I was five. We filmed it in Iowa and it was a timepiece that took place way back in the day. That was my first memory of doing some serious acting and that movie was a real role I had to play so that was really fun.

which is more sensual and vibey and his part, which is super high energy and he keeps it gangster, so I love that song!

One of the records that you’ve been sitting on for a long time for your upcoming album is the song with Future. What was your experience like working with him? Yeah, I worked with Future in the studio on my album. He fascinates me because he’s someone who’s quite difficult to understand but it seems almost genius at times. We went down to Atlanta and had the whole ATL experience. We went to a whole bunch of really awesome restaurants; we went out to the strip club and were throwing money. Just did the whole Atlanta thing so it was a really fun environment and we actually created some really great music. In the studio, he works similar to how I do, where he just goes in, says whatever comes to mind right away and then later on, goes back in and finishes the lyrics. The song that we created is really interesting because it has this crazy juxtaposition between my part,

I worked with Future in the studio on my album. He fascinates me because he’s someone who’s quite difficult to understand but it seems almost genius at times.

What have been the main things that have inspired the lyrics and what you’ve written about on the album? I find inspiration from a lot of things that I go through personally but as well, experiences that I hear about from friends or people that I know really closely. I like to put myself in other people’s mindstate and just imagine where they would come from. Probably one of my most specific experiences was my last relationship. I used a lot of inspiration from just the feelings I was going through to

“

write from that perspective. A lot of my writing is storytelling though. It’s not all literal and that’s the funny thing about music: people always take it very literally and think that everything that you sing about is everything that you’re going through. Interestingly enough, it’s definitely along the lines of what I’m going through but I definitely embellish on things, you know! Your previous projects have been self produced from a bedroom studio; so how did it

feel to transition to huge studios with engineers and recognised producers? I really spent a lot of my first projects all alone, in my room, creating them totally by myself so to be able to transition to working with other people and collaborating with other producers and artists was definitely a learning process for me. Getting acquainted and getting them acquainted with who I was as an artist because they maybe didn’t know at first. One of my favourite people that I’ve worked with was Stuart Matthewman from Sade. Just from being part of that band, he has gone through so many amazing experiences and done so much amazing stuff that to listen to him speak about all of his

experiences was really inspirational for me. He told me specifically about one time that he was in Rio and he said that when you go to Rio, they all sing the words. Sometimes you go to different places and the people may know the words but they’re not that into the performance but he said in Rio, everyone sings along so you can stop singing and the whole crowd will carry it for you. I thought that was amazing to visualise and definitely something that I want to experience. www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 47

Will you be producing anything yourself on your album? I will be, but mostly interludes, outro songs and things that are more on the creative aspect so there’s definitely some Tinashe production on there. Still, a lot of the songs were made in my home studio so I produced all the vocals, mixed them and that kind of stuff which is really fun for me and I feel like it bridges the gap between the mixtapes and the album really well. When you signed your record deal with RCA, you gave them a list of all the people that you wanted to work with. Who on that list has surprised you the most that you actually got the chance to do something with? I gave RCA a huge list of people I wanted to work with on this album and I’ve actually worked with nearly all of them now which is really amazing! I think probably the most surprising person on my list was Boi-1da. I really didn’t know what to expect but I flew up to Toronto to work with him. When we were in the

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studio together, we definitely had a cool connection because he’s a really dope person and a really nice guy so we stayed in touch. He kept sending me beats over the internet that I’d work on in my home studio and that’s how “Vulnerable” came about and there are a couple more songs on the album that were made in that exact same way. You’ve always had your hand in multiple boxes so outside of music, what are your greatest ambitions in life? To win an Oscar. I would really like to get back into acting at some point once I’ve really established myself as a musician and somebody that people take seriously on a musical standpoint. I hope to do a role that really challenges me and people will be like “woah, I didn’t know she could do that too”, so that’s definitely on my bucket list. Another thing I really want to do outside of music is travel. I really want to visit Zimbabwe where my dad is from and meet a lot of the people because I have a really strong support system out there

right now. It would really be amazing to connect with them and to connect personally with the culture. Another thing is I hope someday to get married and do all that fun stuff! [Laughs] Eventually! But there’s definitely no rush. Lastly, if you could give one message to the world, what would it be? It would be this piece of advice: If you want to be an artist, you always have to follow your instincts. You have to listen to your own personal instincts. Don’t let anybody tell you anything. Don’t let them tell you that this is the way to go, or that is the way to go, or you should be more like this, or more like that because really, at the end of the day, nobody knows better than you what your music should sound like. You should definitely always follow your instincts. To find out more about Tinashe and her music you can follow her on twitter, @tinashe, or visit his website, www.tinashenow. com.

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If you want to be an artist, you always have to follow your instincts. You have to listen to your own personal instincts.

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SOULJA BOY On April 20th, 2014 (more commonly known by our stateside family as 4/20), Soulja Boy released a brand new album on iTunes titled, Super Dope. could there be a better way to celebrate?

oday is a very special day because its 4/20 as well as Easter Sunday and this morning you put out an album on iTunes called Super Dope. What does it mean to put out an album on 4/20 as an advocate of marijuana smoking? I just wanted to be different ; 4/20 is a good day for all my fans I thought it would be good to give them something special. I wanted to bill the album for four dollars and twenty cents but I couldn’t get everything set up in time. I had a lot of good reviews so far, we’re

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climbing the charts right now so everybody who’s reading this interview, go get , Super Dope off iTunes!

flows and nobody can touch him, so I thought he would be perfect for the Super Dope project.

The only feature on the album is Busta Rhymes, so how did you link up with him for this project? Well basically I ran into Busta in a club out in Hollywood and he was up for connecting in the studio right away! We left the club in the early hours and we did a couple of different records and I just thought that this one was right for the album. Busta is a whole different kind of animal once he gets on a record he just

Let’s take it back a little bit. One of the biggest choreographed dance tunes of recent years was Crank That, so are there any plans in the pipeline to put out another project that is inspired by dance and make it into a club hit again? After this album I’m looking to come back with another and I was thinking about calling it Soulja Boy Part 2 because it’s just going to be a 2014 version

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of Crank That like a Crank That part 2, just different swag like over the years how my stuff has changed and stuff like that. I’m so much more mature now and I’m more elevated than Soulja Boy – I feel like Soulja Man now, you feel me? That comes with the game though, over the years I’ve been building up and getting to this point now I feel I may have to drop the Boy off my name.

banger, took over all the clubs, what were your feelings on Drake’s version? My feelings on Drake’s version…I loved it! He called me and thought it was a dope idea for him to be on the record, but I felt like it didn’t have a very unique theme to it. The concept behind the record is a really dope concept and I know Drake, he really likes those types of records.

After your 2010 album The DeAndre Way you reverted towards mixtapes and EP’s; how and why did that change come about? I had to reinvent myself. When I came out I was a child star,

Rumour is, you’re going to be featured on Lil Wayne’s upcoming album Carter 5? [Laughs] Yes, I am working on the Carter 5 right now, me and Wayne are going back and forth on records. When he played

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When I came out I was a child star, at the age of sixteen; I got signed to a major record label; I dropped three solo albums, so I never really had my transitional period.

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at the age of sixteen; I got signed to a major record label; I dropped three solo albums, so I never really had my transitional period. I wanted people to focus more on me lyrically as I have been and maturing I felt like the only actual way to express that is with my buzz and build up the reinvention of myself until where I’m at this point now. That may be Super Dope, an EP, a mixtapes or whatever, I’m not all about swag anymore, I’m grown.

me the Carter 5 it really made my open up my mind in the playfulness of the language. I’m going to open up more because once I listen to Wayne spit and listen to his bars; he’s talking real life situations it just makes you feel every bar. This life stage I’m at is all about having fun- it’s Super Dope, it’s 4/20 today but soon you’re going to hear me going hard with the lyrics and on my next album going to change everyone’s perception of Soulja Boy.

Moving on to the Drake remix of We Made It, that track was a

In recent months you’ve had a little bit of Twitter beef with a

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couple of artists; do you think beefs have any impact on record sales? Yeah, I mean I don’t really get into the beef concept, but it’s like you’ve got people out here that are going to talk or try to diss you but you got to do what you got to do. At the end of the day I’m just focused on the music, it’s all about the music, you know situations happen where I got people that I used to be friends with that I’m not friends with no more but I’m just chilling, I’m just doing me, I’m not focused on those people. I definitely do think beef creates a buzz, it gets people talking, but it also can end badly for real you know what I’m saying, so I don’t really feed off of beef to sell my albums. Fashion wise you’ve always been dressed in the most wicked threads, you love your clothes and you’re friends with our homies F2D clothing, so tell us a little bit about the SODMG range that you did with them? I think F2D is one of the dopest brands out there. I’m definitely into fashion a lot; Giuseppe Zanotti is one of my favourite sneakers so I got a song about them too ha! I’m a big fan of F2D Clothing’s brand, they reached out to my management and we set up a deal a couple of years as a collaboration between me and them. The reason why I went with them is because they’re a dope overseas company you know, it’s hard to find a company that’s does it 100% right. Their material and their fabrics are dope, I love their hats with animal prints; I think that they’re really paving the way. They got a really nice higher end brand and they pull off the street look too though. I like F2D, shout out to them. To find out more about Soulja Boy and his music, you can follow him on twitter - @ souljaboy or you can visit his website, www.sodmg.com

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ALBUM REVIEWS Michael Jackson Xscape rating

7/10

Kelis Food

Kelis graduates from ‘Milkshake’ and onto ‘Food’, bringing us a offering of calm, retro-soul vibes with a pinch of almost every other imaginable genre! Newly signed to indie label Ninja Tune, Kelis delivers with incomparable style and melancholic melodies that will fill your mind like smoke in a Frank Ocean video. Kelis shows her versatility in style, hitting notes as high as singer Minnie Ripperton and reverting back to her signature deep tone within moments.

Should MJ’s music be released posthumously? There is no general consensus amongst his ever loyal fanbase. The original tracks are excellent and didn’t require the digital alterations they were subject to. This album is diverse, so there’s something for everybody; from smooth grooves to disco inspired dance floorfillers. Michael’s voice is liquid gold; his vocals are as flawless as ever! The album is rather short; so hitting repeat is a must! Dead or alive, MJ is King. rating

8/10

rating

7/10 Asher Roth RetroHash

Asher Roth has finally returned after a long delay with his second album. For those still waiting for the ‘I Love College’ fraternity rapper type songs, you will have to look elsewhere. This album sees Roth display everything he has learnt over the past five years. RetroHash cannot be labelled specifically as a Hip-Hop album, Roth has created an amalgamation of sounds that have blended together to create a chilled and easy listening body of work.

Upcoming releases

Lil Wayne

Tha Carter V TBA 54 Beatz Magazine | www.beatzmag.com

Ed Sheeran X 23rd June

Jennifer Lopez A.K.A 13th June

Recommendations

Mac Miller

Samuel Truth

Singularis

Mac Miller surprised the Hip-Hop world with his second album Watching Movies With The Sound Off and he has continued in the same vain with his latest mixtape - Faces.

Samuel Truth’s latest EP is quite literally from another planet. With awe inspiring synths and ambient waves between the filthy, minimalist drops; buying this 5 track EP is a must!

Electronic beatmaker, Singularis, dropped this incredible 3 track EP as the first release under Future Beats. With Rick Ross and Aaliyah samples; his soothing sounds are perfect for late night listening.

Faces (Mixtape)

Rise (EP)

In The Night (EP)

Singles review rating

9/10

Chris Brown Loyal

Chris Breezy and two of Young Money’s finest have collaborated to create one the best ever male anthems. With its catchy beat and playful video, Chris Brown has found the right formula for yet another hit. Said to be directed at his Ex-Girlfriend Rihanna, the song will have men all over the world singing ‘these girls ain’t loyal’

Ed Sheeran Sing

After his huge success of his debut album “+”, Ed Sheeran returned with a new song that sounds fresher than any of his previous work. Produced by Pharrell, the singer/songwriter effortlessly manages to shine on this upbeat track. His trusted acoustic guitar is still prevalent but coupled with Pharrell’s funky production, this is a quality track.

rating

9/10

rating

7/10

Maridian Dan

German Whip It has been a while since a Grime song has been so popular that it has transcended into the mainstream but that is exactly what Meridian Dan has achieved. Featuring Big H and Boy Better Know member JME, the song has charted very well and even managed to get Dan a record label deal with EGA Music. www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 55

ASOS Boohoo

£39.00

Vintage Jumper with Plaid Pocket

£25.00 Eve Tartan Brushed Wool Blazer

MAD ABOUT PLAID

There seems to be a reemergence of plaid everyone now a days. It’s one of those fads that are here to stay.

TOPMAN

£30.00

missguided £9.99 Ginham Midi Skirt 56 Beatz Magazine | www.beatzmag.com

Yellow Tartan Long Sleeve Shirt

Criminal Damage Tartan Tee

BANK £25.00 Ribbon Tartan Peter Pan Dress

BANK £25.00 Plaid Buttondown

KARMALOOP

Tegan Tartan Playsuit

£52.82

Boohoo £20.00

forever 21 £16.75 Rustic Plaid Button Down

TOPMAN £30.00 Check Long Sleeve Buttondown www.beatzmag.com | Beatz Magazine 57