B/W MAGAZINE
NEW GENERATION MUSIC
RIHANNA’S REIGN AT 28 A MUSIC LEGEND & NOW FASHION ICON
T H E S U CCES S O F THE # 1 S I N GLE ‘W O R K’ & T H E S UC C ES S OF THE NEW ‘ F E N TY PUMAS ’
ALB U M REVI EW
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FKA TWIGS - M3LL155X
FREE M&G’S TO SEE TRAVIS SCOTT!
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH TRAVIS SCOTT
TAZ SOUL EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THIS NEW UPCOMING ARTIST
£5.78
‘MUSIC MAKES ME EXPRESS MY SOUL, CULTURE AND FEELINGS’
CO NT
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Interview on upcoming artist Taz Soul
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Rihanna reigning in the music and fashion world
Travis Scott reveals romours and partner10-11 ship with Kanye West
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12-13 Sarah Dale modelling photography shoot
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FKA twigs’ ‘M3LL15X’ album review
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EDIToRS LETTER
In this issue of B/W magazine we feature the upcoming undergrpund artist Taz Soul, that embraces her roots and ethinicity through her music. As well as this, we have a double page feature on the musical queen Rihanna, we mention her #1 single ‘Work’ featuring Drake; when I was younger I was obssessed with Rihanna, and now seeing her in my generation still slaying the charts continously, makes me even love her even more! Although Rihanna is reigning, the artist FKA tiwgs seems to be spirialling her way up to the musical legends, this artist is seen as very unique with her ethereal soulness she portrays in her music.Furthermore, the trap themed rapper Travis Scott reveals to us his lifestyle and addresses several romours. Personally this is one of my best issues of editing for B\W magazine, the theme and style has really reflected on my personality and my views on my culture.
Omar Edwards
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INTERVIEW
TAZ SOUL
Taz Soul shot by Omar Edwards at Muse Studios, London, January 27, 2016
London born singer-songwriter is a rare spirit to come across. Gaining inspiration from artists such as Lauryn Hill and Queen Latifa, the 22 year old has developed her own unique sound by infusing Neo-soul with Rap. Initially getting her start on Soundcloud, the selftaught musician utilised the powers of the Internet to construct a platform that would work in her favour. Through social media she has been able to perfect her craft and generate a concrete fan base not only in London but also across the UK. Her vibrant debute Neo Rap serves a perfect to Taz’s music efforts. The video has garnered over 12 million views and her other hits like Nothing’s Promised and Soul are certainly creeping behind. Although she admits to not having an extensive musical background, Taz’s passion for the art is impossible to ignore. She’s already worked with a number of artists like Nicki Minaj and Jhene Aiko so it’s only a matter of time before she claims international fame.
WORDS / OMAR EDWARDS INTERVIEW / SARAH DALE 4
“Music is the soul of language” - TAZ SOUL
If you wasn’t a singer/rapper, what would you be?
Who are your favourite artists right now?
What do you like to do in your free time?
I’d probably be a teacher, teaching biology and maybe some aspects of music (laughs)
Recently, I started listening to FKA twigs and some Erykah Badu. I know it’s probably a weird mix, but I believe the whole R&B aspects they have in their music links them quite nicely.
Spending time with family and fiends… cosy dinners, drinks. I love cruising on the back of my boyfriend’s motorcycle. Are there any up and coming artists that have caught your interest?
When did you discover your love for music? When I was about 15 I got obsessed with Lauryn Hill. I felt like the whole genre of Neo Soul literally intertwined with my actual soul. As well my mum, she always use to bang out them old R&B/Rap tunes, I loved it. If you wasn’t a singer/rapper, what would you be? I’d probably be a teacher, teaching biology and maybe some aspects of music (laughs) Who are your favourite artists right now? Recently, I started listening to FKA twigs and some Erykah Badu. I know it’s probably a weird mix, but I believe the whole R&B aspects they have in their music links them quite nicely. What album are you currently listening to? The amazing album ANTI by Rihanna. I love her.
What do you have planned for the next 12 months? Finishing some demos, album, record & releasing it. I may put out some singles for my beautiful fans. Do you have a particular writing process? 1) Music 2) Vocal Melody 3) Lyrics You’re on the first issue of B/W magazine, how do you feel? So honoured, I know this magazine will blow up, the whole thought of it featuring upcoming artists is so good for the underground. Nicki Minaj made an appearance on your track Nothing’s Promised. What was it like? How else would it feel if the Queen of Rap jumped on your track? It was such a blessing.
SZA, so unique. When can we expect the album? (laughs) very soon. Who would be your dream collaboration? Beyonce, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. How important is music to you? Music is basically life; I have to play at least 1 song everyday. Its like praying every morning and evening, being blessed for its greatness really. You’re on the first issue of B/W magazine, how do you feel? So honoured, I know this magazine will blow up, the whole thought of it featuring upcoming artists is so good for the underground. 5
She’s coming...
DISCOVERY
RIHANNA’S DANCEHALL SONG ‘WORK’ REINS THE POP CHARTS Rihanna’s “Work,” currently spending its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, isn’t your typical chart-topper. No, the Drake-assisted song isn’t part of a new genre that many in the mainstream media are calling “tropical house.” And no, it isn’t one of the pop anthems we’re used to from Rihanna, like her last album’s lead single, “Diamonds.” As the first half of her ‘Work” video, filmed in the 8 beloved Caribbean restaurant
The Real Jerk in Toronto, makes explicit, Anti’s lead single is undeniably drenched in dancehall -- a genre with deep roots in Jamaica’s club scene that spun off from reggae in the 1970s. “Work” is certainly an achievement for the singer -- Rihanna now has 14 No. 1s, one more than Michael Jackson -- but it’s also a proud moment for West Indian people.
Tour dates Fri 24 June 2016 Wembley Staduim London
Wed 29 June 2016
Old Trafford Cricket Ground Manchester
DISCOVERY
RIHANNA LAUNCHES NEW TRAINERS ‘FENTY PUMAS’ 2015 is the year that Rihanna took a fashionable trip back to the ‘90s and rocked everything from a goth purple lip to endlessly baggy pants. Now, the “B*itch Better Have My Money” singer is giving us all the opportunity to channel her style with her latest project as creative director of Puma. Dubbed the Fenty by Rihanna Creeper, the new sneakers are available today and are a followup to her successful debut line; however, this version delivers plenty in the color department. Available in three colorways (pink and oatmeal, off-white and cool blue, and white and oatmeal), the streamlined design of the low-top shoe simply features a thick rubber role along with a sleek suede upper half. The star has also restocked the original version in black-white and blackoatmeal iterations.
RIH ON ROAD!
Rihanna shines alongside fellow rapper Travis $cott in the campaign images (above) and promotional video (below). The too-cool duo sport the must-have accessory with streetlike black looks and also flaunt a bit of skin. So what should you pair the new sneakers with? We suggest Rihanna’s socks, which just hit stores on Thursday.
Shop it: £85; uk.pumas.com
RiRi never fails to deliver eclectic style, and this look is no exception. The singer stepped out in New York City on Saturday night wearing a pink houndstooth jacket over a white crop top and Céline baggy pinstripe pants. For an extra touch of her signature quirkiness, Rihanna accessorized with black retro frames. 9
DISCOVERY
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Travis Scott reveals Travis Scott Dishes on ‘Stepdad’ Kanye West and Being Misunderstood: ‘People Think I’m a Douchebag’ Since his breakout mixtape, 2013’s Owl Pharaoh, Queens rapperproducer Travis Scott has positioned himself as a misunderstood rebel, with mosh-friendly shows, inflammatory rhetoric and a subversive sound. Kanye West collaborator (who played a key role
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in Yeezus’ dark palette) flaunts that persona all over his majorlabel debut, Rodeo (Epic), which arrives at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 85,000 equivalent album units (according to Nielsen Music), despite mixed reviews from critics. But even with
commercial success, rumors he’s dating Rihanna (which he refuses to comment on) and songs with Justin Bieber, Scott, 23, expects to remain a pop pariah: “People don’t give me a chance, man.”
Critics have said Rodeo sounds overly influenced by its many featured guests: Kanye, Future, Chief Keef, T.I. What’s your response to that? I don’t think they understand me. Because of the “big names” I know, they feel that plays a big role in why my music is how it is. It’s like a cheat code. No, man! I worked on this album by myself. I played it for Kanye and T.I. a week or two before I was about to turn it in.
I guess that’s what happens you’re constantly hanging with super high-profile people. On that note, I see you and Rihanna have been hanging out a lot. Are you guys in a relationship? I really don’t want to talk about it. How did you get Justin Bieber to sing on “Maria I’m Drunk,” which also features Young Thug?
He reached out to me because the song leaked. He hit me on FaceTime, I sent the song and he called me the The album talks a lot about drinking and drug use. Are you a next day: He already had it done! That dude is talented. His voice is a heavy user of either? sample on its own. That’s how I think about this stuff: These people are It stresses me out because people not features on my album -- these think I’m on a lot of drugs, which are samples. That’s why on the back pisses me off. I’m not at all. I barely of my albums there are no feature drink alcohol and I never smoke credits. weed. But I don’t do coke or any of that crazy stuff. What do you think about the How has it been adjusting to state of hip-hop right now? paparazzi constantly following Everyone’s releasing albums you? with little advance notice and no “radio” singles? It’s kind of crazy. I’m really not into the whole camera and all that shit. So I see hip-hop as going in a selfit’s kinda weird but I guess that’s just managing place. It’s very culturally what comes with it. I’m just trying to controlled and artist-controlled. It’s focus on what I’m doing. not really based on a label anymore. Everything is pretty much in the control of the artist. from the fans.
Which is amazing. A lot of us young artists, like ASAP Rocky and Tyler and me and FKA Twigs and The Weeknd as well, we kind of took it into our own hands to make sure that we have our own fans and none of that got away from us. That’s a good thing. That allows us to drop an album whenever and however we want to, do videos however we want to, make songs however we want to, and it’s not really dependent on the radio. Hopefully my album does good. There hasn’t been a song blowing on the radio yet. It’s just been SoundCloud and TravisScott. com. It’s just support.
WIN TICKETS to see TRAVIS SCOTT! Want to win a pair of tickets to see ‘La Flame’ Travis Scott live? Including exculsive backstage passes and having a chance to meet the legendary Travis Scott? To have your package all you need to do is answer a question: What is Travis Scott’s first album? a) 3500 b) Rear c) Rodeo TEXT YOUR ANSWER TO 83748 Terms & conditions: text your answer to the B/W hotline 83748. If successful you will be asled for your email and phone number! ‘Good luck guys, it’s an opportunity not to miss out on’ - La Flame himself.
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Sarah Dale PHOTOGRAPHY MODELLING PHOTOGRAPHY BY SARAH DALE FULHAM, LONDON
WWW.SDPHOTOGRAPHY.CO.UK
0209384715628
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MUSIC
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Soul never sounded so good FKA TWIGS M3LL15X SOUL
RNB
Soul music is a medium concerned with the creation and projection forcing out of personas, and as a general convention, the more you know about the reality behind them, the more finite their appeal. Now that FKA Twigs’ private life is increasingly lived in the public eye (owing to her family relationship with Twilight star Robert Pattinson), it’s not unreasonable to worry about the 14 curtain being pulled
back too far, to the point where she’s better known as some actor’s fiancée than the fiercely inventive pop auteur she actually is. If surprise five-track EP ’M3LL155X’ is proof evidence of anything, however, it’s that Tahliah Barnett remains in absolute dominance of her euphony, her persona and how it’s presented to the world. By now, you’ll probably be familiar with the stunning sixteen -minute video that accompanies this record. In an age where a poor-taste Rihanna promo can launch multithousand-word think pieces, Twigs has conceived (and directed) a daring and provocative piece of capital-A Art, , one genuinely worthy of discussion and dissemination. Happily, the soundtrack to that visual feast
is every bit as remarkable. Named after what she claims her “personal female energy”, the five tracks on ‘M3LL155X’ feel like parts of a whole, musically and thematically connected in a way you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a between-album EP. On ’Figure 8’, she’s empowered and imperious, giving “the hardest smack that you’ve ever seen” over a brittle industrial backdrop, while ‘I’m Your Doll’ repurposes a demurely submissive lyric she wrote when she was 1 eighteen (“Wind me up/Dress me up/Love me rough”) into a sharp, subversive look at the damaging effects event of sexual and emotional acquiescence. She’s come a long way since then, but the expectations on her remain the same: on ‘Glass & Patron’ she sings about how, “I wait all week for a moment’s break away from being told who I am”, a state of affairs business that doesn’t change whether you’re a teenage unknown or a scrutinized pop star. Twigs, however, knows exactly who she is and what she’s doing. For much of the ‘M3LL155X’ video, her body is leered over by men who ultimately recoil from it, and when her metaphorical waters finally break during the slinky ’90s R&B of ‘In Time’, the split-second look of disgust on her observer’s face says much: he wants the simplified, sexualised ideal, not the messy truth. That’s one compromise you can rely on her never to make.
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