Dzham - I Like It

Dzham is recording artist from Smolensk in the Russian Federation who has been pursing a music career for as long as he can remember. He has been described as ‘one of the biggest Hip Hop stars of the Eastern Bloc’. Although he has release 4 albums in his native tongue, he is looking to develop his style and craft by taking his music to international level performing in UK, Europe and the rest of the world. In the past he has collaborated with the UK’s Sway and Ironik as well as the US’s Jim Beanz, Onyx and DJ Whoo Kid.

Earlier this month he released his debut single ‘I Like It’ ft David Todua which has received over 10,000 views. I thought I’d catch up with Dzham himself to find out the concept behind his début single as well as what he has planned for the future.

‘About 8 years I started organising Hip Hop parties which allowed me to get more involved in music. The UK music scene had a major influence on me as an artist as it pretty much shaped what type of music I make right now. My latest single ‘I Like It’ aims to take my listeners thoughts away form everyday problems and make them remember what they like to do in their life and provide them with a positive attitude’.

A typical day in the life of Dzham starts off like this, he wakes up pretty late, more or less lunch time which he says ’is so typical for artists, because we spend nights in recording studios’. If he’s not recording himself,  he spends his day attending and scheduling meetings. He syas ‘I like being me I travel a lot, and perform in different cities. Everyday brings something new and different’.

He explains how his collaboration with Sway on the track 'Redhanded' came about, he says ‘I met him in UK studio and we decided to make a song together the same day. It was so great to work with Sway, I enjoyed every minute of our work. He is very easy going and professional.’ Aside from Sway he has had the pleasure of working with artists such as UK’s Ironik, American producer Jim Beanz, who works with Timbaland, G Unit member DJ Whoo Kid, Hip Hop legends like Onyx, and their front man Fredro Starr. Although it was his first experience collaborating with American artists, he described it as being very ‘epic’.

On the UK music front, he would say ‘right now the musicians in the industry are here at the right tine. You can see a lot of artists growing and bringing their own thing today, because of the social media boom, listeners now have the ability to choose and support artists that they like and make them bigger and greater. But he feels an artist should ‘stay true to their music and style’. He continues ‘some people take life too serious I want to bring positive vibes to people. I want to make the type of music that will let them forget about their domestic problems and concentrate on fun stuff’.

All in all,  Dzham would say that his music ‘tends to reflect both the good and bad sides of the Russian way of life such as the dark suburbs, luxury clubs, family problems and criminal atmosphere all of which are vacant in his hometown. Every experience has influenced him to become a better artist as his bases his poetry is on the things that surround him every day, thereby reciting the struggles of life he knows. 

His ambition for the future is to ‘become an internationally renowned Hip Hop artist’ touring and performing his music overseas and most importantly releasing new videos and music. He says ‘I want to be able to share my thoughts and music with the rest of the world. I plan to release my new album in the end of 2011’.

For more of Dzham, you can now watch is latest release 'I Like It' via Youtube as well as contact him personally on his Official Site and Facebook

Stefan Paul - Sketch Designs

Stefan Paul is an artist from East London, mostly known for his portraits designs and most recently as tattooist and interior designer. You could say his talent runs in the family, as his brother Shawn Paul, who is also his business partner, started the Sketch Designs company back in 2005, which is now a company they both own and have been running ever since . Their work has caught the eye of many mainstream musicians, such as Ironik, Dizzee Rascal and Skepta.

I thought I'd catch up with Stefan Paul himself to find out where it all started. 

'The ability to draw can be used for various things. That's why I've gone into tattooing and designing' says Stefan. 'Sketch Designs was introduced to me by my older brother and partner who is as skilled as I am, but with more experience. He brought me into Sketch Designs when he realised my skill level really improved.

He's noticed that 'a lot of portrait artist in particular just stick to portraits' so by expanding his craft to include tattooing and interior design he feels this is what makes him different. He says 'my audience is everyone, literally everyone. Young and old, poor and rich, Black, White or Asian. You name it. By drawing anything on their request, I appeal to them.

'So far he has managed to catch the eyes of musicians within the UK music scene such as that Skepta, JME, Frisco, Ironik, Dizzee Rascal, Double S and many more. But one day he would ultimately love to design ‘for the queen’. He says ‘If my passion was not art, it would have definitely been football. I was pretty good before I was diagnosed with asthma. But everything happens for a reason I guess.’

Right now we are working on our gallery; we have had it for a while but were just waiting to launch the website first before we begin to invite people over. So look out for your invite later this year. I am on Facebook, Twitter and Myspace non stop networking as much as I can, I also give out business cards every day and as I said our website is currently in its finishing stages, so you can definitely expect a lot more from us.

For more of Sketch Design, you can now contact them via Facebook , Twitter and Myspace and as mentioned above keep your eyes peeled for the opening of their fourth coming website and gallery later this year.