Mr C'mon - Alpha

Previously, he used music to embrace and glamorise inner-city gang culture and violence under the alias Lox. But, he soon saw sense and reformed his entire, character, attitude and beliefs system and now uses his music to uplift and inspire those around him, in addition to working with youths in his local community to combat gang culture. Mr Cmon is a musician from South London who has been pursuing a career in music since the age of 16. Now 22, he is in the process of releasing his debut mixtape Alpha which can be purchased via iTunes on the 24^th September.

I thought I’d catch up with Mr Cmon himself, to find out more,

'I’m an artist, I prefer to be called an artist rather than a rapper because rapper sounds proper cliché and what I intend to put out there - music wise – will be everything but cliché! I started of rhyming during the early days of the garage era. I wrote lyrics with friends in school and around my estate'.

'My first actual proper bars were 70% written by my older brother’ he laughs, ‘but with a few tweaks and enthusiasm, I was able to run with it’. He begins to describe the music scene during the mid 90’s ‘the garage influence soon faded and rap became much more popular on my side of the bridge - South London – which is when I began to embrace rap a lot more, at that time my music would have been classed as gangster rap, it gave me a chance to have more of a passionate platform to express my views and values'.  

'I did this sort of music for about 4 years and due to my talents and influences of my circle of friends, it generated quite a large buzz. I originally went by the name Lox, both in the streets and on the beats; I referred to myself more as Loxamillion. I changed my name from Lox to Mr Cmon many because I changed as a person'.

'Lox represented the dark side of the streets, glamorising the gangster life and its effects. It soon became a ghost, haunting me, one that I just wanted to stay dead! Lox influenced thousands of youth the wrong way and I wanted nothing to do with that anymore. I also wanted to prove a point that I wouldn’t have to succeed off the back of my former alias Lox but with faith and hard work I could become much more than Lox could ever have and impact the world in a much greater way and most importantly a positive light!'

‘People should listen to me because I’ve been blessed with a real gift when it comes to rapping, I see myself as a motivator, an entertainer, basically an all round positive pass time. I don’t need to rap about girls thongs to entertain a male audience, neither do I need to rap vulgarly about sex to engage a female audience, you can play me on the radio without the radio edit’ he laughs ‘ I don’t swear, I don’t believe its necessary, I’m getting my point across to you right now without f-ing n blinding. My music represents the struggle, represents the youth, most of all I aim for my music to represent hope'.

'As Lox, I only made songs with people in my circle such as Serious Sykes, Political Peak, Drowsy, K.B, Komoshen and many others, I did a one off collaboration with Krept, some tracks with an artist called Chase, he was talented and I used his studio to record and occasionally he was one of my suppliers that was also be an aspiring artist. Back then, I didn’t collab so much mainly because of a sense of patriotism to my former gang'.

'As Mr C’mon I haven’t collaborated with anyone yet, simply because, I’m still in the process of finding myself as an artist. I’ve got songs in the pipeline with Ja Ja Soze, Asteroid boys, Young Teflon, Youngsta, Boost, Guvnor B, A Money, Lola Godheld, A-star and others. In the future I would like to make songs with Bob Marley and yes I know he’s dead, but he’s still a legend, Wretch 32, Dappy, Adele, Sway, Coldplay and Mali music'.

'I love music but I hate it’s industry. I think it’s all politics! A lot of artists are being fabricated and there’s no real essence in a lot of stuff being put out there. But on a brighter note I believe the next to blow other than myself is Young Teflon because he’s consistent, talented, and can make actual music'.

'I’m inspired by Nelson Mandela and after reading his book I see a lot of similarities with young Mandela and myself, both very adornment and courageous. Tinnie Tempah is an inspiration as he’s successfully crossover to the mainstream U.K and crossed over to the U.S. Also my pastor is a big inspiration; she reached out to stiff necked gang members and helped reform them through determination and love'.

'I intend on expanding my fan-base by consistent work rate, songs, collabs, performances and securing airplay. Basically, just working hard, real hard and real passionately. You can expect to see me on your T.V screens in the future’ he laughs but restates ‘even though I ain’t joking!' 

In the very near future he’ll be realising his mixtape ‘Alpha’ on the 24th September, followed by the EP entitled Limitlesss which will debut in late December or early January.

You can now follow him via Twitter and Facebook .  

Taymah - Love & Lies

Love & Lies is her debut mix-tape featuring the likes of Blade Brown, Youngs Teflon, Rae and Komoshen. In the past she has also collaborated with rappers such as Fem Fel, Timbar and Little Dee Dee. Later this month, she is also set to release another track via iTunes entitled Only You. Taymah is a musician from London, although she decided to take up music as a career at the age of 17, she still sees it as a hobby, where she has the pleasure of  keeping people ‘smiling, dancing, relating and listening’.

I thought I’d catch up with Taymah to find out her inspirations, her views on the current industry as well as what she has planned for the future.

‘I would record at friends studios just for fun and attend song writing and singing sessions at a local recording studio in Brixton’ she explains when asked how she initially got in to music. ‘Everyone said I sounded really good and believed I had something, so they introduced to a few external producers in the area. I started believing I had a little talent, plus I discovered I was passionate about it. Music is my passion so I use it to make a career where I can reflect, have fun and relax'.

‘My audience varies so I would say most people can relate to my music really. Young ladies and men, the mature and sexy, and I even find my parents like my stuff’, she laughs 'so my target audience is quite wide. I would say my current mix-tape Love & Lies is targeted at young ladies and gents and the mature and sexy, also general hip hop and RnB lovers. I appeal to them by writing songs that they can relate to or party to, so I just try to keep them, smiling, dancing, relating and listening’. 

‘The mix-tape itself is about love: being in love, out of love, confused with love, trapped in love, love of money, appreciating the love. It’s also about lies: the lies women may experience from their partners, love that's based on lies and lies that women may tell. Some of the songs are from real experiences I've had, some are from experiences my friends have had and some even scenarios that are made up by me that I know listeners can relate to’.

'Love & Lies is my first proper project produced by Carns - Hill productions – I’ve worked quite closely with him and even co produced a track called Is It over which is on the mix-tape. I’ve also worked with Youngs Teflon on his GMT 1 and 2 and Blade Brown on his Bags n Boxes and Financial Times. Look out for a video called Pack The Duffle featuring myself and Yugen, which is out soon, produced by Dice Beats who I'm currently working on my second album with.

’I've also worked with Trevor Davey - SBI productions - and I'm releasing a raw and edgy track on iTunes entitled Only You in September so look out for that. I’ve got another tune released under seamless sessions called Perfect Love also produced by Trevor Davey which can be found on seamless sessions Miami 2011 mixed by Graha Sahar, it’s a house and dance track’. She’s also worked with other rappers such as Fem Fel, Timbar, Little Dee Dee, Youngsta, Krept n Konan, Notes, Rae and Yungen.

She feels ‘the music industry can be tuff but also a lot of fun, as long as your strong, passionate, committed and a hard worker, you can be quite fulfilled in this industry. I’ve had to sacrifice some late nights in with the boyfriend or seeing family because I'm in studio recording, or going out with my girls, but it isn’t too bad because they see the bigger picture, and no I haven't had any regrets so far! There’s a lot of singers and rappers coming out these days so its like you have to have something different or extra special but definitely get ready to see more of me’.

Some of her inspirations include ‘Teedra Moses, Erykah Badu, Truth Hurts, Selena Johnson, Jamie Fox, R.Kelly, she explains ‘I grew up listening to Toni Braxton, TLC and Destiny Child, Chaka Khan, Jill Scott, Sunshine Anderson, Angie Stone and Floetry, the list can go on forever. I know I've missed out some good ones’, she laughs ‘I like listening to male singers as I find they can be a lot more creative with concepts and vocal arrangement’.

’Amy Winehouse R.I.P and Erykah Badu inspires me with the song writing and I must say Destiny's Childs Writing on the Wall was like one of the first albums I studied in terms of vocal arrangement, harmonies and creativity so I try to carry that energy through my music! I also enjoy listening to Lover’s Rock and Indie because those genres also inspire me to be more creative with concepts, style, feeling and arrangement’.

‘I want to expand my fan base by doing more interviews with lovely people such as yourself, doing shows, radio interviews, featuring on radio and club playlists and just keeping my work-rate up by releasing more material. I'm hoping that the masses will feel my wave and embrace it because I do have a lot to say in my music and I want everyone to hear it, smile, relate and enjoy it!’

Love & Lies is out now and up for Free Download featuring the likes of Blade Brown, Youngs Teflon, Rae and Komoshen. Her debut single Only You will be released on iTunes later this month and she’ll also bee working on her forthcoming project in with Dice Beats! 

Look out for more music and videos via Facebook, Twitter and Youtube,