Ayo - Boom Ayo

Ayo is a musician from East London who started his music career at the tender age of 12. After experimenting with music with a childhood friend they then formed a duo ‘Illstarz’ in which Ayo became the lyricist and his friend made the beats.

Ironically Illstarz, is now the title of the label he co-owns. He then spent some time in the US during his teens where became heavily influenced by the Hip Hop Culture that gave rise to artist such as Jay Z, Nas, LL Cool J and Mobb Deep.

Ayo has recently release his latest single ‘Boom AYO’ featuring the likes of Princess Nyah, J2K and Frisco. I caught up with him to find out his sacrifices, future collaborations and his views on the current music industry.

I was influenced a lot by Hip Hop and staying with my cousin at the time it encouraged us to form a rap group, we recorded a few demos over known instrumentals, but were lacking original material.

So using tips and tricks learned from an old friend who used to make beats with, I began the production side of my career. Now years down the line I’ve managed to marry the two skills, rapping and producing, and add a little singing. Now my mission is to share it with the world.

I decided to turn my hobby into a career ‘when I was around 19, when I finished college and began working at a bar.

I was still doing music although it wasn’t something I did to support myself financially, but it would find a way of taking up all my time because I was so passionate about it.

Eventually, it started effecting my job at the bar in a bad way and i was called into my manager’s office. She sat me down and said "i can see you are not putting 100 percent into this job" I agreed and then explained to her why, she then said "either you put full focus on this job or you might as well resign because you will end up getting the sack" and that was my last day at the bar.

Two weeks later I sold my first production, a track called 'Married' which I did for 'Dj Ironik' 'warner music' - his record label at the time - paid me £2000 for it. From that point on I knew this was my new career and I never looked back.

I think my audience spans from the inner city to suburban youths and from the young to mature. I don't try to appeal to anyone I just do music I like but because my taste varies, I think it’s easy for someone to find at least one song of mine they like.

I don’t have any regrets, I think with anything I do, I go into it knowing there is no choice but to make it work.

Even if it’s harder than not doing it in the first place, so I never wish that didn't do things.

I love the music scene right now; I think the hunger that was prevalent in the 90's by artists is coming back! People are trying different things and working hard which inspires good music. My message is don't feel like you have to put yourself in a box to be cool, you can be respected for doing what you want to do.

Social networking really helps because you can reach people and know that your reaching them, whereas back in the day you wouldn't be able to see who your fans were or how many fans you actually have. Now you can communicate with them, you can also show them new music without having to do the full on promote via TV, radio concerts.

I’ve worked with quite a lot of artists, just to name a few, Labrinth, Dionne Broomfield, Jason Derulo, Rebecca Furguson, Roll Deep, Wretch32, Jessica Lowndes from 90210, Natt Weller, Paul Weller's son, the list goes on.

I really want to work with some more afro beat artists and maybe some rappers from the states such as Jay Z

Check out my new single 'Boom Ayo' it’s got a heavy urban remix ft J2K from Roll Deep, Princess Nyah & Frisco from Boy Better Know.

For more of Ayo, you can follow him via his Official Site, Facebook, and Twitter.

D Dark - The Quest

He began his music career during the early days of the Grime era where he made music alongside veterans such as Wretch 32, Chipmunk and Tinie Tempah. He is known for his comical approach to music that aims to entertain as well as relay real life issues which he considers as ‘expression in an artful way.’ D Dark is a musician from London who has been developing his craft since the age of 17, he has just released his video The Quest via Youtube which has accumulated over 20,000 to date, he is also set to release his début EP later this month.

The Quest is a brief synopsis of D Dark's music career to date illustrating the reality of musicians giving up along the way but asserts that he is in the scene for the long-haul to a point where he's not evening resting on a Sunday. 

He recalls listening to Nasty sets on pirate radio and then perfecting his craft to a point where he performed in local raves, pirate radio stations and then Channel U and BBC 1xtra where he became a part of the collective U Entertainers which featured artists such as Triple Threat, Bruza, Royal and Krucial. Soon the collective soon fell apart as  they all had their own ideas of making success, some are still doing music and some have ventured off in other directions.   

I thought I’d catch up with D Dark himself to find out more.

‘I've been doing music since I was 12. I always took it seriously but it wasn’t until I was about 17 that I really started seeing things moving which made me take it up as a career’ explained D Dark, when asked how he made the transition between music as a hobby and now a career. He continues ‘I've always loved music and I don't see the point in working your ass off in a job you don't even like.’

I’ve made many sacrifices for my career; I hardly ever go out clubbing, hardly take holidays and have lost contact with quite a lot of people because I’m in studio making my dreams come true. I don't really have any regrets because being successful in life is where true happiness really lies for me and I believe hard work does pay off as all the greats would say.

’My audience are people all over the world who are into all types of music as I fuse many genres together. I appeal to people who like something that sounds original and like to dabble in all types of music. He mentions ‘hip hop, pop, grime, house, RnB and dub-step’ as some the genres he plays with.

’My alias represents me as a person; I use my personality to get my stories and ideas across in songs.  My humorous side comes out a lot in my lyrics, and so does my serious and focused side. I don't turn into another person, I’d say it’s still me but I’m just singing and rapping lyrics of what I see around me and express it in an artful way.
   

 ’I’ve worked with artists such as Tinie Tempah, Wretch 32 and Chipmunk when they were coming up and I’ve also worked with Xploder who is my brother and is doing big things at the moment.’

I think the industry is always changing especially with all the technology we have today. I think it’s a good time for artists in the industry because many are being signed.  We can use the internet, especially Youtube to build a fan base and get our music out there, so it’s easier to do things in today’s music industry. It maybe be harder to get noticed because there are so many people doing it, but not many people have the passion or last long, so it’s all good. If you believe in yourself you can make it happen.

’I have so many inspirations I’m inspired everyday by artists’, he names Lil Wayne, Michael Jackson, Wretch 32, Eminem, Drake and Chimpmunk as a few who have inspired him. He confesses ‘if I name all of them it would be to much, but he continues ‘Nero, Chase and Status, Frank Ocean, Wiz Khalifa, Tinie Tempah, Snoop Dog, Ludacris, Biggie, Cory Guns, Timberland, Dr Dre, Labyrinth, Taylor swift, Red One, Pharell, Ray charles, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Ryan Leslie, you get the gist, I could be here for days naming artist who inspire me.

D Dark is yet drop his EP at the end of the month which he says will have ‘a lot of great music to come.’ He continues ‘my fan base will naturally expand as i keep doing what i love and continue to create great music for the human ear’

You can now follow D Dark via Facebook , Youtube and Twitter. 

Ethan Breakaway - Some Stories Are True That Never Happened

What started out as a 4 man band, soon reduced to him and his music, which are one of the many lessons he’s learnt about the music industry and how quickly things can change. Since 2007, he’s been playing around with production software such as Fruity Loops, which has successfully given him songs and beats to upload to Myspace, where he's met and collaborated with up and coming artist such as Enrico Delves and Duane Lamonte.  Ethan Breakaway is an 18 year old musician from West London, who loves to make music when he’s not ‘meeting new people or staying up late looking at the moon’.

I thought I’d catch up with Ethan himself, to find out more.

’Four years ago I started producing, playing about with the good old Fruity Loops uploading to Myspace just like everyone really at the time', he says when asked how he initially got into music. He continues ‘I was in a three man group, which then dropped to two which was a very R n B harmony wise and then turned to more indie type music. From the split of that group, I joined a four person production team which included two writers, producer - me - and a robot  - writer/producer . Now I’m in a one man band, artist. Hoping it doesn't turn to zero, I produce and write all of my music'.

’My music represents my life in a way it’s all based on true stories with the main word being "based", so all my inspiration for my music are stories, which reflects the tattoo across my chest which says; "Some stories are true that never happened".

'As of appealing to my listeners, I feel they appeal to me in the sense that they make me want to make more music’.

‘If you call not really having a social life a sacrifice then that would be it’. He says when asked about the sacrifices he's made in order to pursue his career, he continues,  ‘I’m not someone who regrets things, I believe everything happens for a reason, especially if you're positively focused on something you really want to do’.

'I've worked with Enrico Delves and Duane Lamonte. In future i'd love to work on a record with Alex Da Kid, Labrinth, Angel, Dappy, Wretch 32, Chipmunk and loads more UK wise. US wise the list is endless’.

He identifies that a lot of his inspiration comes from industry veterans such as ‘Michael Jackson’ ‘Usher’. Four qualities he believes a great musician or artist should possess are’Talent which is the best head start. Dedication, positivists and love for whatever you’re doing’.

When asked about the future he says ‘the near future for Ethan Breakaway is even unknown to me, but you can definitely expect more and more original music as always.

'As for the future ahead of the near future, A Number 1 single? Sold out tour? Brit, Grammy award? The Jonathan Ross show?

I mean who knows?’

For more of Ethan you can add him via Facebook and follow him on Twitter.