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 .  

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

Tribal Man Magz - 21 Dares

‘We keep it global not local’ says Kofi formally known as Tribal Man Mags who brought us the infectious funky house anthem ‘Tribal Man Skank’ back in 2009. Tribal Man is a musician from East London who originally started out his career at pirate radio stations such as Axe FM and Flava FM but immediately accumulated a huge following propelling him into the limelight via BBC 1xtra, Choice FM and Kiss FM. He is currently in the process of completing his long awaited album ‘21 Dares’ which débuts later this year.

I thought I’d catch up with him to find out more.

Alike many artists Tribal Man Mags started his music career from a young age.  In his case, his secondary school playground, where he battled against his peers in year 8 and 9, but he eventually decided to make the transition between hobby and profession when he entered into sixth form. He was then known as 'Magma Man’ and established his own music label ‘Down & Dirty’. He went on to release a single with his collective entitled ‘Prepare to Rewind’, earning ‘Down & Dirty’ the titles of ‘Best Up & Coming’ for the Urban Fusion Awards and ‘Best Newcomer’ for the British African Music Awards in 2008. 

Due his persistence and commitment as an artist he then got the chance to take his music overseas to Ghana, his home land. He explains ‘it was kind of weird because it was a whole different environment, but at the same time they appreciated the music more. I love my country so you could call it a perfect marriage’. When asked how he differs from his alias he says ‘Tribal is more confident, he’s a real bossy guy and likes everything his way’, he says. But Kofi ‘is more reserved and just loves to chill and watch movies all day and laze around.’

His motivation for music comes solely from his emotions, he explains ‘everyone calls me a skitzo, I have different emotions everyday, but I’m just blessed with a gift. I am very versatile so I adapt to any genre my audience likes. My audience ranges from primary school children to Grandparents my sound is universal really’. In his view ‘the funky scene has turned in to a phase instead of a genre and I think we all need to work together to get it banging again.’ 

In the past he has had the pleasure of working with artists such as Ruff and Smooth, Sway, The Saturdays, Gracious K, Flirta D, Funky Dee, K.I.G, Dotstar and Ramzee. He would initially like to work alongside Rick Ross and Pharrell Williams in the future. His inspiration are Jay Z and Rick Ross as he can relate to them as they run their own businesses just like hum and he feels ‘they are great business men. My journey has been a long and exciting one, but I’ m ready to continue on the road to success. In the future you can expect to hear and see ‘a lot of different kind of music. We keep it global never local!

You can now contact Tribal Man Magz via Facebook and Twitter 

Dirty Danger - The 'I Ainte Rich Yet' EP

He began making a name for himself at the tender age of 13, taking his music from local youth clubs to pirate radio stations. Now at the age of 24 he has released his début album entitled 'I Ainte Dead Yet'. Dirty Danger is a musician from East London who has worked with some of the industries bests musicians including Wiley, Sway, Chipmunk and Lethal B. Similar to many artists, he has made a number of sacrifices throughout his career, yet he has stood by his words of wisdom, contending, 'if you don't believe in yourself who will? I thought I'd catch up with him to find out his views on the current music industry as well as what his future music plans are.


What do you do and how did it start?

I’m a grime producer and mc from Bow - East London. An area notorious for UK grime music and its stars who include, Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Tinchy Stryder and many more. Since the age of 13 I've been making music with a group called Ruff Squad the same group as Tinchy Stryder. We started MC’ing at each others houses and youth clubs which quickly escalated into pirate radio and local raves. As our name grew bigger in the streets my passion for music became stronger and years later at the age of 24 music is my profession.

What difficulties have you faced and how have you overcome them?

Within the music industry, from the start of going on pirate radios to making music videos I faced so many difficulties and still face them this very day. I would say communication, finance and exposure have been the hardest things to overcome and the only way I have learnt to deal with these difficulties have been my belief. I always say to myself if you don't believe in yourself who will? So with that thought in mind I managed to stay determined to make people believe in me no matter how many knock downs I come across.

Who are your current competition and what makes you different?

Every act in the UK is my competition. I’m different because I’m not trying do what the majority of the UK music scene are doing. My music is a new fresh sound, I’m trying to bring back the dance in Grime with tracks like 'Hardbody' but at the same time hit them with my knowledge and my experiences of life, which you can hear in my album.


What motivates you as a musician?

Just the simple case of loving music motivates me. I’m always up for hearing something new and different so I can feed off of the energy.

Which artists have you worked with and who would you like to work with?

I've worked with most of the grime scene from Wiley to Lethal B to Sway and Scorcher, Ghetto, Chipmunk etc. In the UK I would like to work with Giggs and a guy called 'BADNESS' I love the rasta style he’s got going on.

In your opinion. how has music industry changed in the last 5 years and how have you adapted to this change?

Well the scene has exploded for UK grime/hiphop within the mainstream; I don't think anyone believed that the music would have got this big that even the likes of P Diddy and Jay Z are showing an interest. I give props to Tinchy, Wiley, Skepta, Tinie Tempah, Chipmunk, Giggs and N Dubz for taking it there.


What's the concept behind your album 'I Aint Rich Yet'?

I would say that this album is not your typical Grime CD. Its my own take on grime, which is filled with a mixture of party anthems, emotions, hard life, street life, and love. I think it’s a good introduction for the world to hear who Dirty Danger is and what he’s about

What can we expect from you in 2011?

I dropped my album on April 4th nationwide so that's currently my main focus. Soon I'll be touring from the 14th of March with Skepta all over the UK and you’ll be hearing a bag full of music videos for TV and the Internet.

To listen to more of Dirty Danger, you can buy his debut album I Ainte Rich Yet via UK Record Shop or Digital-tunes, follow him via Twitter, or you can personally contact him via his Facebook.