Young Kingz - Road To Stardom

‘As far back as the age of 6 I remember me and Fari running around the house singing and pretending to be superstars’ says Zei one half of the duo Young Kingz from London. The duo grew up with music, using their Caribbean and American heritage to retell stories and issues embraced with U.K flows and concepts. They have had the pleasure of working with artist such as Lethal B, Double S and Timbar and are now in the process of releasing their forthcoming EP 'Road to Stardom' which will be available by November.

I thought I’d catch up with Young Kingz to find out their influences, meanings behind their alias’ and plans for the future.

‘We began to take music more seriously in 2008 and 2009 when we saw the amount of hits on our videos and songs as well as promising feedback from our mixtape. Says Zei, who explains how they made the transmission from music being hobby and now their career. He continues ‘it was these kinds of early accomplishments that proved we had the talent and the drive to reach new heights as artists. Since then me and my brother have undertook college & projects to expand our knowledge on music business & technology understanding of the industry.

‘A lot of our influence came from our father, who was also a musician and our role model. Naturally growing up with music side by side helped us to develop our love for entertainment and media. As far back as the age of 6 I remember me and Fari running around the house singing and pretending to be superstars’

‘Young Kingz was originally a group of 7 people, but no one else in the group was taking music as seriously as us. The work load got heavier and people started to drop out. Our music comes at a great cost at the moment. We make a lot of tunes with varied narrative and lyrics, currently the police our trying to take our away our right to perform because certain songs tell a harsh story of the world in the perspective of the urban subculture’.

‘Young Kingz is not only a music group it is a brand and lifestyle so we appeal to the urban scene specifically, as we take inspiration from our experiences. Anyone that falls under the category of the urban scene can relate to the concept of our lyrics. More broadly we appeal to people who enjoy quality Hip-Hop and R&B’.

Some sacrifices they've made include time and money, Fari explains. ‘Time is a precious resource to us, as we all know; the window of opportunity doesn’t stay open forever. So a lot of social luxuries get missed like parties and chilling out with friends. We take our music very seriously were always on time and stick to our word, after all this is music industry; you’re not going to go far if you cannot stick to the basics'.

'Our dad always told us we were Young Kingz throughout our childhood, so it stuck and we ran with it. All our fans have a Young king or queen inside them'. They go on to explain their alias’s individually.

Fari, symbolises our family as well as leadership. It being our last names & name of Haile Selassie Fari the last king.  Zei is pronounced Zee, as a kid a used to play the Saz and was pretty good, fom there, I developed the nick name ‘Saz Master’. The Saz is a musical instrument with Mediterranean origin in string family, with a pear-shaped body and a long neck. As I got older I got rid of the first 2 letters and was know by ‘Z’, the last letter of the alphabet, there have been letters before this but none after.

‘We’ve worked with a range of artists such as Timbar, Kraze, Lethal B, Hardpalm Dun, YoungStarz and Double S - Of Marvel Boys - we don’t discriminate on the basis of recognition but talent. So we have worked with some names that may not ring a bell. The tune we did Double S is still being debated when to drop and the date for our shoot with Lethal B is approaching’.

‘On a larger scale we are working towards releasing a pre-album 'Road to Stardom' which is a more censored and mass market piece, this should be available from November. Just a couple days ago we got the ball rolling on creating/directing a new single concerning the London riots. We have managed to get Nims Obunge behind us with this project and it’s looking promising. Those are the main releases; in the meantime we have about 6 videos ready to drop for our fans that will be out on the internet to progress our buzz’.

When asked their views on the current industry this is what they had to say. ‘I think music industry is in a tough state because of how the record labels and DJ's are operating. Instead of playing music based on talent they are basing it on how much buzz they got already’, says Zei.

‘It is a money thing now days, they don't want to spend as much money branding & promoting anymore. It’s more about how much money could be saved and made than making good music & selling it. With that said it seems like every week someone is blowing up, so that can only be a good thing for the U.K music. I think 'Ed Sheeran' is a very underrated artist his tunes are deep and banging! He’s a talented fella’... he’s next to go global’, says Fari.

Artist that they are inspired by include Busta Rhymes, Drake, Lil Wayne, Sizzla, Freeway and Ludacris. They explain ‘purely on the basis of natural talent, intelligence, wordplay, flow and lyrical insight. Listening to music of all these different genres and origins has definitely played a part in growing our sound'.

‘We are able to put together hooks, flows and concepts that combine U.K life with Jamaican and American influences, which makes us unique and gives us a diverse sound. Producers that inspire Zei to make beats are Dr Dre and Mannie Fresh! They’re the best in the game, with talent that seems to be unrestricted by ability’.

'We’re just going to keep doing us that means work & more work. We are always trying to improve as artists and true entertainers, so we looking to push the boundaries of music. Look out for ‘Road to Stardom’ the EP and stay up to date with all our videos dropping subscribe Youtube and follow us on Twitter. 

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! 

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