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. 

Xploder - Line OF Fire

From being the centre of attention at family function to taking his music abroad to The Czech Republic and Italy as well as receiving major support from radio stations such as BBC 1Xtra, BBC Radio 1, Kiss 100 and Choice FM after the released of his EP ‘Line Of Fire' as well as being described as ‘an artists to look out for in 2011’ by BBC Radio 1 DJ Ras Kwame you could say this musician is destined to succeed this year.  Xploder is an up and coming musician from East London who has been pursuing a music career for just over 4 years.

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

Similar to many artists, Xpolder started, rapping and producing his own material underground. He then joined the infamous ‘Highly Rated Camp’ alongside Beckz Winter and his brother DDark as they shared the same ambitions to further their music careers, individually as well as a collective. The camp was a huge success and became recognised as an underground company, which then gave them the chance to appear and perform on UK pirate and internet radio stations such as Mystic FM, Deja Vu, Rinse FM, Heat FM and Axe FM.

Since then he has released two singles ‘Don’t Trust You’ and ‘So True’ which have both accumulated mass support and following in addition to being selected as an ambassador for the “I Am Awards” which aims to offer unsigned and self-releasing artists a platform to share their music. His name alone may come across as intimidating to most, but it’s simply an expression, that represents his unexpected talent.  He describes himself as ‘quite a reserved individual’ yet he is ‘known to astound music lovers with his explosive lyrical energy and musical abilities’.

’I'm a grime musician from East London, so I write and perform songs’ says Xploder  ‘From a young age I always used to be the centre of attention when it came to family gatherings whenever music was played. I remember singing and dancing around with a small toy cassette player that had a microphone attached to it. So music has always been part of my life.'

He would say that the best place his music has taken him has to be ‘abroad to Italy and the Czech Republic. He explains ‘seeing hundreds of people being able to connect to my music even with the language barrier, it's amazing trust me! He would say that he’s more interested in that fortune rather than the fame as ‘as it gives you the power to invest and build.’

‘My inspiration is my mum as she is such a hard worker, and has always made me believe that anything is achievable with working hard’. He is also inspired by a range of artists include Dizzee Rascal, Coldplay, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Michael Jackson, Nas, Outkast, Stevie Wonder and UB40. 

Four qualities he feels a good musician should have are ‘Consistency, organisation, focus and versatility. He says 'all these go hand in hand. Once you leave one of these elements out, you end up falling short. In the UK I think we’re all finding ourselves within the industry and understanding the infrastructure behind it. This is helping to boost the music we love and make to the forefront of the UK.  This definitely helps me as an artist, as it creates many avenues for me to get my music heard.’

’I promote myself in many different ways. For example, I have a good team consisting of a plugger, PR and booking agent. I also make sure my social networks are always buzzing with something. He says 'The most effective way to promote yourself as an artists is the internet.  You allows you to have unlimited access to a wide range of people instantly'.

Although his Line of Fire EP is out now via iTunes, in the future we can expect him to be ‘pushing a few single from the EP with visuals’ as well as a ‘single release and video for HYPE SHOW’

You can now contact Xpolder via his Official Site, Facebook and even follow him on Twitter.