Kozy - Ali Kosé

After covering tracks from the likes of Lil Wayne, Maroon 5, Jessie J, John Legend and more he’s managed to accumulate more than 50,000 YouTube views. Not only is this South London male a songwriter, but a producer, singer and composer that uses his craft to work with disaffected young people in his local community, where they've worked together to set up an independent radio station.

Kozy formally known as Ali is a musician who started MC'ing at the age of 16, where he made the commitment to write songs to reflect the social times in which he lived.

Since then he has grown from strength the strength expanding his craft. I thought I’d catch up with him to find out more.

‘I sing, song write, play multiple instruments, produce and compose music from different genres. Says Kozy, he continues, ‘when I was 12 I started playing guitar’ from there on he began to develop his love for music. He continues, ‘when I was around 21 years old, I started singing and i found my passion for music grew stronger and before I knew it was taking vocal lessons to develop my unique voice.

For Kozy, Music is ‘self-fulfilment and spiritual healing’; he explains ‘when I sing I feel happy, I feel complete and pure in my soul.

‘My audience are people who enjoy genuine vocal gymnastics and the appreciation of a well-trained voice. Usually, people who feel music from the heart and soul can relate to my raw approach.’

‘My natural focus, versatile vocal range as well as my ability to sing in a pop genre, sweeps across the board and finds its charm into fusing with any given genre of music. I think appeal to people through adapting my lyrics to all age groups and writing songs everyone can relate to.‘

‘I am inspired by Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Motown, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Queen, Frank Sinatra, Baby Face, Boys 2 Men, Fugees, Wyclef, Dru Hill, Musiq Soul Child, Glen Lewis, Pharell Williams, Ginuwine,  Donell Jones, Jon B, 2 Pac, Bob Marley, Damien Marley, Joe, Miguel, Sade, Dr Dre, Dark Child, Destinys Child, Turkish artists, Latin music, film music.’

‘Pretty much anything I can enjoy listening to and take an influence from to help my creativity. The reason why I love music in general is because of Michael Jackson.'

'His tape was bought for me when I was 5 years old in the 80's and from there I fell in love. I’m passionate about all genres of music but, I especially appreciate production from the likes of Quincy Jones for his versatility across the board, especially in film and music production.’

He would say that 3 crucial qualities of a musician are ‘feeling, uniqueness and ability to convey a message’. He explains, ‘A musician should be almost like an actor who can make you feel the theme of the story he or she is narrating through the flow of a unique expression and role play.'

When asked what we can expect from him in the future he says. ‘I’m at the stage of recording my professional original material. So you can expect to hear some unique sounds that I’ve composed wrote & produced myself, with some spectacular music video concepts to go with that. Once that’s done I’ll be touring all around the world making my merchandise available.'

For more of Kozy you can log on to his Official Site as well as follow him via Twitter and Youtube.

L Momrelle - The Easy EP & Blue Bars series

Although he’s a full time student he dabbles in music part-time which has allowed him to work with over 25 up and coming artist from South London, namely MC Tigz and Bartoven. He says “as soon as I finish my degree this year music is going to be a lifestyle.”

L Momrelle is a musician from South London who plans to take his music career to the next plateau after his studies. I caught up with him to find out where it all started, who he’s collaborated with and his plans for the future.

'I'm a music producer from Lewisham; I've worked with loads of musicians from Lewisham and worked in 5 studios as a recording and mixing engineer.

'I mainly produce, but I dabble in everything music wise other than singing and dancing.'


'It all started Primary school; everyone would mess around rapping and beat boxing in the playground and rap to monophonic ringtones. Then in secondary school it just continued and over time progressed.

'I found that I was much better at anything creative like art, music and media than subjects like history, geography and science. So after my GCSEs I studied music technology at college and loved it which is where it all really started for me.'

‘When I make music, my focus varies, it depends on the situation.  Sometimes I'll have something in mind that I want to make so I'll focus on capturing a feeling, or sometimes I want to make something better than my last beat, so I try to outdo myself.'

'With the 2 projects I'm working on “The Easy EP” series and “Blue Bars series” I'm focusing on making good music with people from the borough - Blue Bars - and focusing on making the deepest music based on sampling - Easy EP.’

‘At the moment there isn't really a set audience, it’s just people that like my music so it ranges from young aspiring teens to adults. Ideally I'd like to appeal to everyone and anyone but more importantly I have to make what I enjoy making, so anyone that hears my stuff and likes it is my target audience.'

Some of his inspirations include Ryan Leslie, 40, Terrah Danjah and Davinche. He explains ‘Ryan Leslie and 40 - Drakes main producer - are big inspirations because in my opinion they’re the best, but I have respect for producers like Terrah Danjah and Davinche because they've done a lot for the scene I basically grew up in.'

He decided to take his music more professional during his ‘final year of university.’

He explains, ‘I felt I've secured "the normal" lifestyle, meaning I could have a stable job with my degree, but instead I want that to be something to fall back on. What I really want is to take my producing skills as far as possible and just do my best.'

When asked what 3 important qualities of a musician and why, he replies are ‘their personality, being genuine and being good at their craft,’ he elaborates, ‘it’s important to show personality because then people like the artist and not just the music.'

'Being appeal to appeal to a wider audience is important but, it’s just annoying when the person’s not genuine, like they're just trying to do music because its kool but they have nothing to say.

'If you’re trying to be a lyrical artist and your contents not good then it’s just not good! But if you’re trying to be a wavey mc and your contents wack but your mad wavey then you’re good. If an artist does all the above then they're good.'

When asked what we can expect from him in the future he says ‘Loads of collaborations, the “Easy EP” and "Blue Bars" series.

'A lot of work with MC Tigz and Bartoven - I'm feeling them at the moment - Grime, Rap and possibly some Bashment. Just expect the unexpected really...'

For more of L Momrelle log on to his Official Site, listen to his music via Soudcloud and Youtube and follow him via Twitter and Facebook .

Fonzie - Drank In My Cup

'Football is my wife and music is my side chick' says. Fonzie the 22 year old member of the music collective Non Stop which includes Magic, Handles and D-1. Fonzie is a musician from West London who ironically picked up a mic and decide to pursue career in music only 4 months ago after his 1st performance at iLuvLive. Since then he has continued to release music such as Drank In My Cup and I Get Fly Girls' via YouTube.

I thought I’d catch up with him to find out who is audience is, the best place he’s performed and his plans for 2012.

‘I have fun with my music’ says Fonzie when he’s not gaming on skateboarding or playing football. I got my alias from my dad we used to watch "Happy Days" and he just used to say I’m cool as Fonzie, so i took that and never went back.

‘I’ve always been interested in it so 4 months ago I picked up a mic and thought "let me give this a try.  A lot of the artist these days are too serious and forget to be themselves, so I think they all tend to be the same.’

‘I try to aim at everyone when making music. I used to be on the road thing so I know what those who hustle are going through. I stopped because I started to see my brother was following in my foot steps and I didn't want him to go down that road.’

‘I’m a laid back cool guy so I do, do some tunes for the cool dudes. I was also brought up in a house full of women, so I tend to know what they are going through as well, so generally I just try and make music that EVERYONE can relate to.’

One of the best places I’ve performed at would have to be ‘iLuvLive, because it was my first performance’ He continues, ‘I was drunk so everything sounded on point, but I got mad positive feedback so it’s all good’ he laughs.

I think in this industry, ‘artists should be their own person. Everyone’s talking this gun thing or drug thing which is messing the minds of young people. Artists should definitely change their tune and talk about something else; everyone doesn't have to know you’re a “roadman”.

He would advise up and coming musicians to ‘NEVER STOP WORKING’

‘In 2012 you can expect to hear my name everywhere. Not just my name though, also my team Non Stop which includes. Magic, Handles and my producer D-1, look out MAYNE!!’

You can now follow him via Twitter and Facebook  as well as check out his music via Youtube. 

Marvin Live - Pre-Season and Live Show

‘Music means the world to me and I hope I'll be able to continue making it for many years to come’ says Marvin Live who originally entered the music scene in 2003 making Grime music under the alias Be Marvel, alongside musicians such as DDark, Skips, Spyro, Kills K and Beastie. After taking a well-deserved break from music, developing and expanding his craft, Marvin returned to the scene in January 2011 to pursue his music career.

I thought I’d catch up with him to find out his thoughts on the current scene, sacrifices and future plans.

‘I’m a rapper and song writer. I'd say it’s hard to distinguish my audience as I make music for a variety of genres – acoustic, hip-hop, dub step and electro. But, I feel I appeal to my listeners through simple concourse line and a very enthusiastic flow.

‘The scene has changed dramatically since 2005. Artist have more of a brand like approach, image plays a huge role and the internet is a big platform which allows artists - like myself - to gain fans, without any artificial promotion.Personally, this hasn't made any sorts of changes in an artistic stand point, but definitely made an impact on my promoting and marketing approach to the industry.'

He decided to make the transition between music as a career in comparison to being a hobby in ‘March 2011’,he continues.

‘The love I possess for music is huge, and to be giving the ability to speak your mind and views on music is an amazing feeling, especially when it's appreciated in the right way.

'Music means the world to me and I hope I'll be able to continue making it for many years to come.'

‘My biggest sacrifice has been time. I rarely see my friends and family due to studio, meetings, videos etc. Making steps closer to my dream, no matter how big the steps are, is always worthwhile. So far I would say The Roundhouse EMI showcase is the best place I’ve performed. I was given a huge opportunity to perform alongside great up and coming acts.

I've worked with a number of artists since I've been back. Treble clef, Mr Lonely, Trun, Ddark, Terra, Smokie Badbrey, Elshay, Bex the list goes on, but I‘m also good friends with most of them. I know it's a little farfetched but I've always wanted to work with Adele, Estelle, and Lana Del Rey.

‘I have two mix-tapes already finished called Pre-Season and Live show’, he says when asked what we can expect from him in 2012, he

continues.

‘I'm currently working on another one called Staged, but I would say just expect me to flood the industry dramatically. “It’s going to be a LIVE year "

You can now follow him via Twitter, add him on Facebook as well as watch all his latest music videos via Youtube.

Eddie Masih - I Remember

After covering Hallelujah by Alexandra Burke he was nominated in the World Music Online Radio Charts, where he won 3rd place, not to mention being the only UK act in the top 10. This exposure allowed him to accumulate a large fan-base that has taken him to radio interviews; tours and huge events such as The Birmingham Soho Oscars, The Oracle Trust Ball and London where he has opened for UK Boy band The Wanted.

Eddie Masih is a 19 year old musician from Birmingham, England who has been pursuing his music career since his early teens. He has recently released his new Funky House single I Remember, which is attracting a lot of support. 

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

'I’m as a model, singer and song-writer; music has always been my passion. But unfortunately at a young age I developed cancer which stopped me from singing. 

'From that moment on I decided to teach myself again and I’ve never stopped since, singing and songwriting based on my life experiences.'

'I started like anyone else with doing videos locally, but luckily they’ve spread global and ever since then things have progressed taking me to gigs, radio appearances, tour, newspapers and a lot more and I’m hoping to keep pushing it as much as possible until I reach my dream.'

‘I’ve worked with a lot of UK rappers, but my dream would to be to work with my idols, either be Mariah Carey or Stevie wonder, too be honest I’ve got too many people I would love to work with or even meet. '

'My music represents love and life and faith. I believe love is the only thing that can be given and received freely. I always keep god in my music as he’s kept me strong through everything in life, and I think it’s me being different what attracts listeners to me.’

‘I’ve learnt that this industry is not just a hobby but something you’ve got to work on 24/7 and always push yourself. When you’re deep in the music industry it can break down your confidence but you learn to never give up on faith. There are loads of people that inspire me, seriously, I could name so many. 

'I've learnt so much from artists including vocal techniques, especially from Mariah Carey. Overall he would say that ‘no matter how bad your life starts out you can always make something huge out of yourself.’

In the future we can ‘expect a lot’ he says, he continues ‘I‘m doing TV work, radio work and new releases, a lot of upcoming gigs and I’m close to signing a couple of life changing contracts so you should be hearing a lot more from me.’

For more of Eddie log on to his Facebook and Youtube. 

Michael Hall - HURACHE Records

It has taken over a decade to get HURACHE Records where it is today in which the founder contends the label it is ‘a new kind of independent actor in the music industry’. From the reading of ‘I-Ching’ in 1991, to working and mingling with industry professionals in Chicago when founder  Michael Hall took a trip in 2001 to the United States to visit his paternal family.

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

Just as several members of his family are, Michael had always been musically inclined. His mother, a professional dancer for even continued to take classes during her last months pregnancy with Michael. 

In 1991, Michale completed a City and Guilds in Sound Engineering at Newton Abbot, Devon. After being disillusioned with his surroundings and hungry for an adventure in music he embarked upon reading an old Chinese divination book called the “I-Ching”  As a result this let to the foundations of HURACHE Records. He found that the book resonated closely with his thoughts and feelings at that time.

With the knowledge that his Uncle Reggie Hall was a DJ and Vocalist he took up an open invitation to visit his dad and their family, including Uncle Reggie in Southside Chicago, USA. This however meant getting a job - in a fish factory as a cleaner - and saving up first but, against the odds, he arrived at his uncle’s front door in March, 2001. 

Mike’s Uncle Reggie, a House Music DJ, knew of Michael's ambition to get into the music industry and decided to help. He took him to various recording studios introducing him to the big names of music scene on Chicago's Southside including Vince Lawrence, one of the originators of House Music.

After a few meetings and discussions, Michael eventually took a job as a Sound Engineer at Matt Warrens Warzone Studio in the inner city industrial area of Chicago. Michael took full advantage of his new found environment by learning and absorbing as much as he could deep in the heart of Chicago’s Music industry.

Whilst working there he would see the inner workings of the music industry, meet with various esteemed industry figures and learn techniques of music production and mixing down. He would also DJ two residencies in “The Get Me High Lounge” and “Bar Thirteen”. 

He worked for a time at "Studio Chicago" for a man named Al Ursini. While there, he worked with Ronald Gresham - renowned Hip Hop mixing engineer - on a marathon 48hour shift as an assistant engineer learning a great deal about mixing music professionally.

The trip to Chicago was pivotal to HURACHE’s founding. Upon returning to England fully inspired and with the Urban sounds of South Chicago in his ears, Michael was more prepared and determined than ever to produce music but needed an outlet.

It was for that reason that HURACHE was created.

The idea of HURACHE is to always be proactive, think outside the box as well as always act independently of the Music Industry where and when this was at all possible. For instance, Brixham in Devon is not exactly where people expect to find Hip Hop with authenticity and of the quality that HURACHE produces so as far as unconventional goes, that was already a good start! 

Michael's Brother Daniel Hall became involved very early on and would use his newly learnt MC’ing skills to help create the first ever HURACHE Recordings.

While the label acts as a record label in many ways – making and selling music, there are also many ways in which it's not a label. He explains  “whenever we refer to “HURACHE Records”, the second word is actually meant as a verb and not a noun, which we would pronounce ‘REE-cords’ as opposed to ‘REH-cords’” 

“We have taken a proactive approach to the distribution and sales of our music. We produce and package our own physical CDs, take them out on the street and sell them directly to the public in towns and cities around our local area. In this respect, we operate more like an independent label.”

“We run a lean operation, keeping costs as low as possible but fortunately, we are able to find enough new and returning fans of our music in the surrounding towns and cities to keep afloat.”

“Selling our own music for ourselves helps HURACHE to stay independent. Our music will never be subject to a corporate filter. It is very important to us that we produce and release music that is raw and pure as well as avoiding any non-musical (particularly commercial) influence over what we music make or choose to release.” 

“Despite being an Urban Music outfit, you will not be hearing any gun or "gangster" talk from HURACHE. It’s just not who we are. That is not to say that we will not speak on the gritty realities of life but we are not of the camp that thinks that making Urban Music must be all about being a “Bad Man” or, as we believe is more often the case, claiming that you are. It is our belief that many (but not all) rappers and other Urban artists are totally disingenuous and inauthentic when they talk about guns, crime and being on or from streets.  At HURACHE we’d rather promote intelligent discourse and intellectualism with recourse to comedy and the chaos that spills from creativity!”

 

“In terms of selling CDs directly to the public on the streets, there's much more to it than scrawling “HURACHE” on bunch of CD-Rs with a permanent marker. They have to look professional but not cost a bundle. Successfully selling CDs on road is an art in and of it self which we have all but perfected and we tend to call STREETAILING”. Michael highlights this as one of the difficulties the company faces.

He continues “One of the major limitations of street sales however is that we can only sell where we can physically get to. Not only are there practical issues involved but the increasing costs of travelling greater distances can very quickly eat up any profits that may have been made otherwise. This places obvious barrier on our ability to get our music out to a bigger audience. At present, we tend to frequent Plymouth and Exeter as well as other town in our surrounding area.”

“Until very recently, HURACHE was virtually invisible online as we concentrated on building up a following locally through street sales. We are now in the process of implementing a strategy to bring our music online in a way that plays into our strengths and feeds on the experience we have had selling face to face to new and returning customers or fans.”

“In the end, what it boils down to is making good music that people want and can relate to. It doesn't matter how good you can sell, if it's crap, no one will want it and crucially, no one will come back to get the next album we make. As long as we keep doing that, we'll be fine.”

“HURACHE does not “sign” artists in the conventional sense but rather collaborates on a project-by-project basis.” He replies when asked what the label represents and how they find artists to relay that image, he continues “We largely work with “undiscovered” talent and we aren’t look to tie artists down contractually – they are free to pursue their own ventures and come and go as they please”

“For vocalists we tend to look for people who are intelligent, witty, expressive, poetic and last, but far from least, authentic. They of course also have to be able to deliver a tight vocal whether they’re singing or rapping.”

“It is highly gratifying to know that the artists we work with are free to dissociate at any time but most continue to choose to work with us. There is even one local rapper, who goes by the name Fluid, who felt so deeply inspired by HURACHE and what we stand for that he decided of his own accord have the HURACHE logo tattooed on his face!”

The company are inspired by other labels such as No limit Records for their “Entrepreneurialism”. Trojan Records for their “gritty presentation with a professional twist”, Full Cycle because of their “Raw enthusiasm”, Planet V for their Collection of great new artists” and lastly, Hypnotise Minds for their “reckless abandonment and a punk like approach.”

When asked about the changes in digital media he says “in the past few years has digital media has presented several opportunities for us to bring our music to a larger online audience while continuing to maintain our independence from the industry in a way that was not possible when we started HURACHE in 2001 -  Facebook and Twitter were only launched in 2004 and 2006.”

“Nowadays, we are able to offer fans the opportunity to buy individual MP3s and full albums directly on our Facebook page or from our website!“

“We are also looking very closely at emerging online technologies which allow us to offer our fans a revenue share in return for helping to sell or distribute our music. We find this a very interesting and attractive prospect as we continue to grow our audience and following online.”

“Currently, we have chosen not to use iTunes in order to maintain full control of pricing for our music. We are open to using iTunes in the future but only if we after we prove to ourselves that people are just not willing to consider alternative services to buy our music.”

“We are continuing with street sales so fans in our local area will see very little change. We’re going to be coming online in a big way. We’ve recently released our latest work, a trilogy of Hip Hop albums collectively known as “The Future of the Digital Music Revolution” Look out for Futuristic Music, Futuristic Revolutions and Digital Revolution. This is the first time we are releasing our material online before making it available via street sales.“

“There are a number of new songs in the works for an as yet unnamed album. It is difficult to give a date when these will be ready for release. Suffice to say that they will be released when we are happy that they are of a standard we are happy with.”

On the last Thursday of every month for the foreseeable future, HURACHE will be taking over the studios of SoundArt Radio, a local community radio station, and broadcasting two hours of a released and unreleased HURACHE Music mashed together into a multi-genre DJ/MC fest. It's available by tuning to 102.5 FM around South Hams in Devon.