Sunday 27 June 2010

I give thanks for being a producer myself so I don't have to fuck for tracks as if I was just a singer

This is the last drop, I just have to talk about it. Since I was 13 I have had to decline offers and sometimes ultimatums by men who would want me to sleep with them in turn of helping me forward my singing career. I have worked with many artists, producers, but everything I achieved is because of hard work, however I had to make decisions which closed certain opportunities in my career.

Today I was supposed to perform at Glastonbury Festival, the biggest festival in UK running for 40 years and just being a massive explosion of positive vibes. I rehearsed, mixed the instrumental specifically for this occasion, postponed a lecture at school I was supposed to give, bought special outfit and asked my mother to stay a few days more to babysit my daughter.
But the day before yesterday the male artist/producer we were going with gave me the ultimatum that I must stay with him an room at the festival, and I refused, saying that I can't stay with a man in a room like that. Of course, with such ultimatums I didn't go. I feel sorry that because of such low intentions the whole thing was completely poilt once again. Even though I have done engineering and played keybords on his tracks too for almost a year.

One thing I know that every step I made in my career has always been earned my hard work and skills and I have never sold my body to get further in the business. I didn't take on opportunities that were offered by those men who wanted me to pay with my body, I learned to produce myself and learned to be in a different position. A few years ago I realised that if only stick to singing and dancing, I would have been dependent on producers, and all of those I met were men - many of whom did want me to pay the price. So I figured if learn to complete a track by myself, it would save me time wasted on those men who give hope and then ultimatums, and money. I learned the skills of engineering and became geeky about it, but it's blessing that I have the right mindset for it and it doesn't bore me at all - in fact, the opposite reading some articles about new gear calms me down.

Hearing about some of today's successful artists, who for their career sleep with producers jumping from one to another, break up marriages even when kids are involved and take everything for themselves with no sense of morality, building their image by speculating on sacred things, then get Grammys and worldwide promotion, I think to myself that somehow they get away with it too easy, but what is happening within their soul?


UPDATE
29th July 2010

I was very surprised to find out that some folks started assuming that there were subliminal messages in this post. There are NO subliminal messages there.

The conclusion in my post was a general statement that can apply to various artists around the world from UK, US, Russia, China, Germany etc and at any point the history of music business. It was not targeted at any particular artist especially someone who writes and produces songs for themselves and other people, where is the logic in that? It was definitely not about Alicia Keys. Any Russian person who read it could have possibly linked it to a famous Russian artist in their mind who folks in the US or other parts of the world have never heard of. I guess, people see what their eyes want to see. No need to start a beef here and spread hate by taking words out of context.
If I said that I don't fuck for tracks it means I don't and have never done so. The story about Glastonbury is one of the incidents that happened in my life and was very upsetting. Also it doesn't mean that every relationship within the industry have to do with ulterior motives, people simply fall in love sometimes.

Thursday 17 June 2010

INTERVIEW I did in summer 2009 about my music and single "Emancipation"

Here is the interview I did a year ago about my music, moving to London, being a full-time working mom and my single released at that time "Emancipation". This interview was done in mid summer 2009 with Tanya T (singer, presenter for UK COMMUNITY EYE TV)


Tuesday 15 June 2010

Brief story of "Emancipation EP"

I'm working on the follow-up to my album "Emancipation EP", so let me tell you the story behind the first one. Each song on the album has it's own story and started to live its own life long time ago. The concept for the album came when I was released from Yarl's Wood detention center where I was locked up for two months by mistake and then I won my case. I came out in January 2008 and I wrote a blog somewhere on Myspace, the words just came to me as a poem, I wrote about the feeling I had, I could smell freedom and it was all so unreal. My friend Nathan who knew how I was getting by used to say all the time "You should release a Yarl's Wood album, I'll be the first to buy it!". So I put those words on music and called that song "Nothing Like My Freedom". I got acquainted with Marc of the Infirmary through Myspace and he later came to record his part on the track. The other song "Emancipation" came to me first as a beat, I made it in January 2009 and put the lyrics down a couple of months later and it was my first ever song released on iTunes in July 2009. "Please Forgive Dem Lord" was originally written after my bass guitarist was beaten up by 35 neo nazis prior to our scheduled performance on Bob Marley Festival in Moscow in 2006. I changed it at least three times, made three beats and eventually it was included into this album. The video was made by Bumble Bee Productions in 2008 and it can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC0iY_v366o
(I uploaded it twice on Youtube)

The lyrics for "The Price of the Beauty" was written on a small piece of paper somewhere in Charing Cross after I found out about my unplanned pregnancy in autumn 2007, then I came home and made the beat within a couple of hours in the middle of the night.

Music and words for "Sad" came to me simultaniously in summer 2009 and it was a result of long talks with my close friend about fame and the price some people have to pay for it. I did picture some real people while writing this song.

I met Rephlex while shooting a test video for "Emancipation" with Black Jack in summer 2009, Rephlex just happened to be shooting his video at the same time somewhere near Canary Wharf. He later expressed that he liked the beat to the song when he heard it on Myspace and would like to spit on it. So I invited him to my studio and he recorded the lyrics to "Emancipation Remix".

Oxxxymiron came to my studio to record "Yeti & Deti" for Hip Hop battle in Russia, we were so happy about the work that day that he ended up recording the "Skit" to the beat I made before that. It is truely freestyled and expressed in his words on the track.

"Losinourselves" was originally written when I was in the middle of the circle of working really hard, drinking a lot, sleeping much less and partying like crazy, getting used to life in London after I moved here. It was before I had my daughter of course, since I had her I’m a good girl now :)

BUY album:









Wednesday 2 June 2010

Antifascist Protest against racism and murders of innocent people in Russia (London 2009)

To all real soldiers we've lost, their family and friends, we remember your deeds, we continue the works on earth, step by step. The truth and justice will prevail.

Tajik students and many others gathered in front of Russian Embassy in London to protest against the killings of innocent people by neo-nazis in Russia.

Antifascist murdered by neo nazis in Ryazan, Russia

On 23rd of May 2010 a group of neo-nazis armed with stones attacked antifascist Konstantin Lunkin. The attack happened on his birthday near the entrance to his house. Nazi beated him up violently, fructured his skull with a stone. Girlfriend of one of the attackers couldn't stand the violance and called ambulance. On 31st May 2010 the young man died in the hospital from received injuries after being in coma.

Two graduates of local school suspected in the murder were detained on the day of the attack as the witness recognized them. However they were released soon after that. They were made free after police believed alibi of their parents that their children were at home at the time of the attack. According to antifascists from Ryazan, police have been passive in finding out the circumstances of the murder.

Konstantin Lunkin was representative of antifascist movement, sportsman and was actively resisting neo-nazis. He turned 25 years on 23rd May - the day of the attack. It is known, that boldheads have included him into their "black list" of enemies.

Friends of the antifascist said that he was a "free artist", social activist, who was into graffiti and was a very good person and friend.

SOURCE: http://www.newsru.com/crime/01jun2010/nazikillantifarjaz.html
http://xeno.sova-center.ru/45A29F2/EECB0C7