JASMINES JUICE – Namibia- the perfect holiday destination!

SUNPLAY
IN NAMIBIA YOU CAN PLAY WITH THE SUN.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY RICHARD PASCOE PHOTOGRAPHY.

With the press content we are brain washed with, the UK population wouldn’t be wrong to presume that;
1) Africa is a country instead of a continent the way African countries in the press are always lumped into stereotyped generalisations in the media.
2) That all Africans are poor, poverty stricken, destitute populations, in need of charity donations for which we westerners should indulge in the latest sponsored outrageous assault course of choice to help.
3) That African countrys are all diseased, politically incorrect countries where naked children run barefoot through dry dusty dirt with dribbling noses and extended malnutrition-ed bellies.
4) That African countries are so far behind the rest of the world that generally we’d rather holiday anywhere but there, but if it’s a former English colony like Kenya we may consider it.
5) That on the global world map it looks smaller than its true size when in fact it is much bigger. In reality, you can fit North America into Africa and still have space for India, Argentina, Tunisia and some left over. (Apparently the distortion is the result of the Mercator map, which was created in 1596 to help sailors navigate the world. It gives the right shapes of countries but at the cost of distorting sizes in favour of the wealthy lands to the north).

DESET WALK
WALKING IN THE STUNNING NAMIB DESERT.

Luckily, my late father was Kenyan and so these untruths were challenged into my mind at a young age, whilst my west London school was still telling me about the ‘’poor Africans’’ in my sponsored walks. Before I visited Namibia on business this month I didn’t find much online aside from safari information, but knew there would be more to the country than that, and that it would be eye opening. I just didn’t know how much.

You’ll be hard pressed to find anything like Namibia with its diverse and rich cultural heritage anywhere else on this planet. Tourists tend to go for the camps, lodges and safari but you can experience much, much more in this beautiful country.

I quickly realised that Namibia’s soaring red dunes, stark moonscapes, ancient valleys, rocky hills, unique flora and immense culture clearly aren’t on everyone’s holiday radar, after my facebook friends were in awe at my barrage of stunning photos from my trip out there.

SANDBOARD
THE TRACKS BEHIND ME ARE WHERE PEOPLE ARE SANDBOARDING DOWN THE DUNES.

Interestingly – as it was pointed out to me on twitter by Namibian’s – British tourists are the fifth most visiting nationals to Namibia, which is shocking when you consider, that it’s barely on the average Brits radar. We aren’t sold package deals to Namibia commonly, our airports have no direct flights that fly there, our airport travel currency bureaus don’t stock Namibian dollars, and not one person I know had ever visited Namibia on vacation, and the people I know travel a lot! Even more bizarre that Namibia was voted as top country in Wanderlust readers travel awards for 2014 but is still relatively under promoted in the UK.

My cameraman and I flew into Windhoek-the capital city of Namibia – where all the other travellers were seal wrapping their luggage with Clingfilm. Assuming they knew something we didn’t, we followed the herd and had ours wrapped too.
Windhoek has a distinct African element with a mix of people from a variety of cultures who walk the clean pavements. It’s normal to see a Herero woman wearing full traditional dress alongside a businessman in a sharply cut suit.

We then took a smaller plane and journeyed onwards to Walvis Bay and made our way to the nearby coastal town of Swakopmund, which is 356 kilometres west of Windhoek. Swakopmund is flanked by the Namib Desert and the icy Atlantic Ocean. Its one of the driest areas on the planet, with the dramatic Atlantic Ocean on one side of the road, and endless wavy, vertiginous sand dunes, of the worlds most ancient desert on the other. Swakopmund was established in 1892 when the Germans were looking for a harbour to link Europe with the south-westerly corner of Africa. You can still see the huge breakwater and picturesque jetty today.

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THE JETTY

Swakopmund is meant to be the adventure capital of Namibia and activities include sand boarding, paragliding, camel rides, ballooning, township tours and scenic ariel flights over wildlife herds below. Even though there’s a huge focus on tourism activities, unlike many other places I’ve visited where tourists loot and pillage natural resource’s, Namibia is a country clearly focused on its conservation with uber clean towns and cities and signs that remind you to respect the natural resources. (When we went fishing we were told to throw back any fish that hadn’t grown yet to adulthood, and whilst quad biking through the desert we were instructed to follow only the safe trails behind the guide so as not to spoil the natural fauna).

With Swakopmund as a base you can travel to more remote safari focused areas of the country as well as enjoy all that the coastal city has to offer. There’s a local museum which houses relics of sailing ships that foundered on the skeleton coast, the jetty has world-class restaurants on a level with Nobu and Hakkasaan. Tiger Reef, which was two minutes walk away from the main town, has a huge beachside café and lake with flamingos that that was so beautiful I squealed when I spotted it!.

GERMAN TOWNHOUSE

Although it’s been over a century since Germany stamped its influence on the country, the strong German influence can still be seen in the centre of the town with its old German architecture and wide streets. There are also numerous arts and crafts stores filled with stunning; modern furniture and art that makes Habitat look like IKEA. Local boys spend sunny days diving into the ocean and make Tom Daley look like an ameteur with their stunning shapes!

For all bookings & Info:  E: info@RPMan.co.uk T: +44 7956 368 680

For all bookings & Info:  E: info@RPMan.co.uk T: +44 7956 368 680
THE FANCY SWAKOPMUND HOTEL.

We stayed at the centrally located, creatively named The Swakopmund Hotel – built in and around the old station building – which combined history with fine Namibian hospitality, luxury and comfort. It was on a par with the best most welcoming (outdoor pristine pool, lush gardens, free gym access), tech savvy (free fast wi-fi), opulent breakfast bar (steak, game, fresh oysters and more) locations I’ve experienced. The hotel also included an entertainment centre, two cinemas, casino, and spa with reflexologist, gym and curio shop.

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DAILY OYSTER BREAKFASTS AT SWAKOPMUND HOTEL.

After 3 days working at the Namibian Annual Music Awards, we had two and a half days off to explore and we packed in as much as was physically possible via our local connect Ludovic.

On our first free afternoon we were encouraged to go on a township tour, which I had to be forced into, as it always seems to me to be very distasteful. My Kenyan relatives in Mombasa hate it but inform me it’s a financially positive method for locals to earn money. Tourists visiting where you live, to watch the locals is akin to being at a zoo. But I guess it even happens in Hollywood with movie stars home tours. Once I was convinced to go it wasn’t too bad.

The Township Tour took place on a Sunday afternoon and our guide Castro took us to a few local spots. First to the home of Talitha, who used to work as a housekeeper for a German family but lost her job. Although her living space was small, it was fully equipped with all electric kitchen appliances like a fridge, microwave, kettle, radio, and TV. Photos of two sons adorned the walls and she became a bit emotional when seeing my cameraman Richard, as she said he reminded her of her of a family member that she hadn’t seen for years.
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CAMERAMAN RICHARD AND TALITHA

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OUR FIRST STOP ON THE TOWNSHIP TOUR WAS TALITHA’S HOME.

Her style of dress was Victorian from the Himba tribe. The length of the horn shaped hat she wore dictates a ladies age. The longer the length of the horns, the younger she is and she told us that they wear these outfits from the day of their first menstrual cycle. Talitha explained that ladies have to wait for men to ask for their hand in marriage. Men with 1000 cattle can marry numerous wives. Multiple wives will ensure that their husband is chaperoned everywhere. She added that 12 years education equals two cows and eight thousand Namibian dollars. We were also told that cousins marry cousins to keep wealth and cows in the family. Talitha asked us to guess how old she was. We guessed around 18. She was 46!

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The second home we visited just 2 minutes drive away, was in a poorer township area where they didn’t have electricity at all so after 6pm, they used only candlelight. This was the home of a medicine herbal woman and her neighbours son who chatted in broken English with me. Theirs was a large wooden shack, which homed eight people. The lady kindly took time out to show us various herbs in jars that she used to heal locals. We were handed the jars to smell as she explained their benefits to us, which included body cleansing, weight loss, flu and more.

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WE WERE WELCOMED TO A HOME FOR DINNER AND DELICACIE’S.

Our third visit was to a much wealthier family who ran a restaurant from their home, which was furnished and set up just like any other western home. Here Castro told us that ‘’ if you are lucky you will taste our Namibian delicacy’’. Intrigued and mouths watering we enquired what that would consist of? He explained ‘‘Caterpillar, it is a delicacy in the Owambo tribe’’. I like to think I’m adventurous but that would be a no-no for me. I also avoided the other delicacy –tripe- but instead, enthusiastically munched away at porridge meal so as not to seem rude.

Our final visit was to a local small community bar with a lovely, friendly vibe where on entry (like a classic western), all revelry stopped and time froze as the locals stopped to take us in for a few moments. We were offered drinks so Richard, eager to impress, bought their strongest rum and downed it all- making immediate friends. The uniting powers of alcohol! I wondered over to the jukebox where popular tracks were Milli Vanilli, Pharrell, Elton John and a number of local acts. Finally, local Namibian male vocal group AFRICAN VOCAL ACAPELA BAND sang three of their songs for us. Their soaring, stunning voices were so strong that we bought their CD ‘’Namibian RHYTHM’S’’. (They’re in Europe this month so look out for them!)

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AFRICAN VOCAL ACAPELA BAND

fishing 2

On DAY 2 our fishing tour began at 8am, and unlike many holiday tour teams that keep you waiting endlessly at reception, these guys were there 20 minutes early. Impressive. We were driven a few kilometres out of town to a wild part of the Atlantic Ocean where the waves lashed the empty, vast, wide sandy shores. The sun was beating down, but the Atlantic wind was colder and so sunblock and sweaters were needed.

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The friendly fishing instructor ensured we were well kitted up and helped us with bait, casting out and technique. It was only minutes before I caught a huge Cobb and 3 hours later we had a full bucket full of catfish, Cobb and more which another fellow tourist and her camping mates were happy to take for that nights open fire supper.

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NAMIBIAS NATIONAL PLANT- the Welwitschia Mirabilis!

The same afternoon we were picked up at 2pm sharp for the Namib Desert Tour, where we were driven around and shown stunning views of the moons craterlike landscape.

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The tour guide took us to specific spots to take in the view and snap pictures. For the final part of the afternoon we were introduced to one of the worlds most amazing plants- the Welwitschia Mirabilis- which grows only in the Namib, where rain may not fall for decades,

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The plant survives solely on the condemsation from The Atlantic fogs which can be seen rolling in like huge fog tsumamis daily in the mornings. In online info this plant had looked like any other Kew Garden like species. Its only when you see the size of it compared to the size of a human, that you see its regality and awe at its strength to survive out in this very hostile, arid territory.

SEAL LOVE

On our final day- DAY 3- we were scooped up at 8am sharp again for our Seal and Dolphin Cruise which was incredible fun. We were driven to Walvis Bay where we all boarded a catamarrang and cruised the ocean for three hours.
SEA TOUR

Yet this was no ordinary boat ride. Within minutes we were surrounded by giant red jellyfish (which I was assured were not hostile or stinging), huge seal colonies that swam alongside us (a few even got onboard the boat to eat fish and take photos with us!). This was clearly a moment they played along with, the captain feeds them fish that they don’t have to swim for and tourists are delighted- everyones a winner . During our cruise we were supplied with a delicious buffet lunch of seafood and drinks as the captain explained the logistics of oyster farming and sealing conservation to us.

SEALS

The most stunning part of the cruise was as we sailed alongside the coastline, where hundreds and thousands of groups of flamingo, pelicans and seal all frolicked with ease with each other, and ignored us as we sailed past. It felt as if we were actually in a great David Attenborough nature TV special.

FLAM
SEA CRUISE- FLAMINGO EVERYWHERE.

PELICANS
SEA CRUISE- PELICAN TIME.

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QUAD BIKING THROUGH THE NAMIB DESERT-ONE OF THE BEST EXPERIENCES EVER!

Our final afternoon was as breath taking as the morning. We were taken Quad Biking for three Hours with our guide- Ngahupe. He told us to just call him ‘’KOBE’’. I was pretty nervous abut quad biking having never done it before, but I was soon put at ease and shown slowly how to use the bikes and how to mount tall dunes and slow down and release on approach to a massive drop.

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We set off on flatter plains that quickly turned into steep, mesmerising scenes like never seen before. We were informed that many Hollywood film crews shoot sci-fi movies like Mad Max here. It really was unbelievable landscape.

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For all bookings & Info:  E: info@RPMan.co.uk T: +44 7956 368 680

As we rode by huge skyscraper height dunes I could only wonder at the beauty and pray I’d never forget the experience. Luckily we wouldn’t as we were not only taking photos but also filming our rides through the spectacular dunes to show you in all my various print press and online columns!!.

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For all bookings & Info:  E: info@RPMan.co.uk T: +44 7956 368 680
YOUNG LOCALS HAVE FUN RUNNING UP AND DOWN SKY SCRAPER SIZED DUNE 7!

The next day we checked in for our three flights back home, still in wonder and on a high from our time here. No one at Walvis Bay airport was bothering with the seal wrap on route home so neither did we- after all this was the country where everything was in perfect harmony with each other. Usually every African holiday destination is titled ‘’wildlife filled safaris, castaway coastlines, beach & bush breaks, etc but this really had been an incredible, unique experience.

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Today’s demanding travellers want this and a lot more, and Namibia is one of the only countries I’ve visited that I can truly say has it all. World-class dramatic coastlines great to fish in, abundant wildlife as great as any other African country, adventurous activities that are much classier than your average water sport with sea life safari’s, quad biking through incredible dessert landscape’s, interesting, welcoming culture and Swakopmund is a very pretty, affluent town that rivals Aspen!

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Alas, life is full of joy ,pain and balance and karma was about to kick us in the butt. On arrival at Heathrow as our bags came spinning around the baggage carousel, we noticed that Richard’s full to bursting bag now resembled a flatter pancake, and the locks of both of our baggage had been broken off with our possessions rifled through, and some contents looted. Double bad luck; our filmed footage had been stored in the checked luggage (as Air Namibia allow only very minimal hand luggage size and weight), and was now gone for ever. So alas, the memories will have to suffice.

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The moral of the story; visit Namibia, its an incredible country, but don’t check anything valuable in luggage on Air Namibia and most certainly seal wrap everything. It might help deter the airport workers slippery fingers.

Africa’s countries are so much more than we are shown in the west. This amazing continents music, artists, arts, culture and destinations are getting more and more popular on our shores. Don’t leave it to long before you visit. Namibia puts many European, Asian and American trips in the shade.

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JASMINE’S JUICE- GLADIATOR LIVE AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL- THE PERFECT DATE!

gladiator

Picture the scene; He says ”get yourself ready, we’re going to see a movie”. I ask which one, and then inform them confusedly that I’ve seen Gladiator (a million times). They reply with a wink ”not like this you haven’t”.

They were right. This was a screening of Ridley Scott’s historical epic classic movie at an incredible location, with live band playing the films soundtrack. Not just any band, location and experience either. It was at the Royal Albert Hall, with the movies every musical note played live by the Philharmonia Film Orchestra!

Over four nights, Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning ‘swords and sandals’ epic brought to life by the Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonic Film Orchestra and the Philharmonic chorus. Did you even know there were so many sections of this musical brand? Incredible!

When the 100 strong Philharmonia Chorus rose and sat en masse it was magical watching them converse with the Film Orchestras strings, percussion, bass and synthesizers to recreate the film soundtrack.

For those who’ve never experienced this gigantic screen genre ( which made Russell Crowe look even more ruggedly handsome) ,with tops and tails band vibe, it’s nearly impossible to verbalise how amazing the live experience is. But I’ll try.

You may imagine that it would be difficult to view a movie and give equal acknowledgment to a live orchestra simultaneously, but its not distracting at all. If anything it adds to the whole enchanting vibe.

The live orchestra- seated en masse beneath the humongous screen – make the movie so much more dramatic and haunting as they raise their respective instruments to the conductors command as the drama unfolds. In fact, Its actually better that you know the movie well as an audience member, because as a dramatic sequence approaches, your eyes flick in anticipation to the American composer/ conductor – Justin freer – knowing he’s about to make the heavens rain down with brutal and beautiful musical war and drama.

You really appreciate the composition of the sound track so much more and sit in awe of the two genres synergy playing out before your eyes. It also makes you focus more on what the film would sound like without the live music soundtrack as the film audio is turned down slightly with subtitles on screen whilst the music levels are much higher. It puts the talent of the soundtrack composers into real perspective. Every emotional wave that you are carried upon is driven not just by the storyline and acting but really steered and lead by the purity and immediacy of the music.

The music was scored by the legend Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard. Zimmer, who’s scored over 100 films (including The Lion King and Rainman), grossing more than 22 billion dollars at the box office. Zimmer’s been honoured with Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Grammies, so to state that his body of work is impressive is an understatement.

Zimmers Gladiator soundtrack album sold more than three million copies worldwide and spawned a second album ”Gladiator: more music from the motion picture”.

The lavish experience of watching one of the most expensive films of all time with over 5000 fellow fans of the creative arts, all dressed to the nines, at such a fancy venue also adds to the very rich cultural occasion.

Also, the story of a general who became a slave, and a slave who became a gladiator played out onscreen in the round Roman Colosseum, was complimented by the fact that we were also experiencing the storyline in another regal, opulent venue – the Royal Albert Hall, with its cascades of balconies and in-the-round setting.

Writer, film music journalist and producer Michael Beek says ” a film as far reaching and visual as gladiator demands music that both supports the weighty needs of the action while at the same time gets under the skin and it’s the very soul of its central character. With Gladiator the music is more important than ever, with its plethora of exotic locations, immense battle scenes and complex characters. Film director turned film composer Hans Zimmer, had the luxury of visiting the set and soaking up its atmosphere long before he would normally start thinking about the music. Most music composers are usually given the finished film to work with”.

Like the old movie theatre’s, where there may have been an intermission, there is one here too, during which previously unseen behind the scenes footage, interviews and photos from the Gladiator set are played to the delight of zealous movie fans, who didn’t want to grab a fancy ice cream, glass of wine or champagne midway.

At the end of the movie, the orchestra continue to play to the endless credits, which really is fascinating, and a further moment to acknowledge just how much emotional dramatic affect the film soundtrack brings to the overall movie genre, before the audience gives them numerous, well deserved standing ovations.

Gladiator plays for four nights at the Royal Albert Hall- May 24, 26, 27 and 28, but if you miss these then there are other similar classic movies in this genre throughout the year.

Music from Titanic, West Side Story will have their dates as well as Tim Burton’s films like Batman, Alice in Wonderland and Edward Scissor Hands, takes place on December 12 2014.

However, the one I’m most looking forwards to be December 8 when The Godfather will play with live orchestra.

It really is a must do, at least once in your lifetime unique experience, and whether on a date or a night out with friends and family, you can be rest assured it’s a very stylish and unforgettable evening that will never be forgotten.

JASMINE’S JUICE – NAMAs 2014! (Namibian Annual Music Awards)

(ALL PICS COPYRIGHT / COURTESY; RICHARD PASCOE PHOTOGRAPHY)

NAMA Blue Carpet Pic
JASMINE WITH NAMIBIA’S STYLE DON- LOUX THE VINTAGE GURU (SECOND FROM LEFT) AND TEAM.

The vision that is sold to us westerners about Africa is always so far from the truth it’s a blatant lie.

With the press content we are brain washed with, the UK population wouldn’t be wrong to presume that 1) Africa is a country instead of a continent the way African countries in the are always lumped into stereotyped generalisations in the media. 2) That all Africans are poor, poverty stricken, destitute populations, in need of charity donations for which we westerners should indulge in the latest sponsored outrageous assault course of choice to help. 3) That Africans are all diseased, politically incorrect countries where naked children run barefoot through dry dusty dirt with dribbling noses and extended malnutrition-ed bellies. 4) That African countries are so far behind the rest of the world that generally we’d rather holiday anywhere but there, but if it’s a former English colony we may consider it. 5) That on the global world map it looks smaller than its true size when in fact it is much bigger. In reality, you can fit North America into Africa and still have space for India, Argentina, Tunisia and some left over. Apparently the distortion is the result of the Mercator map, which was created in 1596 to help sailors navigate the world. It gives the right shapes of countries but at the cost of distorting sizes in favour of the wealthy lands to the north.
Luckily, my late father was Kenyan and so these untruths were drummed into my mind at a young age whilst my west London school was still telling me about the ‘’poor Africans’’ in my sponsored walks.

AIR NAMIBIA
LANDING AT MAIN CITY WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA.

So it was with an open mind that I flew to Namibia this fortnight, in my capacity as one of the judges, for the forth Namibian Annual Music Awards (NAMAS) in the coastal town of Swakopmund – Namibia and Africa’s favourite holiday destination where the leadership of the Erongo region was hosting the awards.

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A REAL EFFORT IN THE GLAMOUR AND CULTURAL STAKES!

3 flights from Heathrow later arriving with packed planes full of Germans, my cameraman and I were very pleasantly surprised. There’s not too much online about Namibia as a tourist spot so we weren’t sure what to expect at all.
Unlike countries like Kenya, Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria, which we hear much about, Namibia is clearly Germanys best, kept secret (until my next blog when I tell you all about it as a tourist spot).
HOTEL
SWAKOPMUND HOTEL.

We stayed at the colonial styled former railway station hotel, the creatively named The Swakopmund Hotel which was on a par with the best most welcoming (outdoor pristine pool, free gym access), tech savvy (free fast wi-fi), opulent breakfast (steak, game, fresh oysters and more) bar locations I’ve experienced.

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The NAMAS were for the first time being held outside of the main city of Windhoek at the Swakopmund Indoor Sports Centre, which is huge. NAMAs executive chairman Tim Ekandjo told me ‘’ after Windhoek, we felt it appropriate for the NAMAs to relocate to one of Namibia’s many other amazing hotspots, and following an extensive procurement exercise and expression of interest, the Mayor of Swakopmund, his worship Juuso Kambwehse, made the decision to host in Swakopmund this year’’

NAMA FOXY LADIES
MUSIC ACT LIZE WITH NAMIBIAN TV HOST.

Impressively for any show, the NAMAs don’t allow backing tracking or lip-syncing so all performances have to be totally live. This sets a high standard with a little fun pressure for the performers and keeps live music alive.

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4 TIME NOMINATED ERNA CHIMU

My fellow judges were Babafemi Olagbaiye – MTV Networks Africa and founder of One Music Network which broadcasts to 15 countries globally, Lee Kasumba – Head of Channel 0- a pan African music channel and Philip Nwanko – head of music and talent for Trace TV- Africa’s number one music channel.

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STYLE AND FASHION ON THE NAMAS BLUE CARPET

The calibre of acts catered to both young and old, so whilst you could see a Beyonce or Kanye style set it would be immediately followed by an older, more traditional set by a traditional dialect singing elder.

NAMA LADIES

The awards ceremony was broken down into two separate days. Friday night was the VIP music industry only music industry awards which featured the more niche awards like best entertainment journalist , and the Lifetime Award honoured Axali Doeseb, the conductor of the Namibian National Symphony Orchestra and author of the Namibian national anthem, Namibia Land of the Brave. Doeseb received the Lifetime Achiever Award after the NAMAS Executive Committee nominated him for his commitment to the art of music.
Tim said ‘’we celebrate our rich history in music by paying tribute to all those who played a role in where we are today’’.

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I expected this night to be a low-key big cocktail party style awards but it was in fact a full on production with numerous performances from big African names like Ms Lady May and the Shambo Queen, full laser light shows and audience dressed in full ball gowns and richly textured suits.

FLORITHA
BEST FEMALE WINNER FLORITHA.

The main night was both eye opening and mind blowing. On arrival hundreds of excited guests were queuing outside in their very opulent glad rags to walk one by one through a single security metal detector. It turns out the Prime Minister was attending so security was crazy. Once through, the excited throng the blue carpet was totally unregulated and heaving with music stars, entertainments journalists, supermodels, fashion designers and more.

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NAMAS STAGE SET.

Interestingly there were no high-powered PR clipboard-wielding dragons managing the blue carpet. It was literally a free for all, that in the UK would be absolute heated pandemonium, but here it was a buzzing with positive energy, friendly faces everywhere, accommodating mish mash that worked. Enthusiastic fans took photos of the stars, audience took photos of themselves in front of the branding boards and not one area of the carpet was sectioned off for ‘the main TV crew/ VIP team’. No hierarchy.
Surprisingly whilst the country’s entire environment is fiercely protected for conservation and from poachers, many of the attendees were dripping in regal outfits made of animal skins, fur, feathers and more.

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GAZZA HAD THE STADIUM UP ON ITS FEET AND SCREAMING IN JOY!

This main night saw performances from big hitter names like Gazza, The Dogg, Sunny Boy, Exit and Freeda. The performance variety showed versatility and potential for much growth show casing the best from the region.

Categories included the usual best female, male, single, song, album, but also Best Shambo, best Afrikaans, Best Damara punch, and Reggae amongst others. Winners of each category picked up prize money ranging from 20,000-50,000 Namibian dollars. 17 Namibia dollars to the pound, so still a huge financial incentive at between £1000- £3000 a win! The sponsor MTC even pay acts for performing at the ceremony, which isn’t usual across the west.

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WINNING A NAMA IS VERY LUCRATIVE FOR REPUTATION AND BANK BALANCE.

All category winners walk away with a brand new Huawei P6 Smartphone. Female and Male Artists of the Year, Erna Chimu and Gazza, each walk away with N$50 000, a holiday for two at any of the NWR lodges, as well as laundry services to the value of N$10 000. In addition, they and the Album of the Year winner, Elvis se Seun, will perform at the TribeOne: Dinokeng music festival, the biggest of its kind in Africa. All other category winners take home N$20 000.

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Many of the songs were sung in local dialect, which made the show feel authentic, and kept their heritage, culture and traditional elements strong. The costumes, language and fashion showed no compromise to western pressure and customs.

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The set was simple yet dramatically stylish with grand staircases flanking the stage and huge laser light shows. Clearly an incredibly highly skilled production team were behind the staging.

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FREEDA DOES HER THING!

My favourite female performer of the night was Freeda- an African version of Beyonce meets Pink- who fearlessly threw in acrobatics and wild choreographed dance routines into her song. Her rehearsal showed and stage presence was impressive.

For all bookings & Info:  E: info@RPMan.co.uk T: +44 7956 368 680
FREEDA WORKS IT AT THE NAMAS.

Exit- voted Most Popular Artist of the Year, is the man of the moment. His latest album, ‘My Notebook’ went viral with every jukebox, taxi, house party and club banging hits like ‘Koskola’ and ‘My Notebook’, with his album and performances garnering great reviews. “Getting the best Kwaito award was really just amazing,” Exit said.

For all bookings & Info:  E: info@RPMan.co.uk T: +44 7956 368 680
NAMIBIAN PRIME MINISTER DANCES WITH MUSIC ACT BLOSSOM.

It was wonderful to see the right honourable Prime Minister Hage Geingob, who was presenting an award, engage positively when the music acts acknowledged him. One of the winners – Blossom- bowed to him before collecting her award and he rose from his huge, leather ,central seat in the front row to have a quick dance with her. He also acknowledged the music industrie’s value and contribution to the Namibian economy. This was a beautiful moment where the synergies of politics and creative arts remixed. In the NAMAs programme various politicians are vox popped to ask about their favourite music acts too showing a much closer synergy between the African worlds of politics and creative arts than the west.

For all bookings & Info:  E: info@RPMan.co.uk T: +44 7956 368 680
THE NAMIBIAN PRIME MINISTER (IN ALL WHITE) APPLAUDS WINNER THE DOGG ON HIS AWARD.

Interesting to see many of the winners speeches nodding to Namibia’s relatively recent independence from Germany in 1990. When music act Lize said ‘’there is truth in supporting your community’’ she was given a resounding round of applause.

For all bookings & Info:  E: info@RPMan.co.uk T: +44 7956 368 680
GAZZA’S PRESENCE AND CHOREOGRAPHY KILLED IT!

Even bigger was the moment when Gazza, who put on my favourite performance of the night with his high energy singing and dancing, mentioned in his wining acceptance speech that ‘’the road from 1990s independence has lead to my success now and I want you all to stand for OUR OWN elected prime minister and salute him!’’ to which the audience couldn’t scrabble up quickly enough to do and cheer.

For all bookings & Info:  E: info@RPMan.co.uk T: +44 7956 368 680

I’ve been working in music awards for the past two decades across the globe and the NAMAs stood up to all of these in terms of quality, excitement and standard.

Many of the NAMAs acts could be incredibly successful internationally, in the same way that many Nigerian acts have broken through to the UK and USA, and play listed on Radio 1. However it’s about creating that one big breakthrough hit and then following it up with a carefully diarised plan of releases and campaigns.

Winners from this years NAMAs will also go on to perform at Africa’s mega music festival in South Africa this September- Tribeone Dinokeng- Africa’s answer to Coachella, SXSW and Glastonbury!

For the TribeOne music festival, Gazza says his fans, the audience, music lovers and the entire Namibian nation can rest assured that he will deliver an entertaining and quality performance that will put the nation on the map.

For all bookings & Info:  E: info@RPMan.co.uk T: +44 7956 368 680
FULL NAMAS PRODUCTION TEAM LEAD BY INCREDIBLE LIVE MUSIC COMPANY MAN- JANDRE LOUW.

NAMAs was screened live on national broadcaster NBC and was impressively bang on time! The NAMAs organising committee and production company Rockstar4000 did a great job. I predict this side of the world attracting more and more international music industry brands and acts over the next decade, with the level of entertainment and tourism potential here.

NAMAs 2014 most certainly rocked!

JASMINE’S JUICE- HARVEY- EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW-LIVE AND UNCUT! See what he has to say about Wretch, Giggs, Chip, Cashtastic, Jammer, Dizzee, Bushkin, Maxwell D and more!

harv jas
JASMINE WITH HARVEY.

Michael Harvey Jr better known as MC Harvey or simply Harvey is a British rapper, actor, television personality, former non-league footballer and a mate of mine via work for the past decade. He first came to fame in the early 2000s as a member and one of the hot boys of English rap group So Solid Crew, before then pursuing a solo career in 2008.

Growing up on the Plough Road area of Battersea in South London, Harvey was one of the founder members of the UK garage collective and it was during this time as an MV News Presenter that I got to know him and his then girl friend Alesha Dixon, who was in girl band Mis Teeq.

HARV ALESHA
HARVEY WITH ALESHA

Harvey began dating singer Alesha Dixon in 2000, marrying her five years later, and they were known back then as the cooler, urban version of Posh and Becks. So it was tough for them, their families, friends and all who knew and loved them as a couple, when Harvey became a nationally hated character after cheating on her with singer Javine Hylton with whom he was then starring with in West End musical Daddy Cool in 2006. The national papers were full of the scandal, which must’ve been hell on earth for all involved.

During that time, Harvey approached me in my role of Head of Production at MTV BASE and wanted to bring a concept for a new comedy show to the channel called The Young Gods Of Comedy. After cussing him in my office for hours and giving hell on all our behalf, we came to an understanding. He quite rightly told me that their business was private and that no one knew the real story and that he wanted to keep his career professional. He was right. Alesha will always be my girl, but an adult doesn’t take sides in business and to this day I still value working with them both. I respected his hustle and we worked on his show together. It wasn’t all smooth sailing and we had an almighty row once in the main MTV editorial glass walled boardroom where all the staff watched us arguing before we came to an ‘’understanding’’ LOL.

HARV YGOC
HARVEYS YOUNG GODS OF COMEDY SHOW ON MTV BASE.

He continued his grind by joining the line-up of Angie Le Mar’s play The Brothers at the Hackney Empire in 2008, which I also transmitted on MTV Base.

Since then Harvey has grown up, had a daughter with Javine called Angel Hylton Harvey in 2008 and also appeared on reality TV shows The Games, on Channel 4 in 2003 (which he won) and several series of The Match on SKY One.

HARV JAVINE
HARVEY AND JAVINE.

He’s also appeared on Never Mind the buzzcocks, News night, The Weakest Link Music Extravaganza Special, Celebrity Come dine with me and Celebrity Big brother 10. You can see that this guy doesn’t sleep and is not to be slept on with new hustles and projects daily.

HARV CDWM
HARVEY ON CELEBRITY COME DINE WITH ME.

Today he’s about his family. He’s engaged to his Persian fiancé and they are getting married soon. He’s all about being a good father to his daughter and now he has a new online TV show called FACE TO FACE on urban music site GRM.

The show is a special collaboration between, Harvey, GRM Daily and Adrian Scott (Mellow 9), and focuses on the many ‘beefs’ within the music industry. Presenter Harvey brings the main perpetrators of the beefs to the table where they can re-live and reflect on those moments in a face 2 face interview.

In the first episode, filmed by GRM Daily, Harvey brings together a representative each from Pay As You Go Crew and Heartless Crew — Bushkin and Maxwell D respectively.

Face to Face brings together artists to have had past issues and Harvey acts as the mediator and gets them to air issues and talk it out in a positive way so they and their fan bases can see the growth and maturity in the game.

This past fortnight Harvey sat down with my LONDON360 team and reporter Aaron Page to talk about his life to date.
As with any time you’re hanging out with Harvey, his conversation is so dynamic and full of banter that I thought it would be great to just let you read the whole interview live, untweaked and uncut before the TV feature airs next week.

Interviewer- Aaron Page- LONDON360 REPORTER.

Aaron; All right, so Harvey how did you come up with the idea for face 2 face.

Harvey: I’m a massive boxing fan. Big fan of a guy called Max Kellerman he’s the guy that did the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto face to face two weeks before their fight and I remember getting the concept idea off that. I was thinking to myself no ones really touched in that in music where they’ve actually artists flesh out their problems maturely and in an adult manner, so its really more inspired by Max Kellerman the boxing host .I just kind of took elements out of it, its my own magic.

Aaron: Ok so it’s more of the face off between the boxers the way they have to sort of pipe each other up and its basically about fusing the tension between them.

Harvey: Of course and as you know, to be a boxer you need to be professional. Boxers you know boxers fight out of the boxing ring they lose their license so every thing that is done through the boxing trade is done with discipline and respect so the good thing about Max Kellermans version was they have to sit their and talk about the fight as men and as adults. I’m trying to bring that unity and incorporate that back into the United Kingdom cuz I think that we suffer from a big thing in this country and its called ego and no one likes to admit when they are wrong or no one likes to sit down and as men and put their past differences behind them and you know with me I know that my personality can change that because I’ve got the respect of the artists. I come from a crew that started so long ago so for me now in this present day and age its about bringing unity back into the game and any problems that people got, discuss it, talk it, move on and lets unify as one.

Aaron: So many gang issues are resolved through mediation- with your new show you are acting as the mediator.
This is a system that many people use when in gang culture tell us why you think it works?

Harvey: To me communication and talking is the best form of communication so that word mediator makes me sound like I’m some president or something but for me I know how to talk to people and I don’t fear I’m bringing up uncomfortable situations to someone cuz usually when people go over that situation and discuss it maturely we usually make progress and get somewhere. Its when people come in and have arguments they stay away from each other and then people start feeding others people gossip and the problem turns bigger then it actually , so I thought this show was ‘let me just get two heads Maxwell D, Bushkin and let them discuss it at the table’ that way anyone that created gossip in east London and north London is now all eliminated , so it was just a bunch of hype and talk so definitely if you wanna call me a mediator I’d take that title.

Aaron:
Can you talk bout talk about any experiences with gangs and how you view those experiences now?

Harvey: My experiences with gangs… I was probably in the biggest music gang in Britain -we never called it a gang but in the media they would of labelled us as ‘gang’ ,what can I say ,unless you’re a strong character ,boy, you would have never survived. Every member of So Solid is a strong person cuz we’ve all got our individual journeys, and remember artists now, they have the pressure they share it with each other cuz there’s a market ,back in our day So Solid there was no black artists, we was the best at what we was doing but with great power comes great responsibility so that means we was getting heat of the road, we was getting heat of the media, I mean I don’t think anyone has been as hated as us for the price of success, surely when you’re successful you’re meant to embrace that? Nah not really, not in this country, people like to see you fail so if you are getting heat from the streets, if you are getting heat from the media, you just get to the point where its “ you know what bloods, its just us against the world” really innit ,because the bigger we get the more people are gonna oppress us and call us gangsters and say you know we’ve spoilt music and youre just a bunch of violent boys from south London, so you just become strong and you become thick skinned and you just become a warrior, you deal with it.

Aaron: So viewing being who you are now and looking back, do you feel if that if So Solid changed something about them they wouldn’t have the hate from Daily Mail and police shutting down the shows, would you prefer to do that or just be where you are now?.

Harvey:
No way, no way would I change it ,where was the Daily Mail when people was pulling out guns on me where was the Daily Mail when my life was threatened? so why am I gonna sit down and say I should change it to benefit a newspaper that’s never gonna happen when my life’s getting threatened and we was going for all the pressures we were going through individually. They didn’t care about us ,they didn’t care if we got killed they didn’t care when I got stabbed, they didn’t care that Mega was dealing with all these pressures, they didn’t care when you know Romeo got stabbed, so I cant ,nah never, that’s never gonna happen, I would never change it. So Solid would never be So Solid without the drama. It would be like S Club 7, there would be nothing to talk about, so with So Solid the controversy made us who we are, that’s why now people call us legends, we don’t suffer that heat no more, its more the young kids that we are trying to help. You my little brother Chip and Cashtastic, I’m just trying to pass my knowledge on to them to make them do it right and avoid the type of problems. Dya know what I mean so I would never ever change it. I would never ever change my personal life, I would never ever change being when I got stabbed 10 years ago, I would never ever change 1 bit of it ,no way cuz ,you know what ,I look back now and I think wow, at least I got the street wise knowledge and that mainstream knowledge, cuz that’s the best form of knowledge.

Aaron: Do you feel that there is a void now that So Solid is inactive and there is no real voice for like disadvantaged youth of London?

Harvey: I wouldn’t say there is a void, but I think people are realizing what we done wasn’t easy and its big shoes to fill and that will never be filled, but there was a lot a lot of positives, Wretch 32, that’s a positive, Chip is a positive, Giggs is a positive and they are all covering different parts of England. I would say Giggs Is probably the closest to So Solid. Cuz he’s had a very similar life to it, Chip’s growing up – he’s not a bad boy, not a bad kid. He’s a straight A student, you know? He has amazing talent. He kind of has a similar life to me as a youngster. Could have been a footballer, could have been a musician. Chip is going to do something with his life. Giggs I can relate to because he comes from struggle. Wretch growing up in the state, Giggs growing up in Peckham. These are not areas for the faint hearted. If you’re a weak soul, boy you’re not going to survive around there my friend.

Aaron – Do you feel that there’s no outlet for the youth of London, in order to speak for them, because they have no voice now. Even if you have Giggs and Wretch, to an extent, they will just be demonised. If they do manage to get through, they wouldn’t have done so much because everyone is still scared of them. Do you feel like there could be something missing?

Harvey – There’s definitely something missing. As much as there are a lot of positives right now, there are a lot of negatives. I think that in this country – I’ve got to word this correct – We have to think what the biggest mafia in the world and I’m sure you know who they are. You want artists to change their lives, but how can they change their lives if you keep banning their shows? People like ourselves, we get to a certain level, we are now mainstream artists and we have fan bases all over the world now. We work as hard as the average man. But then, when these boys are walking into shows, the government are banning them because they’re saying that we’ve got fear and violence, but you can’t blame the artist. Surely that’s your job to control who’s coming into the venues. You can’t tell an artist where he can’t be booked. I had an incident myself the other day; I ain’t heard this phone call in 7 years. I done an event out of London and then someone – the police – rang and said we want to pull. It was Romeo and me only attract girls, we are not bad boys no more. You know what I mean? If you put Harvey and Romeo across any bill across England, men will not turn up. A thousand women turn up, at what point do you expect violence to kick off? Me and Romeo – we’re past that. We’ve done Big Brother. We’re mainstream. All I say to myself is ignorance. I believe sometimes what they do they see these names and they Google it and the first thing they see is gun and they think “Oh God! Everyone’s gonna die!” But if you accommodate these artists in the right venues, violence can’t happen in the O2, it’s the most secure venue in England. You embrace these kids, support them, instead of cutting off their – this is their income. They’re now earning money legal. If you shut off that income, they’re just going to reverse and go back to violence, isn’t it? That’s why kids are out there now because my mother’s a youth worker. She has since lost 9 youths clubs in her borough. Where’s you think the kids are gonna go? Where they gonna be? Where they gonna play? When I was young, Romeo and me, we’re legends going out. We had all the youth clubs in South London. We had after school football, so even though sometimes we didn’t get on, we still have to sit next to each other on a Saturday, we still had to play against each other. We still had youth club outlets. These kids have nothing. They just have – that’s why you wonder why you see them standing outside White City station. You wonder why kids are getting bored and robbing. Because the government’s taking away everything, and all you’re doing is building fancy flats. But who is that built for? That’s not built for the inner city, not for the people that struggle. I come from struggle, so where’d you expect them to go? When you’re knocking down all these council estates, you’re knocking down stone bridges, people don’t just disappear, and they just move somewhere else. The government ain’t thinking about that. Getting rid of a council estate isn’t going to get rid of the people. So the change comes from the bottom. And only way the change is going to start is for people – pioneers – people like myself, people like Jasmine Dotiwalas of the world, people that make change in our culture, and so unless we team up, and we unify, it’s going to be a dead end road. That’s why a lot of artists need to lose their egos. It’s important. I was in the studio with so many different artists, and that’s how we should be, we shouldn’t fear each other. I certainly don’t want to be scared of my own culture, no way.

HARV TOPLESS
AS HARV SAYS, HE’S A SEX SYMBOL WITH HIS LIVE GIGS- WHY WOULD POLICE WANT TO SHUT HIS SHOWS DOWN?

Aaron – You mentioned wanting to get Dizzee and Asher together, but how hard is that because So Solid and Roll Deep have beef?

Harvey – We don’t have beef with Roll-Deep. Maxwell D is one of my closest friends; Maxwell and me were in Nando’s the other day. Max came to my show with me the other day. We’re close friends but if you’re talking about the history about what happened between them two. Asher is not hard to get along with at all, that’s my brother and band mate. That’s easy; I think it’s more with – more getting Dizzee. I got a great amount of respect for him, me and him get on extremely well, but it’ll be nice for Dizzee to come out and play, sit down and maturely discuss it, because him and Asher have excelled so far in their careers. Asher’s smashing his acting, Dizzee’s killing it with his music. I think they can sit down as men and to be fair they sorted out their issues last year, they both sat at the same table at an awards ceremony, so there’s not really no beef, but I think people just like to see them talk about the beef. I’d love to see it, I think if you get them two at a table, you’re probably get to the 20 million views category, you know? The people love to see Asher and Dizzee go at it, I’m sure they’d love to see Lethal B and Wiley, I’m sure they’d see Megaman and Wiley at a table, because them two have got a massive ego, and they’re both geniuses at what they do. So that would be good to watch. Wiley’s involved in every beef, he’s already tweeting me today because he’s seen it, you know what I mean?

Aaron – What’s your dream Face 2 Face?

Harvey

My dream Face 2 Face would be Biggie and Tupac but they’re dead! [laughs] Jasmine Dotiwala already did Puff Daddy and Snoop when she was at MTV, but my dream one would be 50 Cent and Ja rule. I’d have to hire a lot of security. A lot of, I’d have to get a few of the CIA and MI5 for that one. I think they squashed it but that would be epic to see because that beef got violent, you know? People getting stabbed and shut out of it. When music escalates that far, sometimes you think – I always say it’s just music man, even sometimes I think the beef back in the day with people, it’s just music that we’re fighting over. When you get older you feel it a bit embarrassed about it, like really? There are bigger problems in the world. You know?


Aaron –
Do you think it is just music? If you met Dizzee in the street without music at all, do you think you’d still have similar personalities, would you still act the same way?

Harvey –
You can’t really say that, because music has made us act this way. I just believe that turning into an adult makes you grow up. So either you’ve made it as a musician or if Dizzee worked in a butchers, we both still grew up in a tough area, we were ignorant and young, you’re still going to learn things about life and growing up. You can’t be a bad boy in entertainment, it doesn’t work. You can use the image; I’d sell the image all day, because people like to see that. But if you’re telling me right now that any musician that is earning a lot of money is fully still in crime, then he must just love crime. Because we aspire to earn legal money don’t we, and have an easy life. So if you get through that and get that, and then you’re still active in crime, then that’s your fault. Like, you’re – that means you like crime. And that means you wanna go to jail, so you can only be blamed and accountable for your own mistakes. That doesn’t make sense to me. Who really enjoys crime?

Aaron –
Why do you think it’s such a popular thing in the UK/US, all over the planet, people love to hear stories about selling drugs and people being shot. Super violent things as well.

Harvey – TV’s a powerful thing, and what’s fed to people, people take literally sometimes, and they think that’s the way to live. I’m never going to take away rapper’s stories, because we wrote guns, we wrote about what we seen. I can only write about what I see, and when we launched, I didn’t get back in the palace, eating cream cakes and I come from struggle. So what did you think we were going to write about? We were the voice of the youth and the streets. I don’t have a problem with people relating to realness, because I’m not really a pop guy. If I want to hear real stories, I’ll listen to Giggs, I’ll listen to some of the new young artists. All I say is think about your content. Know when to change your content. For me, Giggs is a genius at it. The last album he brought out, he done it as – just entertainment. He highlights that now. He says this is what they want to hear. I’m the master at giving you this, but at the same time he still grown as a musician. Chat about violence, no problem, but make sure there’s some growth in your music, you know what I mean? You know half of these rappers; half of their fans are not guys! And in England, that’s what you realize, man on the streets ain’t buying your records! If you look at a quarter of our supporters, and you look at the main sales, they were in London, Birmingham, Scotland, and Ireland. Don’t let it fool you. I think Internet views and YouTube views – they fool people’s head. Anyone can press a button, if a hundred thousand people are watching an artist’s video, why aren’t a hundred thousand people buying their music? Because if that was the case, that means every black artist would be in the top 10 everyday. It’s the way that the higher power would call it, they must love the way this system’s run, because now people become lazier, A&R’s don’t have to leave their house, signing an artist just YouTube him. When Universal signed me, they came to Coliseum to find me. That you got an A&R of Universal in Coliseum in a ghetto rave. I’m going to sign that kid, that’s the one I want. Now everything’s become lazy because of the social media world that we live in. A lot of kids are misled. They think that representing a postcode and talking about how many bodies you have is cool. What scares me – half of the kids that are talking about this haven’t even done it! They haven’t even done it, you know? Yeah there are kids that are being violent, but you’ve got to be very careful what you’re saying. When you say that you murdered a person, that’s a big statement, you know what I mean? When you’re saying it, just think about what you’re saying, because if someone said to me – I can talk about violence and guns. I can talk about being stabbed. I’ve got the scars to prove it. But I’m glorifying it. Lying in my blood 13 years ago was not a good experience, so any kid that thinks it’s cool to get shot, stabbed, is not the one. I’ve experienced that, fighting for your life, lying in your blood, not good. Not good.

HARV THE GAMES
HARVEYS ALWAYS ON TELLY.


Aaron
– Do you have any plans for any more music coming out?

Harvey – I’ve never stopped bringing out music. I mean, the last – last year was an amazing year for me because I brought out an EP called Christian Bale. He’s one of my favourite actors because if you look at Christian Bale’s films, he’s got so many different shades to his character. He can be Batman one day, an anorexic, and then American Psycho. And for me, that’s all of my characters! [Laughs] so that’s why I named it that. It was good when I brought out that EP last year. I worked with every artist. I had Cashtastic on it, I had Chip on the EP, I had Wretch on the EP, and it was so nice to work with the new generation, and being in the studio with them, because the amount of respect that they give you and the acknowledgement for them having careers now, you know? Chipmunk calls me Uncle Harvs, you know what I mean? Krept and Konan have done a show the other day, and me and Krept took a picture together to put on his instagram, he put a picture of a hammer and a brick, and he said the pioneers, the wall breakers. I’m honoured. It’s nice to see kids like that that are making themselves acknowledging and realizing what we’ve done. So last year was an amazing year, I brought out an EP, and then we done the last ever So Solid concert, and we sold out the O2 twice. What am I complaining about?

Aaron –
So is So Solid done forever?

Harvey-It’s a lot of energy, So Solid man. And yeah, sometimes when you end it like that, so perfect, there’s a big saying in my life, quit while you’re ahead, you know? And what could you do? The government didn’t let us perform together for 7 years, and then we put on a concert and still sold out. It’s a lot of power. So, for me, it was emotional, but I’m done man. Still touring, we’re doing a tour this year, and we’ll always do shows together, but So Solid as a collective? Yeah you might – 3 years do like a big show, Wembley, but in terms of doing loads of tours and – I’m exhausted bruv, eighteen years. Eighteen years!!.

HARV CBB
HARVEY ON CELEB BIG BROTHER.

Aaron – Do you have any more plans for music this year?

Harvey – I’ve got an EP coming out in just under 2 months. I’ve literally finished an EP last night, but this EP’s going to be so different. This EP is strictly directed at women. This is kind of opening myself to women, like, this is me, this is what happened, its how I felt. You’re not really going to know the days I was in my house broken, I would never let people see that side of me. You hear things where I got a song talking about a woman cheating on a man, it leads you to go “Did Harvey get cheated on? Is that his story?” that’s how I like to leave people. To make their own stories out of it. I’ve got a song on there that also talks about celebrity girls. They have it all. But they have the most issues, I got a song on there, so, that’s gonna cause a lot of who’s he talking about. I’m not talking about just my experiences, I just know that girls that I’ve experienced that are famous, and they could say that about male artists. They have it all, they have all the success and the accolades, but when they got it they’re not really happy. One thing I could say me in my life now, I’m so happy. I’m gonna open up myself to the women, so you got some naughty songs in there, the videos are going to be very different, they’re going to be very sexual. They’re going to be controversial; they’re going to be very artistic, like videos in museums. I shot a video already, it’s very lesbian and bisexual, but I like to – Harvey’s never going to stop being controversial, I’m fine with that. I want people to go “Did he just do that?” But I’m going to be different, not in a bad way, but did he just do that with women? Did he say that? It’s got good features on that, I’ve got Young Spray featured on there, got a few artists in there, but I’m not going to name their names yet. I’ve just sorted out a deal, gonna have Angie Stone on there. On my Instagram, there’s the pictures. These are the levels.

Aaron – About the controversy with you and Jammer going back and forth, about the So Solid clash, and did it actually happen?

Harvey –

Jammer’s my mate! See Jammer, is a young man to me first and foremost. And Jammer is smart. He incites beefs, but that’s a part of his character. He does it to get his viewers up, and to create – Jammer’s a marketing genius. Jammer’s said a few little cocky things on my Twitter page, but what I’ve done, when your boss I choose to ignore him, because I’m not giving you props or fame. If I start talking to you, you’re going to get that mainstream following, you know? One day, he got a bit cheeky, so I thought let’s have a bit of banter, let me come out of play, but like I said to him you can’t outfox a fox. Remember you’re talking to Mr. Miyagi. So, it’s all-good, but on a serious note, jammer’s a genius at what he does. He makes me laugh. He can rattle people’s cages, but you can’t rattle my cage, I’m Yoda. How you gonna rattle my cage? So that wasn’t even beef. Nah, banter. But anytime that boy better know, wanna do a Red Bull clash with So Solid, I’m ready. Mega’s ready. Romeo’s ready. Asher’s ready. It’ll be amazing for the scene. Boy better know versus So Solid. Culture clash at Wembley Arena. I don’t really care about the battle. We’re all going to write cheques, what’re you arguing for? We’re giving it to the crowd like we hate each other, but we’re all good friends. Frisco was on my last EP. The connection between South London and North London is like one family. So, from Chip to Spray to Skep to the Jammers, we all get on. But Jammer knows, come for me again, I’ll be waiting. LOL

Aaron – That’s a better way to have beef, where it’s just literally, it starts and ends on the stage, and then afterwards you go have a drink afterwards.

Harvey – Of course it is. What, should it end in violence? In deaths? I think – that confuses me about this present day and age. We talk about death like we’re going down to the shop. This is someone’s life. Do I think it should end like that? Of course it should end like that. I’ve got bigger fish to fry than my own – than hurting my own culture. The good thing about Jammer, and me we laughed at everyone, five minutes after we were on the phone laughing, saying look at these Twitter people, we call them Twitter fiends. Anything for a bit of drama. We’re on the phone laughing; we’re sucking them in, keeping the market in.

Aaron – There’s been rumours of a tell-all book coming from you?

Harvey – [laughs]

A tell-all book? I don’t do them celebrity books; I think you got me mixed up for Jordan. What does tell-all mean? Yeah, um, it’s close, but my one’s going to come out at a very different angle. It’s more about giving change and giving people upliftment. I’m not really here to – if anyone thinks I’m going to write a book talking about giving you stories about my experiences with famous women, like talking about Alesha or Cheryl Cole, I’m not doing that, I’m not selling my soul. It’s more inspirational. People have to understand that – I’m going to put this in a skillet right now. This is old news now. I’ve got a six-year-old daughter – Alesha has an eight-month-old child. Cheryl Cole has a massive career. I’m sure we’ve got better things to do than talk about each other. It’s boring now. Boring, dead, old, so. That’s all I can say. I’m more concentrated on uplifting the youth. The youth need guidance, they need help. The youth need to start thinking open-minded. They got to get out of this postcode box. You know? What makes me laugh – everyone’s representing these postcodes but our parents pay council tax, we don’t own any of the streets we live in.

HARV CHERYLE
THERE WILL BE NO HARVEY TELL ALL ABOUT CHERYL OR ANY OTHER LADY IN HIS NEW BOOK.

Aaron – Do you have a vague release date for this book?

Harvey – At the moment, the publisher that I’m doing it with, we’re coming from a very different angle. And we’re kind of – when it comes to autobiographies you’ve got to be very careful, because you can set yourself up to be shut down. So I’m – mine really isn’t represented as an autobiography, it’s going to be presented differently.

Aaron – Do you feel this is like part of a rebranding? Because the way you’re portrayed in the media is a certain way, are you trying to rebrand yourself as this inspirational figure that unites your culture?

Harvey – I’m not really trying to brand myself, I’ve got nothing to prove to people. That’s old news – I’m not going to be bitter and say the media gets me because since I’ve done Big Brother, they’re alright with me now. I think it just – even though I didn’t particularly want to do that show, it was more like – people expect me to go on there and be this like guy that gets all the chicks and the women, being really tacky, I don’t know what perception they got of me, but when they went in there they learnt that I’m a normal educated funny guy. If you watch that show, you’d know I was the – the reason I was popular was because everyone was like he’s a loving guy and he cares for everyone. I got nothing to prove to the media, I’m past that. I’m not going to live my life through the media. I had my time, I’ve done wrong. That’s not the media’s fault; the media didn’t make me cheat. I’m not going to sit here and blame them. I only blame them when they add the devil stories around it. Some of the stories are really fake, and you’re like, when did this happen? But make your bed and lie in it. You know? That’s the price of success. So, I’m not even going to hold bitterness towards that. You just got to move forward. I’m not rebranding myself, this is who I am. Harvey’s always was a loving guy. Harvey always cares about the youth. I’ll always put people before myself. That’s never ever left me. I was like when I was 18, difference is I wore m heart on my sleeve; I was a bit more fiery. It would be a lot harder for you to see that side of me, but anyone that knows me will go he’s just a loving a guy. That’s my character. I love seeing people do well. I’m proud of every crew that’s out there, I’m proud of every rapper, I’m proud of every man. If Skepta’s and Chipmunks and all these new breeds of characters are doing well, that’s only benefiting the scene. I’m not gonna look down at it and go “oh look at them”. For me now, people are seeing what they’re meant to see. This is who I am, I’ve never changed. Fame hasn’t changed me, money hasn’t changed me. Same old guy, still go to the same chicken shop in Battersea. I may live in the countryside but I still drive 50 miles to get my haircut. What’s changed? You tell me.

Aaron – Finally, what can we expect from you in the near future?

Harvey – I’ve got my film out now, it’s called the Deadly Game. That’s out; you can get that on iTunes, in all stores, in the Cinema. That was with me and Gabriel Byrne. If you don’t know who he is you don’t know acting. Vince Regan is in 300, Leo Gregory, that was an amazing cast. An amazing film to be in. You know? So, for me right now, it’s just about winning!

WATCH THE FIRST EPISODE OF FACE 2 FACE ON GRMDAILY HERE;
http://grmdaily.com/video/face-to-face-with-michael-harvey-bushkin-x-maxwell-d-grm-daily/

JASMINE’S JUICE- NEW TV DOC BY FORMER LONDON360 REPORTER ROSA DOHERTY FEATURING GHETTS! -THIS SUNDAY! – Prisoners Families Are The Invisible Victims Of Crime.

JAILBIRDS

Broadcaster and blogger, Rosa Doherty, draws on her own experience to explore what happens when a loved one goes to prison.

There’s always so much focus on how much prisons cost the tax payer, whether inmates should have access to TV and reading material and prison rehabilitation programs.

However, aside from the taxpayer being the sole victim of crime, a hidden community that never gets support or a voice are family and friends of prisoners, on whom the mental, physical and financial pressure is huge. It’s a tough time for everyone connected.

Chris Grayling, the Secretary of State for Justice, has unveiled plans for a “rehabilitation revolution” in which short custodial sentences will include a period of mandatory rehab for prisoners. Under the new proposals mentors will meet offenders at the prison gates and private contractors will provide probation services under contracts that paid “by results”.

This is a positive step towards making our society a safer place so that convicts leave prisons with positive hope for their future and hopefully not to return. But for their nearest and dearest hardly any support exists, nor it a priority for the government to support them.

There are many organizations that support families and friends of prisoners but to the general public their stories and experiences are untold.

This Sunday a one off documentary called Jailbirds addresses this issue. Made by former London360 reporter Rosa Doherty the show is an eye opener about the pressures and issues families and friends have to deal with when a loved one is incarcerated.

Rosa Head
BLOGGER / BROADCASTER ROSA DOHERTY

Up and coming documentary maker and reporter Rosa explained “I’ve always thought of prisoner’s families as the invisible victims of crime, and wanted to make a documentary that told their story. My own experience as a young person made me acutely aware of the important role families of offenders can play. When making Jail Birds I was very interested to see if families of offenders can affect the re offending rates through the contact they provide. I found prisoners who receive regular visits and have family support on release are far less likely to re offend. But interestingly there is very little statutory guidance or advice out there for families’’.

Despite a lot of charities working in the sector no one explains to families “this is what will happen next” when someone is sentenced.

Rosa urged ‘‘we do it with hospitals and care services so why would prisons be any different? It is a brand new world and families are left to navigate all by themselves. Children are often the most worrying victims. I discovered there are an estimated 200,000 children with a parent in prison each year. There can be occasions when parents go to court not expecting to be sent to prison, so they don’t make any arrangements for their children. This results in children being left at school, with babysitters, or sometimes – even home alone. It surprised me that there is no statutory support at the point of sentencing especially when prisoners themselves get a induction into the system. It seems strange the people who will support part of the rehabilitation process are left to figure it out on their own’’.

GHETTS. MUSIC ARTISTpng
ROSA SPEAKS TO MUSIC ARTIST AND GRIME STAR GHETTS.

Rosa continued ‘’I really wanted to explore the stigma attached to having a family member in prison and ask what do prisoners families look like? Jailbirds confirmed for me that the stereotypical prisoners family does not exist. But what does are the fears, isolation and new environments families all have to go through and the valuable role they can potentially play.”

As a young Londoner, Rosa honed her TV making skills in six months as a London360 reporter at media Trust.
Rosa explained, ” London360 not only prepared me with the on the job skills and training required to be a self shooting multi media journalist, its overall influence on my career and confidence speaks for its self. Without it I wouldn’t have secured a spot as a regular reporter on BBC Radio London with Eddie Nestor, or been one of the two presenters/producers chosen for the Arts Council England’s Arts360. There isn’t a section of society London360 doesn’t give a voice to and the media has a greater chance of becoming a diverse and representative industry as long as London360 continues to grow and nurture diverse talent.”

ANY KEEN DOWNS-PACT
ROSA SEAKS TO ANDY KEEN-DOWNS FROM PACT.

Currently whilst working as a full time print press journalist Rosa has managed to persuade London Live and Talent TV to take a chance on her as a new young film maker.

Talent TV produces four Platform 8 docs for London Live showcasing up and coming documentary makers and reporters and has secured a commission for a series of documentaries as part of London Live’s ‘Platform 8’ strand, a Sunday evening showcase for new and innovative documentary talent. The documentaries each focus on a different subject and enable new producers, directors and presenters to make the films that matter to them.

The documentaries were commissioned by London’s Live and executive producing for Talent is Kate Beal. She says: ‘it has been great working with such talented individuals to produce a series of outstanding docs. I’m passionate about nurturing the next generation of programme makers and the Platform 8 strand on London Live is the perfect place to do that. It’s incredible to see what the team has achieved during the production process and the docs will be a testament to their hard work and talent. It is a pleasure to work with a channel who encourages young talent to make the films that they believe in”

Nelson Mandela said

‘’it is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged on how it treats its highest citizens but its lowest ones’’.

Perhaps once we’ve seen the affect this has on prisoners families we can begin to support their needs too.

Visiting your child in prison and having your mouth inspected for smuggled in posessions would leave anyone cold. Rosa believes that prisoner’s families should have their story told.

Jail Birds Directed by Louise Hulland airs on Sunday May 18th 8pm on London Live.
Freeview 8, SKY 117, Virgin 159, You View 8.