Month: November 2016

WILL I AM, BILL GATES AND EVENING STANDARD EDITOR SARAH SANDS.

With Google, Apple and Facebook this week announcing huge investment into its London staff bases, juxtaposed with the fact that thousands of youth organizations like STEMETTE (showing the next generations that girls do science) are now popping up everywhere, its been clear to the kids for a long while now that the future is digital.

Another recent driver to the tech world for students is an initiative called the IDEAS bus, which is a big yellow American school bus that has been gutted inside and refitted to house the entire tech offering.

The tech bus tours London’s schools and colleges for free, armed with VR (Virtual Reality) headsets that can give students the opportunity to experience a moon landing or the pyramids of Egypt, 3D printing and much more. The aim of the IDEAS bus is to turn make sure all students have exposure to cutting edge tech and secure the future of the UK as a business and tech powerhouse.

Interestingly a survey Driving Technology (the company behind the Ideas bus) ran showed that two thirds of parents don’t think being an entrepreneur or working in tech is a proper job!

Whereas whilst the dream being sold to millennial only a decade ago were options to be a rapper, footballer or reality TV star, nowadays the hip hop generation is one of the most tech savvy in the world, but is it infiltrating urban inner city disadvantaged areas?

This past month a very select group of tech and media key influencers were invited to the Natural History Museum in London to hear two highly influential, ground-breaking men discuss the future of tech and the impact of A.I on our future lives.

American rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, actor, musician, DJ, record producer and philanthropist Will I Am, met American business magnate, investor, author and philanthropist. Bill Gates, to have a conversation led by Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands.

I was lucky enough to be invited by my old compadre Will to accompany him on the night.

Just before the conversation there was a brief talk by Helena Nodenstedt from the Gapminder Foundation and Karolinska Institutet, that showed how technology, education and location affected a societies health and quality of life.

The conversation was both serious and light hearted with much banter and passion around the world of tech and how tech has been used for good globally.
What was really nice to see was that someone with the fame of Will would be so in awe and admiring of his hero Bill Gates, yet their conversation was natural, relaxed and powerfully inspiring. Afterwards the audience were clamouring to tell Will about their own STEM inspired activities.

Below are some of the snippets from the conversation between Will and Bill to show how two great men from different fields are on very similar globally ambitious trajectories;

“Will. It’s my hope to inspire kids around the world to want to be tech stars in stem subjects. My foundation (http://iamangelfoundation.org/), teaches youth to feel comfy and learn stem so they can be a part of the future”

Bill. 50 years from now we won’t need as much human labour to do what manual workers do, so we should be able to take that extra productivity and put it to better use.
In the US IN THE 1900’S 60 % of people were employed on the farms. Today it’s less than 1%. If you told people back then that this would happen they wouldn’t have believed it. If you told them we would have therapy, massages and spas that played important parts in our lives they would’ve have believed us.

‎Will. I don’t wanna believe that racism exists, but the more I wish it away, the more I realise it’s in our system. I know that unless we teach our kids how to use stem to their advantage its going to be tough out there for the next generation. But also it has its disadvantages; you could use artificial intelligence to build a system around postcodes and income, which could lead to racial profiling.

‎Will ‘‘every school has a football field and only one gender and huge brands benefit. All males and the NFL. My 13-year-old niece isn’t taking stem subjects in class. We know A.I is a big subject now and it’s changing the world. We know things like uber changed the world. It’s not changing life for kids and in the hoods though unless we help teach them this now.

‎Bill. It’s ironic that this amazing invention of the Internet has made information gathering easier available than ever, but that this platform also helps spread misinformation. Regulation has never really worked unless it’s hate speech libel etc. But the way young people are joining communities online, and agreeing and separating themselves and creating their own facts about things like vaccination, is worrying.

Will. If you look at the world now its one that we couldn’t have imagined in 1997!. That I would be able to hit a button and a taxi will show up? We wouldn’t have believed that everything is disposable!. We have to imagine what A.I means 20 years from now? One day we’ll have our own personal A.I. Today we all give all our data away all day long while aiming to maintaining our privacy. In future A.I will attract things that are associated with ‘’my data’’. My “I-data-ty” identity. In future we’ll have a different type of rich and poor. Good A.I. Versus. wack A.I… it’ll be like kids in the inner city now.

Sarah Sands. What can we do to get kids into stem more?
Will; Every year there’s an Oscar Grammy and we celebrate those shows. We do the same in the U.S about sports schools and colleges. The same thing doesn’t happen for tech and stem. Folks wanna be like Bill I Am not Bill I Am. They wanna be like Stevie Wonder not Steve Jobs.
Last time I checked I held a Grammy, but when we do our thank you speeches, we thank God, friends and family. We forget to thank the scientists that began these musical inventions and systems. The guy that invented the phonograph and gramophone – Thomas Edison!

‎Bill. The next big invention that will change the way we live should be things like ways of generating energy like electricity. The thing that will change the world most rapidly is A.I. The computer will live your life, listen to you and understand you better than humans can. In many ways this is great news. With our foundation (http://www.gatesfoundation.org/) we use cell phones to send money to relatives. We can also survey people to see if their health needs are met. However robotics and other combinations will make the world pretty fantastic compared with today.

Sarah Sands; Will we humans become redundant?
‎Bill. As we get robots becoming more sophisticated, I think we should worry sooner rather than later on how much they could take over, but I think it’ll mostly be a positive thing. In terms of deadlines it won’t be any worse than nuclear weapons.

‎Sarah Sands; Can the planet survive?
Will. What we have our kids working on at the ‘I am angel foundation’ is getting kids that get left behind and training them in stem and A.I. Now is when we should think seriously about it, as they’ll be running those companies tomorrow.

Sarah Sands; How about the U.S election? (This conversation was days before Trump was elected).
Will ; Every election is important and each election says it’s more important than the last. But THIS one is extremely important. It could truly go the wrong way with people and faith in America or Americans. If this were a Portugal or Romania it wouldn’t really affect the world in a major way. Trump affects the world in a major way. If Bill left Microsoft we wouldn’t allow Trump to run it. But we’re thinking of allowing a man who disrespects women, Muslims, inner cities…wow!
I understand you wanting to disrupt politics…but why not Bill Gates for president? There are so many businesses’ that empower charities. How many men give away all their money to charities? Why not them for President?

Sarah Sands; Bill, could you run for President ever?
Bill. I won’t do that as…people care a lot that the USA is well run, and people globally expect us to do things in upgrading science and more. My foundation isn’t political. Both administrations over the years have done well in the past but this one…is a bit different. I’ve for some reason or other …never met Donald Trump.

‎Sarah Sands; Will, do you see yourself as a Global Citizen? UK Prime Minister Theresa May criticised the concept of a ‘’citizen of the world’’.
Will. “I’m a citizen of the U.S.A but I also travel around the world and love other countries like the UK as if it was my own. I love your tolerance and preservation of the arts. I love the Asian countries. I love my friend Apple De App. I love India, Russia and touring has made me many friends abroad. I’m from east LA. I don’t see colour. The only colour I see is this wonderful green and blue planet. That’s what I see.

Bill. I think of myself as a global citizen. If you’re taking care of your family and society and are comfortable you can start to think about helping those most in need globally. That’s how we became engaged in those things. There’s a unique thing about the UK, where you give a very generous foreign aid budget to support globally, which is spent wisely. We partner with the government here to make sure that that money is spent well. We support Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. We have over a billion dollars in these UK institutions, as they’re the best people to do the work. So the UK is a very international country.

Last night, London’s movers and shakers including Simon Cowell, Fearne Cotton, Sinitta, Mel C and more attending the annual VIP PREVIEW of HYDE PARK WINTER WONDERLAND and it was better than ever!

From 5pm hundreds were queuing to watch their spectacular ballet Nutcracker On Ice and then we were treated to muted wine laced with cinnamon , luxury hot chocolate, champagne and more. There are literally hundreds of rides for all ages to enjoy and the choice of rollercoasters was vey impressive. We screamed and cried simultaneously as they flung us around in hysteria.

The food options are out of this world with street food favourites like fried chicken (tandoori style- their colonel even wears a turban!), roasted duck wraps, mac & cheese, lots of german sausage and burger options and best of all, a variety of vegetarian stalls too.

The Ice Rink was full of excited adults and kids whizzing about- i even saw a dog viewing the action rink side, we all laughed watching his head rotate round and round as he kept his eye on his owner skating by! (For those of you planning to ice skate with your children, please be aware that the minimum child’s boot size is a size 9).

We had access to so many exciting rides and attractions on site, including the open air ice rink, the Magical Ice Kingdom and a ride on the Giant Observation Wheel to name a few.

The mAgical Ice Kingdom was mesmerising with huge ice sculptures and options to be photographed with polar bears on ice. A word of warning though- its in sub-zero temperatures so you must wrap up warm or your toes will be icicles as mine were in well boots. The heated bars were much needed straight afterwards for a big lug of muted wine with friends.

Zippos Circus also performed two shows on the evening inside the Mega Dome, located in Circus Town. In fact there was so much to see and engage with one visit was not enough – i spent nearly an hour spending £100 on Christmas pressies just at the market stalls!.

The easiest way to get to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is on foot, by bike or by public transport. The nearest tube is Hyde Park Corner (Piccadilly line). There is general information on Winter Wonderland at www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.comincluding details on all public transport links.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is an outdoor event covering many acres so be sure to dress appropriately and wrap up warm!

Enjoy!

Tell us about your latest album ISATTA SHERRIF?

The album is self-titled and I choose to do that to signify a new stage in my musical career. A lot was happening in the midst of writing this album, my Mum was diagnosed with cancer for the second time, my cousin Kabba Kamara was murdered as a result of deprivation and crime in the inner city and four months later the same thing happened to one of my favorite students Myron Yard. I taught him at a music college in London.

The young people I teach inspire me. Myron was a music student and he was supposed to be on the remix of “Kin”. Him and his classmates were the inspiration behind that song and I am referring to him in specific lines. One time he humbly asked if I would ever consider doing a track with one of my students, which was his cheeky way of asking if I would do a track with him. What’s mad is that I’d already planned for him to be on the “Kin” remix; I’m really sad that we never got the chance to record it.

I’m probably a bit more vulnerable on the album as a result of the last year. I touch on the loss of my sister to suicide while I was in college as well as the drawbacks of growing in a socially deprived part of Tower Hamlets. A line in the song “Heartbeat” says “I know it sounds like I’m conditioned or something, like I’m protecting my heart before disaster jumps in”. I was determined for the record to be a positive and enjoyable amongst all the serious content. I think we managed to achieve that balance with the melodies, tempo’s and variations in flow.

With this album I wasn’t bothered about big singles; I just wanted a project that people could listen to from beginning to end. It’s a very London centric record but that doesn’t exclude people living in other places. My aim was for people in any city in the world to connect to the songs.

People and cultures also inspire me. On a couple of tracks I talk about being able to understand other languages because of how closely together we live, “Bilingual not by choice, but glad for it” -Burning An Illusion. The album is like a journey on the London Underground and I jump off at each stop and touch on different subjects that reflect each part of living in a city. It’s inspired by forgiveness, hope and honest conversation. I wanted to show that art and beauty can come out of struggle, as Talib Kweli says “Life is a beautiful struggle’’.

I don’t have any rap features on the album, because I have spent my career doing features and I just wanted to record an album that really reflected me without being diluted. I felt that I had strong enough content to carry the album myself. The only feature I have is a chorus from Terri Walker on a track called “Coasting”. Terri was great to work with again. I sent her the track and three days later we met to record it. This was first song that I ever wrote and recorded while in college and I wanted to include a remake of it to show my journey as an MC and also signify the way my style has evolved. I used to only rap in that double time style as I used to listen to a lot of Bone Thugs N Harmony and Da Brat back in the day.

(Baker Aaron) the collaborating producer was only meant to initially produce a couple of tracks but ended up doing the whole thing. He gets my voice and I get his music. It was the simplest, non-dramatic, enjoyable experience I’ve ever had creating a product. I have worked with some amazing producers throughout my career but we just clicked musically. He is an amazing musician and producer based in Istanbul. We worked between his studio there and my home studio in London.

Tell us about your video ‘’Burning An Illusion’’.

I put out the video for “Burning An Illusion” as a taster to the album’s lyrical content. I wanted to challenge perceptions of the working class and also show how amazing it can be when cultures mix. The video is shot in East and Central London showing the contrasts. There are tower blocks and then you see the Globe Theatre along the Southbank. You see kids hanging out with nothing to do while tourists enjoy London walking through a Black Lives Matter protest.

I was due to write the last track for the album “Redefined” when the tragedies with Kabba and Myron took place. I needed two months to regain the emotional energy to complete the final track plus there was a bit of pressure as this was the track to finish off the whole project. I was determined for the track to be positive despite the circumstance. I recorded it and shot a video to celebrate black music from the UK as well as the black community with a special focus on young people and dedicated the song to Kabba and Myron.

Explain your previous outing as an artist under the moniker TOR and why it’s now changed?

My full name is Isatta Sheriff Cesay. My Mum’s name is Isatta Sheriff and Tor means namesake (the equivalent of a boy who is named after his father being called “junior”). My Mum used to say, “This is my Tor” meaning “This is my namesake” and my whole family calls me Tor. At school and work everybody used to call me Isatta. I respond to both but as time has gone on, hardly anybody called me by my given name. Releasing music under my first and middle name was a natural progression. It also means I get my name back as people have started calling me Isatta again which I love.

What have you learnt from your past years in music?

The key lesson I have learned is authenticity. It’s important to never forget your love for music and to work with people who are passionate about similar styles as well as experimenting sonically from time to time. I’ve learned that you should push through and keep making music even if you have things going on because there will never be a perfect time. I held back so much early on because of drama but drama doesn’t stop so you just need to keep going.

What are your aspirations for the next couple of years?

I am planning to drop more videos from this record for the next 7 months while starting on a new record-whoop! I’d also like to take this album out with a live band, as that was always the goal when we started it.

How do you feel about having a female UK leader and the fact that we nearly had a female American leader too?. It’s great for females to see the possibilities right?

The fact that both of them are women is not incentive enough for me to celebrate. The issues surrounding their leadership are too complex and it would be shallow of me to look at their position solely from the point of view of womanhood. Women have always been leaders. In royal kingdoms, as activists, in wars, serving the poor and so much more but they do not have the platform offered to Clinton or May. Women of all cultures are amazingly strong even while oppressed and history is a testament to that. This current situation may inspire some young girls to believe that they can become Prime minister or President but I have trouble believing a large amount of young black girls would see the same possibility for themselves. Having a white middle class female head teacher did not put the thought in my mind at all that I could be a head teacher while I was in school. It’s not Teresa May and Hilary Clinton who excite me when it comes to women in leadership.

There was once a time when we were told hip-hop and Grime was a niche genre. Now it’s the pop culture of this generation. How do you feel about the takeover?

I feel that the roots of those genres are not being respected and are being pushed to the background. This is a historical problem with music of black origin. A 15-year-old boy in my class asked me “How come a lot of rappers are black” and he was not being rude or funny, he was so confused. He had no I idea about its origins though, the style is all he mimicked.

‎Who is your top male and female MC and why? Quote your fave verse from their work.

Lauryn Hill is my favorite female MC because she goes beyond the music. Her flow, delivery and passion represent Hip Hop to me! It’s hard to choose a favorite song or line but one of my stand out tracks is “Mystery Of Iniquity”. Another is “Lost Ones”:

“Wisdom is better than silver and gold,
I was hopeless, now I’m on hope road”

It’s also hard to choose a favorite male MC too but I love Rakim and Talib Kweli l. One from him is his remake of Nina Simone’s “For Women”:

“I ain’t got time to lie, my life has been much too rough,
Still running with bare feet, I ain’t got nothin’ but my soul,
Freedom is the ultimate goal”

What makes you stand out and unique as a music act and why should people get to know your work?

I make heartfelt Hip Hop and tell the story of many lives through my own experiences. I use rap and melodies together to create a picture. My approach is not necessarily unique but I am unique as an individual and once I infuse the experiences of my journey, it creates a stand-alone piece of artistry.

How do you represent being British?

Being a first generation Sierra Leonean means I get to enjoy both sides of my upbringing. I grew up in Stepney engaging with many cultures that I love and respect. Celebrating this is how I represent being British.

What else are you passionate about other than music?

I am really passionate about working in education and guiding young people aspirationally to use their many talents. I’m passionate about God, social issues, and history and standing up against injustice. I also love sport and used you to play for Arsenal Ladies and Tottenham ladies back in the day. I love all types of art whether it is dancing, photography, theatre, painting (although never ask me to paint). I try to incorporate all of these things into my music and hopefully you hear this in the album.

Name some of your past collaborations?

Wretch 32, Lowkey, Klasnekoff, Sway, Tinchy Styder, Saul Williams, Estelle, Blak Twang, Rodney P, Terri Walker, Mongrel to name a few.

What is your most enjoyable collaboration to date?

My favourite collaboration has to be a track I did a while back with Flying Lotus, Oddisee and Phonte Coleman called “The Perch”. I love the way it happened so organically. Big up to Red Bull Music Academy for bringing us together.

Who have learned from most in your career?

I have learned from so many people but Rashad Ringo Smith (Biggie, Lauryn Hill, Busta Rhymes) has definitely taught a lot about music. He introduced me to some big names in New York and being around him always felt like a giant music lesson.

What has been your proudest achievement?

I have many proud moments and being invited to Atlanta to perform with Arrested Development is one of them. Performing at Glastonbury is also another one but the proudest achievement of all has to be setting up my own independent label “Pinch Of Salt” and releasing an album in Japan through it. Being out there to do music was an amazing experience.

Isatta Sheriff at Sofar Sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iai_PgiZ9bI

British hip hop artist Chairman Maf is Sheffield based and recently released his latest album ZOO without the aid of any music label’s, when the community came together to help him in today’s DIY world. Previous famous musical Brits from Sheffield include The Human League, Heaven 17, Joe Cocker, Arctic Monkeys, Pulp and Moloko. Sheffield was once home to a number of historically important nightclubs in the early dance music scene, but represents strictly for the hip hop community.

Maf continues to be a ground-breaking, ‘sublime’ instrumental beat maker with unique musical techniques. A quiet genius that’s been beginning to be respected as one of the foremost beat-smiths /instrumentalists coming from the European hip hop community for decades, we sat down for a chat with the Chairman.

How do you describe your sound?
Cinematic soulful melodic instrumental lo fi hip hop!!

And your influences?
Within hip hop all of the classic producers: Madlib, Dilla, Pete Rock, 9th Wonder, DJ Dez, Kankick etc, but I try to listen to less hip hop these days to avoid being too heavily influenced. You’re more likely to catch me listening to some Bulgarian folk music LOL, got to avoid trying to copy the legends… I will sample anything from anywhere. I love to find things from my childhood and incorporate them into the beats; it’s my form of therapy haha.

So you’re British, 45 years old and not connected to the Grime scene. Why should we care about what you bring to hip-hop?
I like to think I make music that exists outside of fashion or current trends (not that I think that way of Grime. – its here to stay). The melodies and layers to my music make it strong enough to be around and discovered for a long time to come. It appeals to both hard-core hip hop heads and people that prefer easier laid back music. I have fans that contact me that can be any age from 14 to 74!

You seem to promote yourself predominantly as an Instrumental Artist… what is your issue with MC’s?
No issue, I just layer so many sounds in my beats that there isn’t much space for vocals. I’ve worked with many MC’s over the years but enjoy the challenge of making stand alone beats. it’s a LOT harder.

So which (if any) MC’s could coax you out of this Instrumentals only position?
In the UK I’ve always wanted to work with Taskforce, and Rodney P… There are also a lot of amazing artists on the UK’S High Focus label. In the U.S, Phonte has always been one of my favourite artists… Rapsody is incredible too.

Your latest album “ZOO” mixes jazz, soul, blues and folk samples together with sounds from the weirdest places. David Attenborough!? Tell us a little bit about your music making process.
Basically less is more…. I’ve got very little equipment and very little knowledge of how to use it. Every time I sit down to build some music I want to get some kind of emotion across. I’m not into super slick production; in fact I like a lot of dirt in there. My mixing desk costs $150, the only other thing I use is a sampler, I think the more equipment in the chain, the more diluted the soul of the beat will be. I play a lot of instruments, not in any virtuoso way, all self taught, a bit of guitar, drums. You can make a beautiful piece of music on a one-string guitar as long as you put your heart and soul into it.

Do you see a lot of talent coming through in the UK hip-hop scene?
It’s better than it has been for a long time. There’s so much creativity. People are more focussed on the fun aspects of making music than they are trying to make a ‘career’ as they know how hard that can be now. For such a small island, the UK has consistently produced some of the most interesting creative music in the world, there’s so much going on it’s hard to keep up sometimes…

The artwork you use and overall presentation is also quite unique to you, and doesn’t use many traditional hip-hop references… why?
I’ve always felt there is a certain amount of snobbery towards hip hop as an art form and in the UK a lot of baggage comes with me telling people about the music I love. A lot of assumptions. Hip Hop is a powerful, creative and innovative music. Its music made by, and for, very intelligent cultured people. I want the artwork to reflect that.

What can we expect from you in the future?
My new album “ZOO” has just dropped digitally and on limited vinyl. There are more vocal samples than ever before. You can actually sing along to a lot of the beats. Some of the tracks touch on subjects close to my heart so it’s an album that I’m really proud of.

Such as “Little White Lies”?
Yeah, as a white man expressing myself through black culture, I felt it was important to have something on here related to racism. I don’t have the words to express my anger about the subject and it’s not something I experience first hand so the only language I have is music. I guess it’s just a miniscule gesture of solidarity towards people that can’t leave their homes without the fear of being killed by the people we pay to protect us. There are a lot of other issues important to me on there but if I keep talking I’ll make a mess of it so I’ll leave it there!

When people listen to your music what do you want them to get from it?
I don’t make many club tunes. I’d like people to get a sense of peace and soul… hope…. Some emotion would be good.

Final question, how are you feeling about President Trump’s victory?
Obviously I’m scared that Trump’s been elected. Unfortunately fear of Trump was not enough to get people to vote for Clinton with her record of corruption. Democrats missed the boat with Bernie Saunders and are now paying the price. Wars in Syria, environmental issues and institutional racism would not be dealt with be either Clinton or Trump as money has taken over the political system. America will continue to be as racist as it always has, regardless of who’s in power. Let’s just hope this shakes up politics enough to find some kind of alternative to appeal to working class people, rather than simply using fear and the media circus.

Check out Chairman Maf’s latest album here;
https://chairmanmaf.bandcamp.com/album/zoo