Jasmine Dotiwala

Who doesn’t love R&B and swing beat classics like Mr Telephone Man and Candy Girl, My Perogative, Every Little Step, and numerous other New Edition and Bobby Brown hits?

Over 3 decades the band went though drama, line-up changes and global stardom and now finally their story is being told in a 3-part biopic season on BET. Following critical acclaim in the U.S, the story of legendary ‘New Edition’ reaches UK screens and I have been glued to the screen.

BET Networks is the leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for people that want to know what’s hot, what’s next and what matters in black culture and without their platform and brand us R&B lovers would have no chance of re-living and being informed about our early musical passions. Thank you BET.

BET UK threw a launch party, screening and Q&A session with the cast in London this past week to the delight of R&B music lovers and New Edition fans.
I was just born when an 11 year old Bobby Brown got together with his pals Ricky Bell, Mike Bivins, and Ralph Tresvant and convinced them to perform at local talent shows.

A couple of decades later the boy band were mega stars until the band forced Bobby Brown to leave the group in 1985 following a period of misbehavior and rebellious behavior on his part.

Starting a solo career, he became a hit success with his second album in 1988, Don’t Be Cruel, which spawned a number of hit singles including the self-penned “My Prerogative”, and the Grammy Award-winning “Every Little Step” which became his signature hit. Brown had a string of top ten hits on various Billboard charts between 1986 and 1993. He returned to the group for a reunion album and tour from 1996 to 1997, and has returned with all six members for another stint since 2005.

New Edition laid the foundation for how modern-day boy bands look, feel, and sound. Boyz II Men, N’SYNC, The Backstreet Boys, and New Kids On The Block all took their cues from Ronnie DeVoe, Ralph Tresvant, Michael Bivins, Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell & Johnny Gill.

After 30 years of breaking hearts, New Edition have finally got the biopic that their stellar tenure in entertainment so richly deserves. This epic three-part miniseries follows the group from their humble beginnings as kids in Boston to global mega-stardom – weathering the highs and lows of controversy, personal changes, and the ultimate cost of fame.

The star-filled THE NEW EDITION STORY cast includes Bryshere Y. Gray Elijah Kelley, Luke James, Keith Powers, Algee Smith, Woody McClain, Dante Hoagland, Caleb McLaughlin, Jahi Winston, Myles Truitt and Tyler Williams as NEW EDITION along with La La Anthony, Yvette Nicole Brown, Monica Calhoun, Lisa Nicole Carson, Sandi McCree Wood Harris, Michael Rapaport, Faizon Love, Duane Martin Tank and Bre-Z.

The musical sound track, as you can well imagine is gold…..along with a stellar cast, THE NEW EDITION STORY includes a collective of award-winning producers and directors including iconic music powerhouses James “Jimmy Jam” Harris, Terry Lewis and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Executive Producer Jesse Collins and award-winning director Chris Robinson.

# # #

BET’S EPIC THREE-NIGHT MINI-SERIES “THE NEW EDITION STORY” PREMIERING THURSDAY 2 MARCH AT 9PM ONLY ON BET – SKY 187 | VIRGIN 184 | FREESAT 140

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Last night the annual RTS Television Society Journalism Awards took place at the London Hilton on Park Lane where the biggest TV news brands from all across the UK gathered to celebrate their great work.

The awards, for both news and current affairs, seek to recognise creative and excellent journalism by organisations whose broadcasts are transmitted on a UK-based platform or who create online video content from a UK production base.

JASMINE AT THE RTS AWARDS 2017….DRESS BY SOUTH LONDON FASHION DESIGNER MARY MARTIN

After the exceptional news events so far in 2016 and the high quality coverage by broadcasters in the UK there was a lot of healthy competition.
Big shout out to every news broadcaster from Channel 4, SKY News, BBC, ITV, CNN and so many more. We all do so much to bring the truth to the world.

British broadcasting has one of the highest reputations in the world and the daily risks that our reporters and teams face cannot be described. If I could share with you the things I have seen my colleagues bring back from foreign war zones, the horror, the negotiations, the personal stories…its all mind blowing and I am truly grateful that we live in a country where for the most part media have free speech and investigative powers.

CHANNEL 4 NEWS WON MOST OF THE BIGGEST CATEGORIES OF THE NIGHT.
Photo courtesy – Richard Kendal / RTS.

I was most chuffed that my extended news family at Channel 4 News swept the board on some pretty big categories! Here’s what we won!

1.
Camera Operator of the Year: went to a brave young woman who has fallen into reporting due to the dire circumstances that befell her country. Waad al-Kateab has shot incredibly powerful pictures around the horror in Aleppo risking the lives of herself and her family – her doctor husband and young baby.

WAAD AL-KATEAB – CHANNEL 4 NEWS.

The judges said about her win “With many strong contenders, our winner’s portfolio was head and shoulders above the rest. Her powerful images didn’t flinch from showing the full horror of life and death in Aleppo.”

2.
The amazing Syrian Waad also won the highly coveted prize for Young Talent of the Year too. She was up against some brilliant names like Adam Cole – Sky News Programming and James Longman – Victoria Derbyshire Programme so this was a huge achievement.
Judges kept compliments for Waad coming…..“…heart stopping, calm in horrific conditions, sensitive, empathetic, extraordinary – the compliments kept on coming.”

3.
The best News Coverage category was also won by a Channel 4 piece of content – International: Inside Aleppo
Judges agreed that “In a year of extraordinary coverage of appalling wars, this insight into Aleppo was something very special. Our judges described it as remarkable, compelling and the yardstick by which other coverage should be judged. Matt Frei’s scripting was word perfect. With a digital project alongside, the coverage was imaginative and innovative and ticked the enterprise box too.”

4.
Speaking of Matt Frie- his winning speech after taking Television Journalist of the Year was one of the highlights of an otherwise pretty serious, emotional evening. Matt, slightly alcohol affected bounded onstage and gave a hilarious, bragadociously entertaining speech bigging up the big man that decides how healthy or not his mortgage is- Ben De Pear and generally lifted the mood to the audiences delight!

MATT FRIE- WINNER- TV JOURNO OF THE YEAR 2017.

The judges described Matt as “One of the best writers in the business. His use of language brings great depth to his reports and regularly shines through. His interviewing has also produced insights, which others have missed. He is one of the most experienced, and skilled TV journalists working today.”

5.
It was incredible to hear that the Daily News Programme of the Year category was also won by Channel 4 News who do a blinding job of representing hidden voices and bringing so many diverse faces onscreen, the likes of which we have never seen before. Between bosses Ben De Pear and former boss Shaminder Nahal its now normal to see a black woman breast feeding her baby live on air whilst debating political issues! Just brilliant!

CHANNEL 4 NEWS WIN NEWS PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR.
Photo courtesy – Richard Kendal / RTS.

About Channel 4 News the judges stated, “The winning programme demonstrated a masterful breadth and depth of content throughout the year, from world-class frontline coverage to their trademark political analysis and powerful interviews. They backed that up with tenacious and exclusive investigations and high quality location presentation.”

6.

I have to give a shout out to SKY team for winning the News Technology: Sky Data prize. They really are a brand that think in a very futuristic data minded way that stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Judges said “…a brilliant example of technical innovation. It has transformed the way television measures public opinion, leaving the old vox pop obsolete. The team should be congratulated on using existing customer information to make a research panel of up to 10,000,000 people.”

7.
The big award of the night is always the Judges’ Award, which this year went posthumously to the incredible broadcaster Steve Hewlett. A touching and monumental career in the broadcasting industry.

STEVE HEWLETT – JUDGES AWARD 2017.

(citation below by Awards Chair Stewart Purvis)
“On 26 January a panel of representatives of broadcasters, video news agencies and jury chairs met to decide on the Judges’ Award. The rules say it can recognise an outstanding contribution on or off screen, in the past year or over the course of their career. The panel chose a winner who achieved so much on screen and off screen, over the course of his career and very particularly in the past year.
I phoned the winner and that’s how I got to tell Steve Hewlett that he had won the Judges’ Award. Steve told me he was honoured and touched to have won. He looked forward to receiving it on 1 March.
I don’t think there has ever been anybody in broadcasting quite like Steve Hewlett. And probably never will be again.
Over four decades he variously, and often simultaneously, produced programmes; edited them; commissioned them; wrote and broadcast about them; presented them and exec produced them as an independent. He worked for the BBC, Channel Four, ITV and his own indie Genie Pictures. He started on TV and learned to love radio. He was the star turn for many years at RTS Cambridge, Edinburgh and Sheffield festivals and many other media events.
He truly was a man for all seasons, one of them being the rugby season. I remember turning up with my son at a youth rugby tournament in Hertfordshire to find Steve all togged up ready to referee one of the matches.
He was fiercely competitive in everything he did but also generous with praise for his competitors. He always threw himself into his journalism. He spent eight weeks filming inside the Maze Prison with Peter Taylor, and made a remarkable film there. He enjoyed his triumphs – the 23,000,000 audience for the Panorama: Diana interview will take some beating as a record for factual television – and he carried on regardless after disappointments.
One of the hallmarks of Steve’s journalism was his natural curiosity – which contact or interviewee could resist an opening line like ‘help me with this if you can’. Another was his attention to detail, as a pundit he read the documents others didn’t, which is how he knew so much and questioned so much, especially his own employers at the BBC.
And there was his humanity and there was his humour. All these same qualities, this same journalism, came to the fore last year on the Radio 4 PM Programme. The presenter Eddie Mair told listeners that this time Steve was on the air not to talk about the media but about his health. Eddie asked Steve ‘What’s happening?’ to which Steve replied ‘Well I’ve got cancer. I’ve got cancer of the oesophagus’. This matter of fact conversation set the style for many that were to follow on Radio Four and be replicated in different forms in print and on TV. There had been cancer diaries before but this was much more, it was public interest journalism of the kind Steve practiced on Panorama. He knew all the details as if he was talking on the Media Show about the latest draft of the BBC Charter. The public response was enormous. Many of the people who wrote to Steve said he had inspired them to find out more about their own condition, their own treatment.
Steve and I talked about the archive clips from his career that he hoped we would show tonight. A Panorama team tracked those down and added some of Steve’s recent interviews about cancer. Together these clips form a compilation that tells the story of Steve Hewlett’s journalism from the early 1980’s right up to last month. The first is a clip Steve often mentioned, when he dressed up in a bear’s costume for a title sequence for a new Channel Four current affairs programme. So lookout for Steve the bear.
On 6 February Steve told Eddie Mair on BBC Radio Four that he’d been given only ‘weeks, possibly months’ to live. He and his partner Rachel Crellin decided to get married in a ceremony organised within the hour at the Royal Marsden Hospital. A few days later Rachel, Steve and I met there to talk about tonight. He told me again how proud he was about the award. I told him how much love there would be for him within the room, he looked rather surprised.
The plan was for him to be sitting at a table with Rachel, his former partner Karole Lang and his and Karole’s three sons Fred, Billy and Bertie. Steve knew he wouldn’t be well enough to come up to the podium but wanted his sons to speak for him. Of course Steve, always the realist, knew he may not make it here tonight.
He asked me to remind him when the event was. I said ‘two weeks’ time’, he gestured ‘two weeks’. And he was right. But Rachel is here tonight, so is Karole and please welcome to receive the Judges Award on their father’s behalf, the brothers Hewlett.”

RTS Television Journalism Awards 2017 winners

Daily news programme of the year: Channel 4
Television journalist of the year: Matt Frei
News coverage – international: Channel 4
News coverage – home: BBC Six and Ten O’Clock News, prisons special
News channel of the year: BBC News Channel
Breaking news: Sky News, Brussels terror attack
Scoop of the year: Sky News, IS Files report
Interview of the year: Sky News, Faisal Islam interviews David Cameron
Specialist journalist of the year: Lisa Holland, Sky News
Network presenter of the year: Tom Bradby, ITV News at Ten
Young talent of the year: Waad al-Kateab
Camera operator of the year: Waad al-Kateab

RORY GRAHAM AKA RAG N BONE MAN, TOTALLY UNAFFECTED BY HIS BIG TWO BRIT AWARDS WIN.

The annual Brit awards are always a highlight of the UK music calendar -its like our Christmas.

STORMZY STORMS ED SHEERANS PERFORMANCE FOR THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT THAT HAD THE ARENA STANDING.
ALL PHOTOS – JMEInternational.

It’s the biggest British music show that celebrates commercial music successes across the past 12 months, and always comes in for polarizing views the morning after.

BROADCASTER JONATHAN ROSS AND SUPER MODEL AND DOPE FLY GIRL EXTRAORDINAIRE NAOMI CAMPBELL PRESENT AN AWARD.

Well this year, I thought it was a great show. Not perfect but nearly. Certainly one of the best in many years. It felt truly reflective of the UK.

JASMINE WEARS THE MARY MARTIN LONDON ‘LION DRESS’ ON THE THE BRITS RED CARPET.

The dress code was ‘’glamorous’’ and the ladies went all out with mostly long gowns. Long black sequins were in vogue so I was totally on trend, for once.

LITTLE MIX KICKED OFF THE SHOW WITH A BIG, SPECTACULAR SET.

Simon Cowell’s Girl band Little Mix came out the stables strong, with a big production opening act, where alongside 50 dancers all spray painted silver, they gyrated through a Bob Fosse style dance number which had huge impact with stage, set, lighting and pyro. The girls clearly enjoyed the rest of their night at their table laughing and shrieking alongside two of their premier league footballer dates.

SIMON COWELL PRESENTED ONE DIRECTION MEMBER LIAM PAYNE WITH AN AWARD. DESPITE SPLITTING IN 2015, ONE DIRECTION WON AN AWRD AT THE 2017 SHOW FOR BRITISH ARTIST VIDEO OF THE YEAR FOR HISTORY – WHICH WAS RELEASED IN NOVEMBER 2015.

ED SHEERAN PERFORMS.

I miss the past moments that made it big when they used to pair up acts like Kylie and Justin Timberlake or Rihanna and The Klaxons, or Dizzee Rascal and Florence Welch. Those were once in a lifetime not to be missed moments. Resource and time means that this isn’t always an option any more but last night they had a hit this year with Ed Sheeran (who does more for diversity all by himself than our whole industry!), pairing up with grime superstar Stormzy.

ED SHEERAN KILLS IT AT BRITS 2017.

Grime is a musical representation of street culture (definition by Stormzy), and it has a huge cultural influence that’s slowly being matched commercially across the globe, with the scene performing to sold out arenas as far flung as Japan to the USA.

TRIUMPHANT SKEPTA

Similarly, grime star Skepta’s performance was a literal miracle as the Brits have a history of rarely giving a platform to British black, grimy, hip hop bods a stage set. The fact that he had a set – a too sparse one in my humble opinion – was nevertheless a great look. Skepta, in turn, also tipped his hat to his musical inspirations, with a huge wall filled with images of hundreds of rappers that laid the path before him projected up behind him as he energetically leapt about the satellite stage mid-arena.

SKEPTA PERFORMS HIS BIG HIT FROM LAST YEAR- SHUT DOWN.

Soul singer Emeli Sande is that solo graceful singer that always delivers and it was refreshing to see her winning best female.

BEST FEMALE – EMELI SANDE.

I think she still has a lot more to give though. The fact that she makes it all look so calm and easy means these still fire in her belly that I know can deliver so much more.

BEST FEMALE WINNER EMELI SANDE.

Since last years #britssowhite controversy, the leading body that oversees the show the BPI, sat up and took note and engaged a diversity committee, which I am a part of, who in a few short months brought an overhaul to the BRITs voting academy and now 48% of voters are female and 21% are of black or ethnic origin.

There was clear, positive change and this was reflected in this years nominations, which did include a plethora of previously excluded British black music acts. Many grumbled about the fact that they didn’t win. They did. They won the start on an equal playing field that can only get stronger moving forwards. Small steps lead to great leaps.

KATY PERRY BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN, LITERALLY.

Speaking of great leaps, Katy Perry’s set saw her dancing and singing amongst hundreds of mini houses and two giant puppets that everyone suggested were Donald Trump and Teresa May. It wasn’t too obvious who they were but it did feel like a political statement of some sort.

KATY PERRYS ‘POLITICAL MOMENT’?.

The end of her set saw Katy literally bringing the house down, when one of her ‘dancing houses’ fell off the front edge of the stage, onto a record label table, causing them all to leap to their feet in shock as security ran to help the poor girl. Hope she/he is ok.

The 1975’s Matt Healey must’ve loved Katy’s political commentary, as earlier in the evening in his winning acceptance speech, he urged pop stars to go ahead and comment on social issues and not as some demanded ‘’stay in their lane’’. I totally co-sign that when you have a platform to speak to the world, you should always say something with impact and merit.

Ed Sheeran is an act that never ‘stays in his lane’ and always seems to do more for diversity than most of the rest of our industry put together. This year he made a track with an afrobeats star Fuse ODG in Ghana and last night when he featured grime megastar Stormzy in his set too, the whole arena was jumping and dancing.

ED SHEERAN POST PERFORMANCE, BROTHERLY HUG. #SQUADGOALS

In fact, there were only two moments in the whole show that the arena audience were all spontaneously up on their feet for – during Skepta’s solo set and Ed and Stormzys set. This should’ve been the final performance of the night – Robbie Williams – even with all the production sexiness didn’t have as big a song or the mega public presence this year.

ROBBIE WILLIAMS BIG BUCKS PRODUCTION.

ROBBIE WILLIAMS – BRITS ICON AWARD WINNER.

A man that has been all over the global charts with his incredible catalogue of effervescent hit songs this year is Bruno Marrs, who was as swagtastic as ever, but whereas once upon a time The Brits show was dominated by the Americans, this year the Americans just felt like side-line guests. The stars were certainly the British acts.

A British singer that’s single-handedly made industry execs sigh with relief over their bank statements is North London lass Adele, who won the Global Success award and made a typically Adele-esque speech via video from distant lands – Australia I think.

BRITS 2017 SHOW

RORY GRAHAM, AKA RAG N BONE MAN PERFORMED FOR A SPECIAL ”DIAMOND DINERS’ VIP AUDIENCE AT A PRIVATE BRITS DINNER.

Soul music is coming back. I can feel it in my bones. With Rag n Bone Man (Rory Graham), being the actual biggest winner of the night it wont be long before we’re all loving and singing soul again. Rory didn’t milk his big moment at all. He’s clearly still like a rabbit in headlights about his incredible success. At some points of the past year, his music has outsold the rest of the top 20 chart acts combined, so I think his team should’ve sold and pushed him more on lasts nights big win. With our support he’s the first step in bringing back blues, soul and R&B music. Yes lord, let it be true.

ANDREW RIDGELEY, PEPSI AND SHIRLEY – AN ODE TO GEORGE MICHAEL.

The celestial moment of the night came with the George Michael tribute, by Georges ex Wham band mate Andrew Ridgeley and their band-mates Pepsi and Shirley, who all made touching heartfelt speeches during which you could’ve heard a pin drop in the arena filled with thousands. This was followed by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin singing A Different Corner (originally released on Wham!’s 1986 final album Music From the Edge of Heaven).

CHRIS MARTIN LEADS A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE MICHAEL RIP.

Chris sang a ‘’live meets video’’ virtual duet. It was clear after watching ‘live Chris’ VS ‘video George – from his last UK tour – that the two performers are on totally different performance levels and George was in a class of his own with that megastar soulful voice.

JASMINE WITH SBTV CEO JAMAL EDWARDS MBE AT THE BRITS PARTY.

The night highlighted, that we Brits punch well above our weight in the global arts and culture big picture. In these turbulent Brexit filled days, the UK music industry is a great global brand that reminds us, that as Mayor Sadiq Khan keeps reminded us #LondonIsOpen.

Remember, as you imagine that performing artists are just all one big frivolous song n dance, that it takes hundreds in teams behind each one to make an impact and generates millions for the UK economy.
In fact, check out these stats; one in every 6 albums bought globally is buy a British act. Seven out of ten of the UK’s top albums last year were by British acts.

BRIT NOW ESCAPED TO AMERICA – FORMER MTV / RADIO ONE HOST, NOW BEATS 1 RADIO HOST ZANE LOWE.

The UK music industry has a billion audio streams a week and the vinyl resurgence continues to grow. (Although – sidebar – the money made by JUST a million vinyl sales last year- was MORE than the entire YouTube streaming profit for British music. SCARY!).

An oft-neglected fact is that the Brit Awards also raises a lot of money for The Brits School in South London, where hundreds of diverse young students are trained to be the stars and staff of our future media,in order to ensure that our arts and culture industry remain amongst the best in the world.

I’ll leave the last word to BPI (British Phonographic Industry) advisor and my colleague Ayesha Hazarika who stated joyously ‘’British music is a powerful global calling card, British music rocks the world’’.

BRITS DESSERT.

SOCIAL CIRCLE

The harder I work, the luckier I get!

You are the average of the 5 people that you spend the most time with. So surround yourself as much as you can with positive, good people if you want a peacefully, successful life. Someone once said ‘Before you diagnose yourself with depression or anxiety, first check that you are not in fact, surrounded by assholes’.

If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.

If someone is always surrounded by drama and it’s one nightmare after another, and they’ve been repeatedly supported to get out of their drama but it persists, give up trying to be their saviour sooner rather than later. They only have drama in their life and that’s why they keep it around. After all, without it what would they be left with? If you don’t move away fast enough, they will take a part of your soul with them.

People who are being a pain are carrying pain. Ask yourself why someone might be behaving aggressively and unkindly before taking it personally. It’s usually not about you, it’s about them.

If you have an invitation to something exciting and have a plus one, never invite that flaky friend who is always late and will leave you let down and stranded for the first half like Sally-no-mates. Invite a reliable mate. Life’s too short.

Have a small but loyal set of friends that are #rideordie, will listen to your trials and tribulations, knock you back down to earth if you get too big for your boots, (you’re never too big for the boot – Stormzy!), come over with tea, cake, crisps and cuddles when you have a life tragedy and accept you for all the crazy that you are. My girl friends truly are the family I chose. With a great set of friends you will never need therapy or expensive counselling.

TRAVEL

Online bookings aren’t always cheaper than calling the airline directly. I’ve often saved hundreds by talking to a real actual human being. Virgin Atlantic definitely my fave all-round brand. Friendly, hospitable and fun to travel with. They have edible food, ice-lollies and in-flight massages and random fun.

Buy flights to depart on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Saturdays – they’re usually much cheaper on these days of the week.

It’s ALWAYS worth checking in online 24 hours before the flight to grab the best seat. Do you really want to risk sitting next to the loo on a transatlantic flight.

When travelling never fold clothes. Always lay clothes in sets on top of each other (dresses / trousers / tee shirt) and then roll the clothes up into a huge Swiss roll and pack. This ensures crease-free clothing at your destination, as well as a deterrent for airport thieves to sneak a hand into your zipped up case and grab something quickly to steal.

Buy cheap Primark jewellry (or other cheap retailers are available), for beach and travel vacations so as not to bother worrying ‎about loss / theft of your sentimental valuables. Especially on tropical beach holidays where you will sky-line, scuba dive and inevitably lose or damage your diamonds. Lol. #CheapTrinketsAreUs

If you are ever transiting through South Africa, throw a strop in the office and insist that your production manager re-routes your transit to Namibia or frankly, anywhere on the planet. Suitcases left unattended in transit at Jo’burg airport are in mortal danger and will get sucked into the airport Bermuda triangle never to be seen again.

‎Where possible always negotiate a couple of extra days abroad after business trips. Business trips and weekends to far-flung places like Australia, Africa and the Caribbean for two days then flying straight back aren’t fun. And why not take advantage of the fact that your employer has already paid for the flights! YOLO

Always carry your teabags on vacation with you. Even one of my fave hotels in the world, The Carlton in Cannes doesn’t have real English Breakfast tea. It might say it on the packet or silver teapot, but it’s never really real. (My personal preference is Yorkshire tea).
‎
TECH

There should be at least one password that no one close to you, or even your best mate that’s shared all your childhood secrets, should be able to figure out.

We pop our passwords into gadgets hundreds of times a week. So make your password is something that reminds you of a future life goal. It’s the best re-focus method ever. If you are entering a life goal into your mobile numerous times a day you cant go off track.

Double-check everything before blindly hitting ‘’share’’ on social media. Spreading fake news because it agrees with your political thinking or outrages you is the start of an unhappy, depressed mind. To my embarrassment, I have been guilty of this. Fake news is everywhere. Forget the days when the millennium was approaching and the world was doomed to end. The world is truly ending now.

It’s the universal law that if you haven’t backed up your phone data that you will lose it all when least expected. Set up auto-back-up on your devices regularly so you don’t lose or regret not planning ahead. My girl scouts days are always with me. Plan ahead. Be prepared. Fail to prepare- prepare to fail! Thanks Mrs Errington!

The stuff you see on social media is just a teeny percentage of what is reality in most peoples lives. Its curated, filtered and marketed like never before. Don’t compare your life to theirs. We ALL have our own THING going on.
‎
MANNERS

Try not to turn up to people’s homes later than arranged and empty-handed. Even a last minute gift of nibbles, drinks or flowers say I appreciate your kind invitation.

If you are always attending other peoples homes and never invite them back to yours, that one-sided friendship might not be as equal as you think and the invites may start fizzling out. Unless of course your mates have screaming toddlers that need to be around their toys and sticky mess. Then they can always expect you to meet up with them for prosecco at their crib.

If you damage someone else’s property offer to replace it/ fix it immediately. I’ve lost count of the number of people who will stain your carpets with beverage spillages or break your chandeliers in an over excited moment of debate, and never offer to repair. This is why my dinner party guests can only drink dark/red drinks in the kitchen. Seriously I am THAT anal.

‎Be nice. For as long as possible. But if someone really oversteps the mark, it’s okay to turn into Godzilla. Karma is a bitch and bad behavior will always catch up with you. When responding to rude people take the high road. (see the recent Taylor Swift / Britney example) always be Britney.

BUSINESS

The harder I work, the luckier I get!

If you’re putting a professional working team together, avoid friends. Or at least avoid friends that you have to drag to the table to be available. The business will flop and so will your friendship. Cut the losses early. You will keep it moving, the stagnant folk will always be stagnant and wonder why they never get ahead. If you are the stagnant one, sign up to a self – help daily free e-mail that may help you make better life choices. My favourite is Marc & Angel Hack Life.

‎The harder you work the luckier you get. Its easy to look on at the great breaks others get and wonder why it wasn’t you. They’re not lucky. They work hard. Great things happen when preparation meets opportunity.

If you want to work in media you have to be a tough cookie. Media folks don’t get sick often. We have shoots, deadlines and stories which can’t simply be take over by a colleague. Our exciting lifestyle means adrenalin keeps us healthy. No sick days on this HR record.

If you want to be a TV presenter NEVER say it out loud to a media professional. It’s like the kiss of death for us. It screams ‘I want to be famous’. Instead, show off your area of expertise and specialist skills and one day soon they’ll be inviting you to talk on the telly.

Incentive is everything. You can persuade anyone to do anything, if you make it hard for them to say no, by making them an offer they can’t refuse.

In employment, it would be nice if you could just be good at your job, but let’s not pretend that overall presentation visually isn’t important. If you walk into work looking like you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards, and your nails are a chewed, chipped mess or your body odour is on nauseating levels people will judge you. I’ve had to speak to two members of staff in two decades about B.O and its awkward. Fix up, look sharp is not just a Dizzee Rascal song.

Always have a topical elevator pitch ready to go. You really will bump into your aspirational business guru one day and kick yourself later for being gob smacked. Yes, Oprah probably wasn’t most impressed with me and I spent a whole week in her company. #Fail

Be better than the rest. Why should people employ you to do an average job? Always go above and beyond what is requested and be the company ‘’can-do’’ person. I didn’t want to make a years worth of teas, coffees, photocopy scripts, pick up lunches, babysit staff kids, drive around picking up props, etc on The Big Breakfast but I did it and those early lessons bode me well. (After i went from runner to presenter, I made the producer that was always bitchy to me with her tea demands pay when she became my producer and roles were reversed. Once she was looking after me, I –in jest – teased her daily about JUST how I liked my tea!) #PayBacksAbitch

Understand boundaries. Agree to disagree professionally and don’t pull rank. That person you power-move over today may be your line manager next year. The industry is small, people talk. If you have reputation as being mean or unprofessional you can start queuing at your local benefit office now.

We all have the same 24 hours as Beyonce.

LIFESTYLE

Be one with nature. I would be lost without my regular, weekend; early River Thames walks with my mates. We banter, share, debate and finish with brunch. Nature is hard to get at one with in a busy urban city, but park walks are free, instant therapy for a peaceful mind and soul. Don’t subscribe to what people have brainwashed you into believing are your natural ‘cultural stereotypes’. You’d never believe the things I was told by closed-minded folk when I was a kid…. I.e. ethnic people don’t ski / walk along rivers / go see the Northern lights. I do all that. I have brown skin. Deal with it.

There are 3 main fitness areas – strength, cardio, and flexibility. Don’t be the bulky ironman in the gym that can’t press your own body weight, do planks or touch your own toes. NO point in being able to lift a house if you can’t run for 5 minutes. Train using your own body weight as much as possible. No point lifting a house when u can’t do ten pushups!

All rich people’s living rooms look the same. Cream carpets / cream sofas. Lamps and candle sticks chandeliers with tones of caramel / brown / grey. (Unless you’re rock & roll and then a few Andy Warhol-esque family portraits and neon signs with naughty words mesh with pure white rooms). I made MTV Cribs, I’ve seen it all.

When throwing parties NEVER have a VIP section. Puffy taught me that. A VIP section immediately gives the party a ‘them & us’ vibe so no-one feels good. A party is for mingling, mixing and engaging with all. If you need a VIP area you’re hosting a bad party where you make half your mates feel inferior.

Consider a group lunch pool at work. Like a car-pool but better. Between your work colleague’s, shop for yummy, healthy food on a Monday from the deli and store in the work fridge space. Hummus, chicken, salmon, prawns, sweet corn, sweet potato, tomatoes on the vine, sun-dried tomatoes, beetroot, fancy cheeses, broccoli, asparagus, coleslaw etc. Every day you have a variety of healthy, diverse food choices and it costs us in our lunch syndicate one pound a day – really! (Beware the coleslaw fiend. Buy extra coleslaw for her, cos if it runs out she won’t be happy).

Try not to be a creative arts snob. There’s nothing worse than seeing early adaptors of tech, music and more scoff at latecomers. People access things at different times in different ways and we shouldn’t judge their journey. I once attended Glastonbury with a very famous person who was disgruntled at ‘’all these new Jay Z fans standing at the front, they should be made to go to the back cos they hadn’t even heard of him when I bought his first album!’. WTF. Seriously?

But do be a judgmental snob if you see folks in the supermarket wearing pyjamas and Ugg boots. Some things just make you shudder. Sorry, not sorry.

White vinegar is a God-send. Pop in the fridge to get rid of smells or in the kitchen a small cup will soak up cooking smells. It will also clean the bathroom better than many detergents.

GIRLY STUFF

Always keep a fab shoes and frock option in your car / under desk in case of last minute fab invites. I am ALWAYS ready for spontaneous activities and invites. My car boot has all my gym stuff and a pair of fancy shoes and frock. Always. This is the only life we have! (Unless you believe in an afterlife in which case, stay at home nightly cos there’s bad weather in London). See you in the afterlife. Or not.

Keep nail-varnish-free as often as possible to avoid yellowing nails. Or always use a base coat. It’s worth not having witch talons in the future. If your nails discolour using red nail polish, soaking them in lemon juice usually sorts them out. There’s only one time of the year for witches and thats not everyday.

The best mascara brand is Rimmel. My preference is Rimmel Kate.

‎Never go make a beeline for the hottest guy in the room. He’ll be riddled with issues and insecurities. Go for anyone past the 6th hottest. He will always be more grounded and likely a keeper.

Never moisturise hands and feet before a yoga class. You’ll slip & slide and binding poses will be impossible.

People say we live in an equal age where women can get up to the same as men and we all pretend it’s true. It’s not. We would like it to be so- yes. Unfortunately, women are always judged for being ”too much”,  criticised for embracing their sexuality, described as bitchy or cold if they are assertive leaders and more. You can choose to be just how you want to be. Feminism and equality is about having the choice and freedom to be who you desire to be. You choose what seems to be appropriate and whether your life choice will ultimately be a positive or negative decision for you, no-one else. Try not to hurt people, be kind and remember karma is real. Be the best you that you can be, and you won’t go far wrong

Ladies please wear shoes your real size. When did it become a thing to wear sexy heels that are a size or two too big and flopping off your heels as you walk? Seeing this on insta regularly is freaking me out. Weird.

LIFE

Don’t be old-skool British in your thinking. We are far too modest and afraid to push ourselves forwards. Don’t think that by pushing yourself forwards you are being ‘’too much or too pushy’’. Shine as brightly as you can and don’t let others make you feel insecure about it. People offended by your light shining don’t have your best interests at heart. When I work with American and Asian colleagues they are pushing themselves, their brands and ideas daily, literally after I’ve just shaken hands with them.

Haters are a good sign. The more they hate the better you must be doing. Let the haters fuel your ambition. Tell them ‘Yes haters, keep watching, I have much more for you!’. (See Maya Angelou’s definition of a hater elsewhere on this site)

Be ever-thankful for your mentors in life. Those that have supported and guided you through your journey. As a child, mine were my ballet teachers Joan Crouch and Sara Ridley, many years ago my bosses at MTV Kim Luck, Will MacLachlan and Richard Godfrey, my former MTV SVP colleague – now life mentor Fleur Sarfaty and Channel 4 News’ editor/ my one time boss and now factual commissioner Shaminder Nahal and the fabulous Donna Taberer -Head of BBC Talent who has fought for diversity and inclusion all her life and is responsible for hundreds of people making it in TV. An amazing set of people that have inspired me to mentor downwards and pass on the good vibes.

Sometimes when you lose you really win. Job interviews / romances / opportunities. Trust me. Something better is around the corner waiting to scoop you up.

Video your loved ones in happy times. Ask them questions about their lives, hopes, dreams, and achievements. Once they’ve passed away, photos won’t be enough. It’s their voice and mannerisms you’ll miss most. Most importantly cherish your parents. You can never know the sacrifices they’ve made and how much they’ve worried about you. I cringe when I recall my mum sitting at her bedroom window waiting for me to come home at 4am each weekend cos she was worried about 15/16 year old me.

Never believe people who are a hot organisational mess at home but insist that they are really organised at work. If you’re late, miss deadlines and have no manners consistently, this usually reflects across all your life areas. Fix up. How you are anywhere, is how you are everywhere.

We all have our own crosses and burdens to bear. No ones life is perfect. It’s difficult to juggle family, life, career and love. We all go through pain. Don’t be afraid to share your anxieties. Once you share you will find everyone else shares theirs too. The saying ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ is true.

In the last few years of my dad’s life when I was his sole carer I tried to juggle horrific carer and life scenarios. It was hell. Once I shared my woes with close friends, family and colleagues I was amazed to hear, many were going through or had already gone through similar situations and therefore supported and informed me of organisations that could help. We all have our ‘’thing’’ going on. Be kind to each other.

When you see injustice, are you brave enough to stand alone and voice your thoughts, to try and be that one small step that leads and builds movement and momentum to make society a better place? Always choose to challenge injustices (professionally).

Know that good lifestyles are earned. Ask yourself “Am I willing to live a few years of my life like many people won’t working really bloody hard, so I can spend the rest of my life like many people can’t, still working bloody hard, but doing something I love”. If you’re not, then stop whining and stay in your lane.

Don’t be afraid to give out compliments to others if it instantly comes to you. See a classy woman, like her fashion, admire her hair, and love her speech? Tell her. Women supporting women is a great thing. We hear a lot about women putting each other down. Tell someone why they stood out to you. You will feel great. They will feel greater. People will forget what you said to them but never forget how you made them feel.

The world is your classroom. Travel as much as you can and see this amazing planet that we call home.

Happy International Women’s Day 2017!

“Why didn’t I know about this before?”
This is a common refrain heard when discovering human rights breakthroughs from decades past – and the love story of Richard and Mildred Loving has paved the way for many more since.

Loving is the new film from acclaimed writer/director Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud, Midnight Special). The Loving family story is reflected in a film out this week in the UK.

The film Loving celebrates the real-life courage and commitment of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving (portrayed in the film by Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga), who fell in love and were married in 1958.

The couple had grown up in Central Point, a small town in Virginia that was more integrated than surrounding areas in the American South. Yet it was the state of Virginia, where they were making their home and starting a family that first jailed and then banished them. Richard and Mildred relocated with their children to the inner city of Washington, D.C. While relatives made them feel welcome there, the more urban environment did not feel like home to them. Ultimately, the pull of their roots in Virginia would spur Mildred to try to find a way back.
Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry. Richard and Mildred returned home and their love story has become an inspiration to couples ever since. Loving began production in the fall of 2015. In a further emphasis on authenticity in recounting the Lovings‟ story, the movie was made on location in Virginia.

It’s no wonder that lead actress Ruth Negga has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. Her southern American accent is scarily authentic and it was a total surprise to discover that she’s an Irish born and bred lass!

Loving is a film that’s mind-blowing when I consider how much of the population is mixed-race, inter racial, whatever term you feel comfortable using.
Most of my nearest and dearest are of mixed culture, creed and background and the idea that within the past century, their parents hooking up was illegal, is simply inconceivable.

Based in the state of Virginia, many are shocked to learn that this all took place in the past century, but interracial marriage is still frowned upon in some parts of the world, and considering the political world changes and President Trumps current journey, has much changed out there?

There have been a spate of inter racial relationship films being made in recent years, with A United Kingdom also being released this year too. It’s interesting that these tales are all coming the forefront at this politically unstable time.

Its also interesting that the Lovings fought to be married just a few decades ago yet now research globally shows that the sanctity of marriage is dying across the modern world. Its important that these hidden stories are told so that we can gain perspective on our parents and grandparents generations and the struggle and times that they endured.

I often wonder when it comes to life styles and law (gun laws, abortion rights etc), whether the UK are decades ahead of the USA, especially also in terms of interracial harmony and mixed marriages and families? Are Americans becoming less tolerant of ‘other races”?

For many years recently there have been numerous black stories and casts leading cinema narratives.
For a long time the stories were based around stories of suppression like 12 years a slave, Mandela, The Help and more.
I find it extremely refreshing that now the balance is also seeing historical inspiring tales like Hidden Figures becoming popular.

Richard and Mildred‟s history is now told anew by acclaimed writer/director Jeff Nichols in Loving. “I was struck by the simplicity of their beautiful love story,” says the filmmaker.
Richard, who was white, and Mildred, who was African-American and Native-American, were an ordinary couple from Central Point, Virginia. They decided to marry and start a family. Yet, at that time in Virginia, what they did was against the law and they were arrested soon after getting married.

As the plaintiffs in Loving v. Virginia, they were catalysts for the Supreme Court decision that abolished anti-miscegenation laws – or, laws against interracial marriage – in the United States. In establishing marriage as a fundamental right, Loving v. Virginia is still frequently cited in court cases today, including in challenges to gay marriage bans.

But the Lovings were not activists; they merely reasonably expected that their fully legal marriage in Washington D.C. would suffice for them to live peacefully in their hometown of Central Point. Initially, they made no appeal after they were arrested for violating Virginia‟s anti-miscegenation laws, and agreed to a plea bargain that effectively banished them from their home state.

When the Lovings finally sought legal aid in 1963, their sole aim was to be able to get back to – and live in their – home. It was only in 1965, at the urging of their attorneys Bernard Cohen and Philip Hirschkop, that the couple agreed to go public with their story and talk to the press. After the Supreme Court handed down its decision in their favor in June 1967, the Lovings went back to their everyday lives and to raising their three children in Central Point, and rarely gave interviews.

In 2008, the surviving member of the couple, Mildred, passed away. Reading about Mildred, documentary filmmaker Nancy Buirski was moved by the Lovings‟ unshakable devotion to one another – and by the contemporary relevance of their case. Buirski decided to make a documentary feature about Richard and Mildred Loving. Her research led her to television news producer Hope Ryden, who had spent hours filming the Lovings at home in 1965 and then returned in 1967 for ABC-TV to profile them on the eve of the ruling. That footage and other archival resources, including luminous photos by Life Magazine photographer Grey Villet, were utilized by Buirski in writing, producing, and directing The Loving Story.

The Lovings‟ surviving child, Peggy Loving, was a consultant to the production. She visited the set and was struck by how thoroughly the actors had channelled her parents – in character and in costume.

The documentary played at festivals in 2011 before being shown on HBO on Valentine‟s Day, 2012. It won a Peabody Award and an Emmy Award, among other honors, and captivated audiences and critics alike with its depiction of a committed and courageous couple who, above all else, were very much in love.

One of those captivated viewers was Academy Award-winning actor Colin Firth, who was already aware of the documentary; Buirski had been in contact with Firth regarding a feature version of the story after learning from Firth‟s wife Livia of his interest in American politics and social history. By 2009, Buirski and Firth were brainstorming a narrative structure and began working on a screenplay.

FILM PRODUCER GED DOHERTY AND COLIN FIRTH.

In January 2011, Firth called Buirski to tell her that he was teaming with Ged Doherty to launch a production company, Raindog Films and that as a first project, he had brought up to Doherty a narrative feature version of The Loving Story. Buirski remembers, “Colin had just won the Golden Globe Award for The King’s Speech but I was the one who was overjoyed!” Buirski remembers.

Doherty remarks, “Colin was very taken with the simplicity of the story, with how this ordinary couple made a huge difference in the lives of other couples.

RAINDOG FILMS – GED DOHERTY.

“After watching the documentary, I became obsessed. I literally did not sleep for 48 hours because I was looking at everything I could find online. Yes, this was a landmark legal case, but first and foremost at its heart it was a beautiful love story. Colin and I felt more people worldwide should know about the Lovings, and we were determined to tell their story as a dramatic feature based in part on Nancy‟s documentary.”
The next step was to find a writer and director. When the three producers saw Jeff Nichols‟ Mud at a specially arranged screening in 2012, they sensed that the filmmaker‟s cinematic sensibility and intuitive depictions of Southern men and women would be ideal for the film they wanted to make.

Doherty adds, “We also watched Take Shelter. With Jeff’s work the tension and drama are rich and often are in what is not said; he conveys so much with just a look to the camera or a shot of a landscape. We felt that would suit Richard and Mildred Loving, and the character of people that they were.”

Having already made three feature films, Nichols had not considered writing or directing a film that wasn’t a product of his own imagination. Still, he agreed to consider the project – and its story, which intrigued him.
Nichols watched the documentary and noted the import and continuing positive impact of Loving v. Virginia. But he was most drawn to Richard and Mildred’s quiet determination to live and love as they chose.

OSCAR NOMINATED RUTH NEGGA.

Negga had been deeply affected by The Loving Story. She explains, “I thought the documentary was brilliant and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of Richard and Mildred before. I was completely fascinated, not only because Loving v. Virginia was a landmark civil rights case, but also because theirs is the most beautiful love story. Their story just stayed with me. All Mildred wanted was to be able to be married to the man she loved. Not every hero has a loud voice.

“Jeff’s script tells the story of two people in love, not two activists – even though they did change the course of American legal history. I feel that all of his films are about everyday people.”
Once she had gotten the script pages, the actress holed up in her L.A. hotel room for three days to prepare, trying to channel Mildred as best she could. She reports, “I watched the documentary over and over again and worked on those scenes from the script like I had never worked on anything before. I felt such an affinity with Mildred and I couldn’t imagine not playing the part.”

‘Loving’ film’s portrayal of interracial marriage is relevant today and I have all my fingers and toes crossed for February 26th in hope that Negga wins the Oscar she so very dearly deserves.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY RTS FUTURES / PAUL HAMPARTSOUMIAN.

The RTS Futures annual careers fair was the ULTIMATE TV careers fair this year, with just under 1000 young people from all over the UK attending the new location for the fair – Islingtons Business Design Centre.

DYNAMO THE MAGICIAN THAT TOOK OVER UK TV AND IS NOW A GLOBAL LIVE AND TELEVISION STAR.

Every UK TV broadcaster attended with a stall, where they exhibited their TV brand and informed inquisitive young people about the opportunities up for grabs in TV world all across the country.

As well as stalls around the circumference of the hall, there were new areas like the ASK ME ANYTHING area where TV staff from all across the industry fielded hundreds of questions from people all day about their jobs. Costume designs from dramas, make up for TV experts, exec producers, development teams, commissioners and so much more answered anything you’ve always wanted to know about getting a job in the industry.

On the other side of the hall was the extremely popular CV CLINIC, where TV professionals were happy to advise and consult (for free) for all those that had remembered to bring their CV’s along and whip them into tip-top condition.

As if that wasn’t enough, off in a side hall were the best hourly panel sessions, which were fascinating!

Experts from all across the industry spoke about various themes such as ‘how to spot talent’ and more.

It was media gold info that even seasoned professionals in the industry could’ve learnt from.

RTS Futures Chair and TV legend Donna Taberer oversaw the very successful day that was even trending on twitter!

JASMINE (ON THE RTS FUTURES COMMITTEE), WITH DONNA TABERER (CHAIR OF RTS FUTURES).

ITV NEWS ANCHOR CHARLENE WHITE WITH MEDIA TRUST’S LONDON360 REPORTERS BOTH PAST AND PRESENT.

The wonderful ITV news host Charlene White popped by and volunteered to take questions for 20 minutes in a moment I dubbed #60SecondsWithCharleneWhite

CHARLENE TAKES QUESTIONS FROM QUEUE’S OF YOUNG PEOPLE INSPIRED BY HER JOURNEY.

As if that wasn’t enough to keep us all occupied all day from 10am when the doors opened until 7pm when we had to throw people out, there were also a guest appearance from the incredible TV magician Dynamo, who also spoke about how he and his tenacious manager Dan Albian had managed to break into the industry, and take the Dyanmo brand to its now, global success, (you can read that whole interview very soon in The National Student magazine online).

Everyone commented on what an amazing day it was both for TV broadcasters looking to recruit new, young talent, as well as young people being a lot more focused and gaining clarity on all their questions around the industry.

REPORTERS FROM LONDON360 MULTI PLATFORM TRAINING AT MEDIA TRUST, INTERVIEW RTS HEAD THERESA WISE.

Attendees even got to sit in the Game Of Thrones throne (I had my breakfast in it at 10am) and Viacom (MTV/CHANNEL 5/COMEDY CENTRAL/ NICKELODEON) even had a ring light GIF stand where we were all very silly posing and shrieking with laughter.

VIRTUAL REALITY EXCITEMENT COURTESY OF THE SKY TEAM, AT RTS FUTURES CAREERS FAIR 2017!

The day was a perfect microcosm of telly world. We talk- a lot- meet new people, get offered stuff, agree to stuff, reject stuff, ask more questions, talk a lot, pose, roar with laughter and have a great time. No two days in media are ever the same. It’s the best job in the world!

Attendees this year also heard from apprentices past and present as they talked about their experiences of applying, what they did during the scheme and what they’ve done afterwards.
So whether you want to get into development, become a journalist or want to do the artwork for productions like Channel 4’s Indian Summers, there’s a scheme for you!
Join us next year at the RTS Futures ULTIMATE Careers Fair 2018!

Follow @RTS_Futures on twitter.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE RTS TEAM ON ANOTHER AMAZING EXPERIENCE FOR YOUNG, FUTURE TV LEADERS!

The G.O.A.T Sneakers exhibit was a fun, fab and educational spot to check out.
The exhibit is on for another week and if you’re a trainer freak you won’t want to miss it.

The exhibit showcases the most classic era of trainers. The most popular, the most valuable, the history behind them, political stories, hip hop anecdotes, it’s really entertaining and informative.

Apparently this is what the inside of a trainer obsessed collector’s mind looks like;

Lets cut to the chase. This is what you came for. Here are the top trainers of all time- I knew adidas would top the list!

So many fascinating stories, like the one about the two feuding brothers who launched adidas and puma.

We were informed about facts like adidas WEREN’T the first to launch stripes sneakers…

but this was one of the very first EVER trainers made. #AdidasSamba

Here are the runners up that DIDN’T make the winners list.

There’s lots of info on your trainers that you never knew! Who knew!

Fascinating stories and info about one of the biggest inspirations behind a ”sneaker”

…and even outrageous product placement issues that made the brand bigger..

Owning cool kicks is an obsession. I have around 100 easily.

I have trainers that are this old from the 80’s- really.

And i was one of the first to have these when they made a comeback….

The G.O.A.T wore adidas.

NAO- AT THE BRITS 2017 LAUNCH.
All images courtesy – John Marshall.

BRITS ALL RIGHT

So this time last year, there was uproar on both sides of the pond when the #oscarssowhite and #britssowhite tweets were bouncing across the globe demanding more diversity and an equal playing field for everyone.
Very quickly both brands responded by re-hauling their voting academies, and whilst there was much cynicism on the part of the public, music and film industries and indeed the new panelists themselves, this week, within just a few months, it was proven to have worked.

In one of the most clear and powerful case studies to date about how diversity strategies work, the UK’s BRIT Awards (British Record Industry Trust), which is the biggest music show from the UK that airs globally, has stepped up to the plate, acknowledged its short-comings and made positive change.

EMELI SANDE AT THE BRITS 2017 LAUNCH.

A few months ago myself and many other names like singer Lily Allen and grime star Stormzy, joined in the heated debate as to why the BRITs never seemed to acknowledge the British black music acts that came from rap and grime backgrounds. One famous female black music act was run into the ground on social media for her colour blind comments which suggested that there was no problem.

In a few months the umbrella brand that runs The Brit Awards – The BPI – has removed around a third of the more stalwart voters on the academy who were no longer involved in the UK music industry, and added a fresh line up of younger, more female and more voters from ethnic backgrounds (including me- I ticked every box!) that were more representative overall of the UK’s make up, leading to a totally different type of line up of star name nominees acknowledged this year.

JASMINE DOTIWALA AT THE BRITS LAUNCH 2017.
Photo image – Monique Richards.

This weekend, the BRIT Awards revealed in a live show televised across the UK on ITV, its 2017 nominees and boy was it a revelation! The nominee make-up was totally different to previous years where we were more used to, erm, a certain type of act from a very specific background getting a nod of honour.

CRAIG DAVID PERFORMS AT THE BRITS 2017 LAUNCH.

Following these changes, there are over 20 nominations for BAME artists at this year’s awards. BAME names like Craig David, Kano, Michael Kiwanuka and Skepta have all been nominated for the best British male category alongside David Bowie whilst Nao, Emile Sande and Lianne La Havas are nominated for best British female, while Stormzy who called the awards “embarrassing” last year for ignoring grime artists, has been shortlisted for best British breakthrough. A big difference.

MICAHEL KIWANUKA AT THE BRITS 2017 LAUNCH.

This year one of grime music’s biggest names – Skepta – is a leading name with three nominations. This, after years of most UK black music acts as well as the grime music genre being totally over-looked. Skepta shares this top-billing with the UK’s biggest girl band, pop starlets, Little Mix who also lead with three. The band will also perform at this year’s ceremony as well as The 1975 and Emeli Sandé.

Skepta’s three nominations are for British Male Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Act and Mastercard British Album of the Year for the critically acclaimed album ‘Konnichiwa’. His first ever BRIT Award nominations follow a phenomenal year including his highest ever chart success.

After the nominees were revealed Skepta co-signed his manager Grace Ladoja’s social media comments, who wrote in a post: “They have to accept us as equals… They have to accept there is a new blueprint in music.”

The journalist’s cliché ‘’only time will tell’’ applies here if you’re wondering whether Skepta will be Craig David-ed. Yes I did just use Craig David as a verb here. In the last 16 years poor Craig has been nominated for a grand total of 16 BRIT Awards and won….none. In the launch show this weekend just gone Craig performed alongside his peers Christine and the Queens, Calum Scott and Critics’ Choice Winner Rag’n’Bone Man.

RAG ‘N’ BONE MAN PERFORMS AT THE 2017 BRITS LAUNCH.

One winner from this years show has already been announced. Brits Critics Choice winner is Rag’n’ Bone Man (Rory Graham). Before being lauded as a singer / songwriter, Rory was actually a drum n bass MC from the jungle and pirate radio scene and also worked as a carer before eventually getting into the blues. He is refreshingly un pop star-like with his very dad-like physique and image.

David Bowie and Leonard Cohen have both been recognised posthumously. The late Bowie, as expected, received two posthumous nominations in British Male Solo Artist and Mastercard Album of the Year with Leonard Cohen receiving his first BRIT Award nomination in International Male Solo Artist.

Two nominations each go to The 1975, Kano, Michael Kiwanuka, Calvin Harris, James Arthur, Clean Bandit, Jonas Blue, Tinie Tempah and Coldplay and amazingly, Sisters Beyoncé and Solange go head to head in the International Female Solo Artist category. See, when you include younger, more connected, streaming, engaged music lovers who are much more in tune with the population’s tastes you are left with a vastly different final result. The bottom line here is that small steps count and even if these more ‘diverse’ acts don’t win thats no problem, at least they are finally being recognized.

Also receiving two nominations each are Kano (British Male Solo Artist, Mastercard British Album of the Year), and Michael Kiwanuka (British Male Solo Artist, Mastercard British Album of the Year) and The 1975 (British Group, Mastercard British Album of the Year). The melanin just keeps on coming. This years nominees do really feel like a more balanced, realistic reflection of what’s really popping in the UK music scene.

SINGER ANNE-MARIE AT THE BRITS 2017 LAUNCH.

Its not just the nominations that reflect a forward looking brand. The BRITs are also acknowledging the digital world domination, by naming not the usual FM radio stations of yesterday as media partners, but Apple Music as the official music streaming and download partner for this years event.

BRITs Chairman Jason Iley (who must’ve been relived that all was finally well and healthy with his brand) gushed: “The 2017 BRIT nominations reflect a diverse and rich year in music both in the UK and internationally. Huge artists from the past, present and future are represented. From pop, to indie, to grime, to rock; it’s a brilliant and varied roll call of talent – a fantastic showcase for what’s happening in music right now.”

BROADCASTER MAYA JAMA AT THE BRITS 2017 LAUNCH.

A few years ago we would’ve moaned and complained behind closed doors about the lack of diversity at brands and known that nothing would change. However the Internet and social media has turned that notion on its head. People powered change is a thing. In a few moments a hash tag can spread around the world and we have the Internet to thank for making our universe a smaller, more connected planet. One small step at a time, we can change things to be equal for us all.

As my fellow Capricorn King Martin Luther King said ‘’commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in’’.

About BRIT – British Record Industry Trust
It’s important to understand how these brands and voting academies work. The BRIT (British Record Industry Trust) Awards are organised by the BPI – the record labels’ association that promotes British music. The BPI’s membership is made up of over 370 independent labels as well as the UK’s three major record companies – collectively they account for over 80 per cent of the music consumed in the UK and around one in six of all the artist albums sold around the world. 2017 will celebrate the Awards 37th show since its debut year in 1977 (which was followed by a short break of a couple of years).

The BRIT Awards have established themselves as a global music institution that annually celebrates UK chart and commercial successes. Last year (2016) The BRITs celebrated an incredible night in British music with Adele picking up four Awards as well as giving a show stopping performance.

The Awards raised an incredible £265k for Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and The BRIT Trust from live performance downloads and streams from the ceremony. The BRIT Awards annually raises funds for The BRIT Trust charity, whose main beneficiaries are the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology, Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and other selected charities. To date, over £16.8million has been raised for The BRIT Trust charity.

Over 8,000 young people have been given free education and the opportunity to enter the BRIT School since its opening in 1991 and more than 10,000 children and adults have been helped by the extraordinary music therapy work carried out by Nordoff-Robbins.

The BRIT Awards 2017 with Mastercard will exclusively broadcast live on ITV – on Wednesday 22nd February 2017 from The O2 Arena, London

So a quick win for Christmas presents on my side are tickets for music shows and one just popped up that i know i will be gathering a huge group together for a fun night out.

JASMINE AND ASHANTI AT AN EARLY MOBO AWARDS IN LONDON.

R&B LEGENDS JOE & ASHANTI – are coming to the UK and Live in Concert for two big dates.

Saturday 25th February 2017 at the O2 Academy Birmingham & Sunday 26th February 2017 at the Hammersmith Eventim Apollo London.

JASMINE AND JOE.

The two mega US R&B icons of the ‘90’s and the early 2000’s will come together for the first time in history for the first major R&B concert of 2017 and I for one am getting out my old albums from both artists to get myself ready.

I first met Joe at his very first London showcase at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill Gate. I remember it to this day. He wore really ridiculously baggy jeans, a red sweatshirt and a Tupac-esque bandana as he serenaded us with his hits from ”My name is Joe”.

After that I met him on numerous occasions for MTV News interviews, Christmas and New Years in Acapulco with Mariah, and he even came to one of my annual birthday parties in Kensington the same year as Usher and just got down with the vibes. A true legend. I can still play his albums back to back and sing along all day long.

Joe is a Grammy nominated songwriter,and certainly needs no introduction to die hard R&B fans. Serenading true R&B and New Jack Swing lovers of the ‘90’s with his debut album ‘Everything’ and hit song ‘I’m In Luv’; his second (sophomore) album, ‘All That I Am’ in 1997, earned him his position, as the King of R&B.

With over 14+ years of ground breaking and heartfelt ballads and songs, 12 albums and more than 15 million records sold, Joe has became the voice of many men and women in love, with some of his biggest songs of his career including ‘Don’t Wanna Be a Player’, ‘Stutter’, ‘If I Was Your Man’ and ‘Thank God I Found You’ featuring Mariah Carey and Nas.

Set to hit the stage performing his R&B classics and songs from his 2016 12th studio album, ‘#MyNameIsJoeThomas’ including his rendition of Adele’s diamond selling single ‘Hello’ and debut single off the album ‘So I Can Have You Back’.

JASMINE AND ASHANTI AT AN MTV NEWS SHOOT.

Grammy award winning singer Ashanti is one of the most successful female artists of the millennium. Stepping on the scene with successful collaborations with Hip Hop heavyweights Fat Joe’s ‘What’s Luv?’ and Ja Rule’s ‘Always on Time’, followed by her triple platinum self titled debut album – ‘Ashanti’; the first lady of Murder Inc, released unforgettable hits such as, ‘Foolish’, ‘Happy’ and ‘Baby’, becoming the second artist of all time after The Beatles to have ever had their first three chart entries simultaneously in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

I first met Ashanti when Ja Rule and Irv Gotti introduced her to me many years ago at MTV. She was always TV ready, media trained yet fun and totally professional and fun.
I also filmed a few VMA shows with her in New York where we had fun during sound check breaks.

JASMINE AND ASHANTI AND THE RADIO CITY HALL AT THE VMA’S SHOW.

The talented songstress will return to the UK for the first time in three years and is set to release her upcoming sixth studio album in 2017.

It’s always a risk to see our Nineties legends in concert so many years after their hey-day in case they do a K Ci and let us down, but i can honestly say i know this will be a great gig. Both acts have pipes for days and would never knowingly be anything less than great live onstage.

It’s time to celebrate the amazing music of these two legends in one night, taking you from the 90s, right through to the noughties!

Tickets for this EXCLUSIVE show start from £32 and will be available to purchase at www.ticketmaster.co.uk, www.ticketweb.co.uk and www.eventimapollo.com from Friday 16th December 2016.
See you there!

NOEL CLARKE PRESENTS AN AWARD TO GAL-DEM.
All images – Richard Pascoe Photography / Digital iS Media Awards 2016.

Last night, hundreds of future leaders from the UK’s untapped digital world gathered at the May Fair Hotel in central London, to celebrate the biggest movers and shakers online from the past twelve months.

Awards show hosts; Joivan Wade , Percelle ‘Percy’ Ascott and Dee Kaate.

The ceremony was hosted by Joivan Wade (Doctor Who, E4 Youngers and Wall of Comedy), Percelle ‘Percy’ Ascott (Silent Witness, Wizards v Aliens, and Wall of Comedy) alongside Dee Kaate (Wall of Comedy) – who were previously collectively known as Man Dem On The Wall.

Presenters on the night included BAFTA Award winner Noel Clarke, who presented Gal Dem with Favourite Arts & Entertainment/Lifestyle Site/Mag.

Global producer and hit maker Naughty Boy presented the Favourite Web Series Actress to Ola Adaeze, star of Boxx.

Breaking the mould in radio broadcast were winners Not For The Radio who picked up Favourite Online Talk Show. With their basic panel set-up of four presenters interviewing one solo music star for over an hour, they have de-bunked everything that media content makers are told about creating short, snappy, highlights. NFTR viewers are tuning in and staying logged into these long informal chats for up to two hours at a time!

The NFTR award was presented by Jodie Abacus – the hot new soul sensation named by Elton John as ‘one to watch’ for 2017.

The coveted Favourite Web Series Ensemble Award was went to A Lesson Learnt, presented by actor Kofi Abrefa, best known for treading the boards at The National (A Taste of Honey) and staring in Channel 4’s future robot saturated world – Humans.

Gal Dem winners!

Hood Documentary were the big winners on the night taking home two awards for Favourite Web Series and Best Web Series Actor, which went to Kayode Ewumi. The spoof documentary follows wannabe Grime MC Roll Safe as he guides viewers around the ‘hood’.

Media Industry Key Influencers Attend The Evening To Check Out The Talent.

A Dot Comedian,a talent who I’ve known since his early days when he was hustling the underground comedy scene, is known for his theatre shows, MTV and ITV credits, and won Favourite Online Comedian.

Google’s Social Media Manager Mercedes Benson presented an award on the night.

Charles Thompson MBE,is the man and founder of the Screen Nation Awards (over twenty years ago) and more recently the Screen Nation Digital iS Media Awards (in 2014). Charles is at the vanguard of celebrating and giving a voice to a ‘hidden community’ – a subject that my London360 reporters have just made a TV special about for Community Channel (SKY,Virgin, Freeview) and London Live, titled ‘London Undercover’, so it’s an area getting much focus currently.

Aaron Roach-Bridgman Presented The Honorary Awards.

When Charles launched the Screen Nation Digital iS Media Awards three years ago to recognise and reward excellence, from this ‘hidden community’; literally millions of online Black British talent, YouTube superstars and business entrepreneurs had already saturated the digital landscape. Even major brands like Huffington Post have a Black Voices brand – they understand this is a rapidly growing, very economically-strong demographic with a commercial mind-set.

This hidden community with it’s DIY ethos, is made up of millennials who are creating vlogs, blogs, news platforms, apps, games, comedy and web series which are being viewed by millions of other millenials globally, yet are practically ignored by the UK mainstream media.

KSI for example, is a black Londoner who is one of the biggest web stars on the planet. Do you think he’s a household name? No. Yet when I attended his recent film premiere at the O2, hundreds of young people were hysterically screaming for him and his peers. The adults? No clue.

The #DigitaliSMediaAwards has been the only awards show to recognise these talented young stars and give them validation and it’s growing annually.

For example, nominated for the Digital Achievement Award was Fanbytes, which reaches millions of millennials and is the UK’s largest social video platform. Forbes described Tim Armoo and Ambrose Cooke, the duo behind Fanbytes as ‘the millennials redefining how brands market to other millenials’. These innovators count huge brands like Disney, adidas, New Look, Go Pro and Nickelodeon as their clients.

Emerging YouTube stars such as King Cas, (who can count BAFTA winning actor John Boyega as a fan) had over 2 million views on Facebook for his first show, yet you would struggle to find him featured in any mainstream media or Kayode Ewumi, 22 year old, comedian, creator and star of Hood Documentary. The online series was so successful it has now been commission by (ironically, now, an online platform) BBC Three.

A vast array of talent is being ignored by the old school media gate-keepers, yet this talent is clearly an enormous force to be reckoned with, commanding both trendsetting power and as well as tremendous influence.

Internet stars Tights and Kay persuade me – actually not much persuasion was needed- to act a fool.

I’ve mentioned this repeatedly in the past in my past columns but all too often UK media often questions whether we need the MOBO awards, Asian Awards, BUFF Film Festival, Screen Nation Awards, British Black List, Screen Nation Digital iS Media Awards? Yes we do, for without these, all of this great talent would continue to go unrecognised and more importantly championed the way ‘the rest’ are.

Jasmine with The Colour Network co-founder – Annika Allen.

Take Annika Allen, the Co-Founder of The Colour Network which is an online TV platform commissioning its own content from new digital stars of the future.

Or Dionne Grant, a former editor at The Voice news paper who has now left the old school print press brand, to set up her own news platform titled The Young Empire.

The Awards, now in their third year, were established to celebrate innovative Black talent in new media: web show creators and content makers, who write, cast, shoot and edit live on location on their mobile devices, bluetooth the content back to a live gallery for airing on mainstream broadcast networks as well as their own YouTube channels. A double win.

These superhero digital creators then market their content via social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope and more to generate voluminous fan bases all across the globe.

So the next time you’re sitting comfortably watching your favourite weekly soap on a mainstream channel, think about the digital monster that has its tentacles spread across young peoples eyes, ears and hearts.

There’s a movement that’s been going on right under your noses. Are you a part of recognising it’s power and journey and jumping on board? Or will you be crushed under it’s momentum and force as it sweeps past you into the new age?

#DigitaliSMediaAwards /#DigitaliSMediaAwards2016

WINNERS 2016

Favourite Web Series Actor
Ishmael Majid – Levelz
Kayode Ewumi – Hood Documentary – WINNER
Khaleb Brooks – Boxx
King Cas – New Skool Life
Kingsley Amadi – Spin (Season Finale)
Michael Gyekye – How Did We Get Here
Stephen Boyce – How Did We Get Here
Sylvester Akinrolabu – A Lesson Learnt

Favourite Web Series Actress
Joanne Sandi – A Lesson Learnt, TV Footballers
Kamara Bacchus – How Did We Get Here
Linda Adey – Dear Jesus
Natalie Gumede – Sally the Life Coach
Olu Adaeze – Boxx – WINNER
Scarlett Carter – A Lesson Learnt
Vanessa Donovan – Shrink

Favourite Web Series Ensemble
A Lesson Learnt S1 – Wondervision Films – WINNER
Boxx S1 – Joi Productions in Assn with Plot Lost Prods
Concealed S1 – Sandra Koree/Clever Lens Media Production
Dear Jesus S4 – Wonderlondon
Levelz S1 – Paul Opara, Shawn John, Malik Marli/Ezeo Media
New Skool Life S1 – Street Seven Films
Spin S2 (Season Finale) – Spin Drama TV

Favourite Web Series
A Lesson Learnt S1 – Priscilla Owusu, Danny Wonders/Wondervision Films
Boxx S1 – Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Yrsa Daley-Ward/Joi Productions in Assn with Plot Lost Prods
Dear Jesus S4 – Danielle A Scott-Haughton/Wonderlondon
Hood Documentary S1 – Tryrell Williams/TkCreatives – WINNER
Hot Pepper S1 – Destiny Ekaragha/2far Films
How Did We Get Here S2 – Cardy Films/Bwng
Shrink S1 – Katrina Smith Jackson, Trish M. Chanda/Auteur Vision Media
TV Footballers S1 – Matthew Allick, Chris Alozie/Allick Productions

Favourite Short Film
Deep It – Dir. Teddy Nygh / Prod Nick Bedu -WINNER
Fabric of The Royals – Dir./Wri. Verona Rose
New Beginnings – Dir Nicole Volavka
The Works – Dir./Wri. Elliot Barnes-Worrell
Wild in the Wind – Dir./Wri. Ejiro Okorodudu
Wilton – Dir./Wri. Cecile Emeke

Favourite Online Comedian
A Dot Comedian WINNER
Arnold Jorge
Ds Rants’n’Bants
Tommy Moutchi
Uncle Rafool

Favourite Podcast
3 Shots Of Tequila – https://soundcloud.com/3shotsoftequila WINNER
Artistic State Of Mind – https://soundcloud.com/artistic-state-mind
Half Cast/Chuckie Online – https://soundcloud.com/chuckieonline
Melanin Millennials – https://soundcloud.com/melaninmillennials
Mostly Lit – https://soundcloud.com/mostly-lit
Tea And Biscuits – https://soundcloud.com/tea-biscuits-1

FAVORITE ONLINE TALK SHOW
Not For The Radio

FAVORITE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/LIFESTYLE SITE/MAG
Gal-Dem

FAVORITE YOUTH ENTERTAINMENT/LIFESTYLE SITE/MAG
GRM Daily

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

FAVORITE WEB SERIES ACTOR
Kayode Ewumi

FAVORITE WEB SERIES ACTRESS
Olu Adaeze

FAVORITE WEB SERIES ENSEMBLE
A Lesson Learnt

FAVORITE WEB SERIES
#HoodDocumentary

FAVORITE SHORT FILM
Deep It

FAVORITE ONLINE COMEDIAN
A Dot Comedian

FAVORITE PODCAST
3 Shots Of Tequila

FAVORITE ONLINE TALK SHOW
Not For The Radio

FAVORITE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/LIFESTYLE SITE/MAG
Gal-Dem

FAVORITE YOUTH ENTERTAINMENT/LIFESTYLE SITE/MAG
GRM Daily

Digital Achievement (honorary)
Steven Bartlett
Timothy Armoo & Ambrose Cooke

The London360 junior interns Miranda, Kavita, Rute, Eunice, Cleo), were on hand with social media all evening and #DigitaliSMediaAwards was trending!

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

Who Is Akala?

JASMINE WITH AKALA.

BAFTA and MOBO award winning hip hop artist, writer/poet and historian AKALA is a label owner and social entrepreneur who fuses unique rap/rock/electro-punk sound with fierce lyrical storytelling.

Inspired by the likes of Saul Williams and Gil Scot Heron, over the years, Akala has developed a stellar live show with his renowned drummer/award winning music producer Cassell ‘TheBeatmaker’ (Plan B/The Streets/Keziah Jones) headlining 8 UK tours as well as touring with the likes of Jay Z, Nas & Damian Marley, M.I.A. and Christina Aguilera to Siouxsie Sue, Damon Albarn’s (‘Blur’/Gorillaz’) ‘Africa Express’ and Richard Ashcroft, appearing at numerous UK / European and US festivals (Glastonbury, Big Chill, Wireless, V, Hove and SXSW) as well as taking part in British Council arts education/music projects across several countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, The Philippines, New Zealand and Australia.

Akala has more recently been known for his compelling lectures/seminars and journalism (The Guardian, Huffington Post UK and The Independent), TV presenting and scriptwriting. Over the last few years he has also gained a reputation as one of the most dynamic and literate talents in the UK.

Akala has also featured on numerous TV programmes and fronted documentaries across Channel 4, ITV2, MTV, Sky Arts and the BBC promoting his music, poetry as well as speaking on wide ranging subjects from music, youth engagement, British / African Caribbean culture and the arts as a whole.

In 2009, Akala launched the ‘The Hip-hop Shakespeare Company’; a music theatre production company which has sparked worldwide media interest since its inception. Previous clients/collaborators include: BBC, Premier League, Mastercard, London 2012, British actor; Sir Ian McKellen together with artist’s; Ed Sheeran, Ms. Dynamite Lady Leshurr and many more.

This past month he has been on the road with his ‘’Ten Years Of Akala’’ 27-date UK tour that ends in Cambridge on 31st October, the majority of the dates have been sold out.

The album ‘Ten Years Of Akala’ was released on 23rd Sept 2016 and to celebrate 10 years since the release of Akala’s critically acclaimed debut album It’s Not ARumour, Illa State, Akala’s very own independent home record label, are proud to announce they will be releasing a triple vinyl of selected tracks from each of his six albums chosen especially by his supporters online. This special edition album will be also available for download in digital format with several new tracks.

To mark this unique milestone, Akala has been stepping out with his band on a live ‘10th Anniversary Tour’, taking his hard hitting live show to venues all across the UK and Ireland.

His biggest tour to date and in conjunction with Live Nation, this whirlwind tour was a real treat for his fans as he performed classic tracks from the ‘Ten Years Of Akala’ album alongside some special guests too.

The tour finishes this week in Cambridge on 31st October.

Ten Years of Akala gives one pause for thought – here is an artist that had it in him to keep his fierce independence when it was not fashionable, has performed in over 30 countries, released 6 albums, two books, presented the seminal ‘Life of Rhyme’ for Channel 4, founded The Hip-hop Shakespeare Company and has been a tireless voice for education and social justice in the UK and all over the world.

In fact, in one of my early conversations with him years ago in the Nineties, I recall begging him to make a couple of ”more commercial tracks” to help him jump off bigger in the mainstream and he said it just wasn’t his way. He wanted to stay true to himself and he really did.

Akala does so much it can be easy to forget that first and foremost he is an amazing musician.

Ten Years Of Akala

The shows were full of diverse audiences and had something for everyone. Hip-hop, grime, metal vibes as well as stadium anthems, spoken word, comedy and activism. His live show is 90 minutes of relentless tracks, backed by intense and stunning visuals, live drums, a DJ and with no need for a ‘hype man’.

He opens up with a musical Intro, Let It All Happen, and then Shakespeare. To the audiences delight he performs his much lauded Fire In the Booth, and recites a piece from his book Ruins.

His set also included some film visuals, which included past videos of himself over the last 10 years, as well as images of powerful black people of influence over the last 50 years. There were also images of the various wars and upheaval around the world.

Halfway through the show he appears onstage dressed up as a character that resembles the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist, but Akala references as a character called Pompous Peterson.

On the London date at Koko, Akala was joined by three guests onstage;
1. His rap peer Low-key joined him on stage to perform Behind My Painted Smile.
2. Next, singer, songwriter/ music producer Marshall joined Akala to perform his new single “Giants”.
3. Finally performer Niles, wearing an interesting hat, joined him on stage for Sun Tzu.

Akala held the crowd’s interest from the second he appeared onstage with his live drummer and dj and had them eating out of his hand and following every command on his journey of high dynamic and more serious messaging throughout.

Cultural Influencer

A remarkable thing about Akala’s digital/social media is the number of influencers that follow him, making his online reach much greater than what would usually be possible with those kinds of numbers.

In terms of news, almost every major news and media agency in the US & UK has featured Akala in one way or another over the last 6 months.

This anniversary release reminds us of that and the growth of a talent that has toured the UK and globally, all whilst being largely ignored by mainstream radio for the past decade.

www.akalamusic.com

10 Years of Akala -order: http://akala.tmstor.es

How did SOS meet?

Mikey – We met at a local church at the age of 13/14. My family left a church that a grew up at playing drums to join another church where Moses was playing keys. Since then, playing in church together, we developed a passion for music production individually. We would check out each others work and give advise then we thought at one point – two heads are better than one – and formed SOS.

What was it like growing up in South London?

Mikey – Loved growing up in South London. Its such a diverse community with the likes of African, Caribbean and Asian cultures. South can be quite gritty but I’m glad of what it made me become. So many influences from the Nigerian roots in Peckham to the Jamaican love of Brixton.
Mo – South will always be home. The different cultures have aided to where we are now. It was never easy growing up there with it being so gritty and rough but I wouldn’t trade growing up there for anything.

When did you start producing?

Mikey – I started producing in year 7. I remember my music teacher showing the class this software called Cubase and how you could basically build your own song – I thought that this was the best thing ever! Growing up i used to listen to music thinking ” who made this has the best job ever” Now i had been given the tools too. So i used to re create my favourite songs then create original material for hours after school. Since then i haven’t looked back.
Mo – It began for me in year 10. My teacher showed me about this programming software where you could make beats and record vocals. I was so hooked , I couldn’t believe this was possible lol. Those early moments always remind me of how it all began!

When did you get your first break?

Mikey – Our first break came in LA – We worked on this kid called Deon Young on a record called “Party Life” ft French Montana. It happened all so fast – One min we were making the record in a writing session, to his AnR passing by the studio saying ” This instrumental is crazy send it to me by tomorrow morning to play in my Label meeting” , to eventually getting the vocals to French Montana sent to us.
You have an impressive CV. and you are both 25. You’ve worked with the likes of Wretch, Mel C, Stormzy (Took Trey out for now ) and Ariana Grande to name a few. How did this all happen at such young ages?

Mikey – Honestly hardwork and determination. Fortunately for us, our big mentor by the name of Harmony Samuels has taught us about the game and how to basically get your name and music out there. By working with him in LA on Ariana Grande’s first album “Yours Truly”, we were exposed to the tricks and trades of the music industry and business – returning to the UK with plan and goal – to work with a diverse range of artist, delivering great, real music every time! With consistency and the grace of God, we are where we are today – with that impressive CV.

Let’s talk about the Wretch album. Congrats! Has it exceeded all your expectations?

Mo – Growing over life! For me it’s done more than exceeded my expectation. It’s always about reaching the masses and making sure that your music touches someone. I believe we achieved that with this album. Wretch was honest and true. He took people on a journey and I know that everyone related to one track or the other. So yes it’s definitely surpassed expectation.

What are your favourite tracks on the album?

Mikey – Mine has to be PRESSURE, OPEN CONVERSATION AND SOMETHING

Mo – Has to be pressure and something!

Your track record shows that you are very versatile and can create many different styles of sounds. But how would you describe your sound?

Mo – Our sound can’t be described or associated with one genre. I would say we’re known for specific instruments. Like a bass line or particular drum sound/mix or even a constant/reoccurring synth. That’s how I would describe it.

How did you manage to secure a spice Girl to jump on a track with you?

Mikey – We recently signed our first deal with Peer Music in LA and we didnt know she was also signed to Peer Music. One thing led to another and the label placed us both in a session – She is amazing spirit – such a great heart and we’re so happy to be apart of such a dope project. Her comeback is going to be amazing!

As producers who do you look up to? Who do you aspire to be like?

Mikey – Quincy Jones is my Blueprint lol for what he has done for Popular Music alone, he is the greatest to do it – plus he produced Human Nature by Michael Jackson – the greatest produced song ever lol But im inspired by all the greats – Timberland , Rodney Jerkins, Max Martin etc.

Mo – Like Mike said Quincy jones has always been the inspiration and forefront for us. Pushed the boundary and worked and made the biggest pop star time. Doesn’t get better than that. However there are other greats who have contributed to inspiring me. Pharrell, Timbaland etc
We noticed that you have spent a lot of time in LA- what projects where you working on out there?
Mo – There’s a few projects coming from states side. We don’t want to jinx anything yet but there will be some known names attached to our beats and will be on the air waves very soon.

What do you prefer America or the UK?

Mikey – America lol simple

Mo – Easy answer. I do love UK but America is more accepting in terms of different genres! So yeah America

Nigerian Jollof or Ghana Jollof?

Mikey – Nigerian – Never understood the basmati movement lol but i have had a few Ghanaian Jollof that has done me well lol i was impressed. But yeah, Nigerian all the way – Shout out to all of my long grain brothers and sisters lol

You both have Nigerian roots. Do you like the Afrobeats sound? If so, who would you like to work with?

Mo – Our African roots has definitely contributed to our sound. The big drums and cross rhythms are a big part of our production. Afrobeats is really coming through in the uk. Think it’s great for Africa. I would for sure like to work with wiz kid. I Think his creativity is out of this world. That would be fun.

What’s coming up next? What should we look out for?

Mo- We have Stormzy album coming which we have a few records on. We also have Mel c album dropping in October and some other serious record states side. So keep your eyes and ears peeled for what’s to come!

If you are a hip hop lover, a music lover or simply an opened minded curious bystander, you won’t want to miss Hip Hop World News on BBC4 this evening at 9pm.

RUSSELL SIMMONS SITS DOWN WITH RODNEY P.

We are led on a journey by UK rapper Rodney P who takes us to meet key influencers and legends from the hip hop genre. From music stars, to hip hop activists to DJ’s and journalists, it’s a group that love and champion the culture but aren’t afraid to acknowledge its conflicting narratives and issues.

A godfather of the culture- Russell Simmons– who founded Def Jam Records and later Phat Farm clothing and laid the blueprint for younger hip hop multi hyphenates talks about Police brutality ‘’It’s been happening to black people in America for 400 years! Now we have iPhones now we have documentation. And they’re like ‘oh my God how’s that happening’. It’s been happening to black people in America for 400 years. The abuse of people of colour is an American phenomenon’’.
Another nugget of gold from Russell was his defence of hip hop culture being a materialistic world. ‘’No, materialism?, all they say is they want the shit that Americans are selling. The stuff that is high-end and aspirational equals the American Dream. That’s what hip-hop says they want. A lot of Hip Hop says that. Some people are not that interested in it. But certainly, wanting a Rolls Royce or some obnoxious car, big house, every American talks about that. They’re looking at Donald Trump like he’s a genius here. Nobody more obsessed with money and talking about how wealthy they are and buying stuff they don’t need than Donald Trump. I wouldn’t put that on hip-hop. I’d put that on the American psyche, and its affect on hip-hop, is that expression’’.

It’s awe inspiring to watch Rakim – arguably one of the greatest MC’s to touch the mic – reveal that how hip hop saved his life and talk about his influences ‘’I came up on Cold Crush Four, Grandmaster Caz, Furious Five, Melle Mel, Treacherous Three, Kool Moe D that was my favourite MCs!’’

RAKIM – THE GOD!

Its also touching to see our presenter Rodney get emotional during one particularly poignant moment as he realises the impact that a name that he is about to meet has had on his own life.

RODNEY GETS EMOTIONAL.

Rodney sets up the show with passion telling us ‘’I love Hip Hop. I love everything it stands for. I love its art, its beauty and its power And I love its ability to transform people’s lives. People like me. Hip Hop has given me the tools to see the world in new ways and a powerful language to express it
But I know that from the outside some people see the culture I represent as shallow, brash and even violent. The Hip Hop I know gives a voice to the voiceless. It’s a place where the disenfranchised feel heard and stories that you may not hear in the mainstream. I want to show you what the world looks like when it is seen through the lens of Hip Hop. And I’m going on a journey to meet some of the stars and key players who have helped to shape that view’’

The show reflects the many ways in which how Hip-hop empowers and educates and even influences at the highest levels. Hip-hop activist Kevin Powell suggests ‘’when you look at the ascension of Barack Obama, there were elements of hip-hop that helped to get him elected for sure!’’

UK rapper Ty explains why the culture has made him see the world from a different perspective ‘’Hip Hop taught me to look for the extra narrative in anything, so when I look at the news, I look for the extra narrative, I look for what I’m not being told as well what I am being told’’.

ESTELLE DISCUSSES FEMINISM.

Hip Hop World News covers difficult issues too – like the treatment of women and scantily dressed females that are associated with the genre. UK rapper Estelle admits ‘’ It’s misogynistic as hell. I always felt like I don’t have to be out here arse naked – you’re gonna pay attention to my words, if you need something to look at well then, I look fresh. So, look at that.’’

CHUCK D- THE LEGEND!

Public Enemy legend Chuck D reminisces about his early years ‘’We knew what we were doing when we did it, I mean of course, we grew up in the 60s we didn’t grow up in the 70s, growing up in the 60’s you know, from assassinations to Vietnam war, we seen impact. We saw the impact of the resistance against that, we saw the fight for civil rights, what we didn’t know is what was on the other end of the message, until we travelled there. So, when we first came over to the UK, it was like okay you know, they’re not getting enough of who they are and let’s talk about the similarities with all us, and let’s talk about things that they don’t know about us here, as well as talking about… so it was really a message to everyone saying that um, we’re connected. Hip Hop culture is the thing that ties us together as human beings because of our similarities, and not societal differences. This is where culture and governments are diametrically opposed. You know, governments wanna control people, culture wants to be able to free them’’.

American author, filmmaker, rapper, and professor at Morgan State University, (one of the youngest professors at the college) MK Assante explained ‘’We got kids in the hood in Baltimore, Chicago and Philly, they look at the police the same way the little Iraqi kids look at the American soldiers. As an outside force occupying the community!’’.

The wonderfully articulate Kevin Powell left me with the most food for thought and articulated my culture beautifully ‘’Hip Hop is as important as Shakespeare, I would even argue that it’s probably more important than Shakespeare at this point, and I love Shakespeare!’’.

Kevin ‘’To understand hip-hop, you have to understand the civil rights movement. Doctor King was killed in 1968, well a year before, someone named Clive Campbell came from Jamaica in the west indies, to New York to the Bronx. Kool Herc, one of the founding fathers of hip-hop. Dr King was talking about a poor people’s campaign at the end of his life. Who created Hip Hop? Poor African Americans, poor West Indians, poor Latinos in a place called the Bronx, New York. And so in a lot of ways Hip Hop, was a response to the failures of the civil rights movement, people moving away from what Dr King was urging people to do, pay attention to poverty, we gotta deal with poverty. And so when you think about Hip Hop… Its very essence is a social commentary, it doesn’t matter what the lyrics say. You got two turntables and microphone, some spray paint and magic markers, some sneakers, some cardboard. linoleum. That’s nothing, these are poor people taking what they had, and creating something out of that. So the very act of doing that is revolutionary!’’.

RISE OF THE YOUTUBERS

JASMINE WITH YOUTUBE GLOBAL MEGASTAR KSI.

This decade has seen the rise of the YouTubers in a way that no one could have ever predicted. The digital world takeover is sprinting ahead and leaving the naysayers behind.

Photo Courtesy – James Gillham.

This week I witnessed something in London, that reminded me of a few years ago, when record labels and old skool music industry stalwarts wafted away the internet streaming threats with disdain, claiming that music fans would always prioritize sound quality and chart play lists. A few years on, musicians have showed that the Internet has changed their world, given everyone an equal playing field and changed the game forever.

This week millions of film fans across the world watched a film premiere live on Facebook. The actual premiere was at London’s O2 dome where throngs of teen female fans were screaming in earnest for their hero’s. Pop stars? Film stars? Models? No. The rise of the teen geek was cemented. Hysterical fans were screaming for YouTube stars, who most of us had really never heard of. All except one. This star name has been bouncing around media and music circles for months now. KSI.

Olajide Olatunji, commonly known as KSI or ‘’JJ’’, is the most watched individual online in the UK. You will be hard pushed to find a 14-24 year old male in Britain who doesn’t watch his videos. Known for his FIFA, football, music and comedy content on YouTube, KSI has already amassed over 15,000,000 subscribers on his 2 channels and over 2.5 billion video views. Growing at 500,000 new subscribers across his 2 channels and 130 million views every month, plus with over 2 million Twitter and 2 million Facebook fans, he is a modern day Social Media superstar.

Photo Courtesy – James Gillham.

In the recent US Entertainment Magazine ‘Variety’ survey of popularity and influence amongst US teens, KSI positioned first above all stars of Hollywood, Sports and Music (http://t.co/JuLP3GH1te). Recently signed to Island records, KSI’s January 2016 released debut EP ‘Keep Up’ (feat. UK music star JME) topped the UK iTunes albums chart, charted at no. 13 in the UK official Albums chart and debuted in the top 10 on iTunes in 25 other territories including the U.S. Having completed two headline sold out London shows, KSI has, to date 130k followers on Spotify (with 21 million streams), 2.6 million followers on Instagram and 2.2 million Facebook likes.

Photo Courtesy – James Gillham.

Along with his YouTube content, he has also broken into the music industry, with his single ‘Lamborghini’ reaching NO 30 in the UK charts in April 2015. As of June 2016, his YouTube channel has had over 14 million subscribers and 2.6 billions views. Pretty impressive numbers for a young man virtually unknown by mainstream old-fashioned media. That’s some strong marketing pull.

YOUTUBING TO APP DOMINATION

Earlier this year, after being signed to Island Records/Universal Music (a gamer signed to a record deal!), KSI took the lead with his new App launch.

At the time he told me “My App’s sick. “I can’t believe it’s finally here. Seriously, I just want to share what I make directly to my fans, and this App is going to make it so easy for me. I’m going to be shouting all about it as soon as it’s out and you can expect so much stuff to be in there – more videos, more photos, and loads of live streams, directly to your pocket. This is for everyone who has supported me over the years – thanks so much for being a part of what I do. See you in the App!”

Photo Courtesy – James Gillham.

Since then, YouTube phenomenon KSI is the most viewed in the UK, has over 2.5 Billion video views and over 15m subscribers over his two channels – an audience built through viral content, online gaming and savvy brand partnerships. In launching this App, KSI further proves he is at the forefront of next generation media moguls.

The App is ‘one spot for all things KSI’ right at the cutting edge of smartphone tech it delivers unparalleled direct-to-fan access, connecting him with his millions of fans. I tried. Didn’t understand the attraction, but then its not for me. My generation is the audience that looks on in amusement. But don’t sleep on this genre of youth pop culture, it’s blown up under the radar and can only get bigger.

KSI and his team know what they’re doing. The app features real-time live streaming, brand new music, exclusive videos, audio and images, fan chats/Q&As, App-commerce, pre-sale and tour ticketing, special competitions, App-only merchandise, friending and messaging, a meme generator, social media aggregation and more.

KSI AND CASPAR LEE ON THE ‘LAID IN AMERICA’ RED CARPET.

FROM BEDROOMS TO HOLLYWOOD

So after dominating the web space and then app charts, KSI was approached to make and star in his own movie alongside fellow Vlogger/actor Caspar Lee. Caspar Lee is a South African self-started YouTube star with over 6 millions YouTube subscribers. Caspar like KSI is HUGE. MEGA. He has his own clothing line, is a musician and released a book this year written by him and his mum!

The two boys have come so far and are a perfect example of the self-made millennial, like Justin Bieber, They started in their bedrooms and now are the most well known YouTubers in the world, with millions of subscribers, billions of views on their channels, and hugely successful careers including record deals, book launches, clothing lines and now a Hollywood Movie.

Not only is KSI one of the most influential YouTubers in the UK, but he’s also been rated as the 5th Highest Earning YouTube star by Forbes, with a net worth of $4.5m.

LAID IN AMERICA.

This week KSI made his much anticipated feature-film debut alongside Caspar Lee in laugh-out-loud, chaotic comedy LAID IN AMERICA.

Duncan (KSI) and Jack (Caspar Lee) are exchange students with just one night left in the United States and one final chance to lose their virginity with the girls of their dreams.

To accomplish their goal, they must get into the school-bully’s house party that night but they haven’t made the list. The two friends hatch an elaborate and desperate plan which takes them on an unexpected adventure, navigating a mine-field of problems from gun-wielding gangsters to deviant drug lords. Their friendship is tested as they blunder through the night in a bid to fulfil their fantasies before their flights back home.

Photo Courtesy – James Gillham.

LAID IN AMERICA has a full on tech geek star cast and crew set up. This #SQUAD rolls hard and heavy. The film is directed by Sam Milman and Peter Vass (Bad Weather Films), produced by Max Gottlieb (The Fun Group) and executive produced by Adam Margules (Angry Adam Productions). Alongside KSI (13.6m YouTube subscribers) and Caspar Lee (6.5m YouTube subscribers) the film features an all-star cast including digital stars Josh Leyva (1.6m YouTube subscribers), Bobby Lee (150k YouTube subscribers), Madison Iseman (184k Instagram subscribers) and Bart Baker (8.2m YouTube subscribers) .

The movie is not an example of cinematic glory. Its not Spielberg or Tarantino or even Eddie The Eagle levels. It’s a techie 2016 version of American Pie meets Mean Girls meets The In Betweeners. Its crass and vulgar in the way most teenagers love. It is to teenagers today what Porky’s was to my peers and I in the eighties. (The desperate tale of high school’ers trying to lose their virginity surpasses all generations and cultures). Like an Ali G/ Borat politically incorrect, trying to be outrageous classic but not as cleverly written, the film is full of cultural ethnic stereotypes.

Even though its not going to scare Hollywood just yet, this hilarious and outrageous comedy that’s the perfect mix of sex, stupidity and fun for its millennial audience, shows that the power of movie making, big screen audience numbers and most importantly, cinema revenue streams, aren’t all in the hands of the old masters. Like the music industry, the movie industry should watch its back. Who Moved My Cheese is not just a book by Dr Spencer Johnson. It’s the new millennial method of changing the world. And KSI and his #Squad are leading the movement.

Photo Courtesy – James Gillham.

LAID IN AMERICA is released on DVD and Blu-ray™ with Ultraviolet, and Digital Download on 26th September 2016.

#LaidinAmerica –
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Twitter https://twitter.com/laidinamerica?lang=en-gb
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/laidinamerica/?hl=en

UK rapper Wretch32’s new album, Growing Over Life, was long awaited by his fans and took a whole new serious route than his usual offerings. The BET Award winner’s 12 new tracks juxtapose social commentary, thoughtful bars and powerful insights throughout and gained a top five UK chart position. Not that Wretch cares about awards and chart numbers ‘’ I never feel pressure for chart success. I feel more pressure to do a good Fire In The Booth’. Wretch’s latest album tackles subjects relevant to youth globally, like challenging relationships, parenthood, police brutality and celebration of life.

I sat down for an exclusive chat with one of the most important voices from the UK hip hop scene today.

JASMINE WITH WRETCH32.

1

Growing Over Life clearly shows you’ve had a serious, mature, tough journey through these last few years with adult responsibilities being a priority. I myself watched you and your loved ones bury a close friend earlier this year. How tough have the demons and life been this time around and how have you dealt with them?

The affect that my good friend music industry figure Richard Antwi’s death had on me….it was big… I always sent records to Richard for feedback. When I sent him a track called “intro” he loved it. Told me I was a beast and I should attempt America. The conversation carried on. Then that phone chat ended. Less than a week afterwards he passed away. That was the last thing he said to me. He was like my older brother. Without him I don’t know if this could’ve ever been possible. He taught us so much. That’s why I named my intro track “Antwi” in honour of him.

WRETCH32 VIDEO ”ANTWI”

I’m one of those peeps that take things in my stride and have learnt to be thick skinned and expect nothing from anyone. It’s easier if you don’t have expectations and then you can’t be disappointed. I learnt that I’m more comfortable being emotional this album. I used to think it wasn’t manly to cry but now I don’t care. When I recorded “6 words” I cried. No one spoke in the studio. Boys being boys. It’s sick when it’s like that.

I also learnt that a lot of what sells the record is excitement about it and driving promo. This time around I had a mix tape with (fellow rapper) Avelino and peeps have really been open to the lyricism in that. In the past I’ve put out the best song. Now it’s about the track where I’m rapping most. I also did a Fire In The Booth (BBC brand where rappers spit whole verses for radio), session then a song then a mix tape. Full on!

Also with my music, I’ve taken responsibly back with things like directing my videos and plotting campaigns because I’ve learnt more and understand my audience a lot more now. I now know I have to be consistent with my videos. I used director Matt Walker for my video ‘’Antwi’’ and a few others. He’s cool and gets it. They (directors) come to my house about ideas. They tell me what’s realistic because in my head it’s got to look like a Spielberg production. Its like when people ask if there will be a tour to accompany this album; It’s got to make financial sense. We have to have a good return. Often we can lose more than we can make. It’s usually my fault cos I’m a prick cos I want to add more stuff to my staging cos I like a big spectacle on stage. I want it to be memorable but in order to do that I lose money.

So with videos and tours ‎I used to believe that the director is best to do job, and the team know what’s best with tour’s, but I now know its also important to trust in my own ideas. I’m a writing specialist but as I learn I sit down and talk and be a lot more realistic.

2

You’re very known as a deep wordsmith – Growing Over Life is full of social commentary and slick wordplay, but so much new rap content these days is very weak on lyrics and new artists don’t seem to care about spending hours on clear lyrical content anymore. Do you as a current leader think that this matters for the culture? Can you talk about that?

Different people have different roles to play and different people think differently. If you were born in 1990, your favourite rapper may be Gucci Mane or Young Thug or Future, not Jay Z, so I think It’s dependent on what you’ve grown up with and been influenced by. Biggie, Nas, Jay were all rappers that used similes and metaphors that caught my ear and so that’s what I was influenced by so I guess it’s just about perspective. Both styles have a purpose. No one wants to hear serious songs like my ‘Antwi’ in a club or live lounge but there’s a place for it and vica versa.

3

Growing Over Life also touches on police brutality, which is both a huge issue in the U.S as well as in the UK. Recently the #blacklivesmovement seems to have been hijacked in the UK by middle-classed white protesters managing to shut down City Airport, with the environment and pollution as justification. In fact there was not one black face amongst the protesters, did this make any sense to you and does it worry you that by speaking up about political issues that it may impact your own music career?

What I do like is sometimes you need to create noise and become annoying to get your point across. The good child that’s quiet might not get all the opportunities. Sometimes our natural thought is to go to police station when e’re unhappy, but when these people go to disrupt the airport it’s annoying but then people want to listen and understand why they’ve been disrupted, so in turn they may wanna help sort it out. Its ironic, they don’t mind the ghetto being a mess but when its the M25 and airport its all up in the news. I do like that element.
Realistically for example, the government doesn’t care if 2000 people demonstrate in Tottenham but once it’s a national problem that’s disrupting everyone they pay attention.

‎Having said that, I do hope it’s coming from a sincere place with those white demonstrators. I didn’t have an issue with them not being black at all. I may go on a march about blocking sex offenders without having personally been affected by a sex offence, because as a parent I feel connected to the cause. So I guess they as humanity feel connected to our cause too. It’s the human empathetic connection. If they’re coming from a sincere place then I’m ok with it.

4

In last couple of years you’ve been more politically conscious. You even titled the second part of your record “Mark Duggan” after the young black man killed from your area. I know your gran and dad were really connected to the community and your uncle is an activist always fighting for justice. (Stafford Scott, who has written for The Guardian and co-founded the Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign in 1985). You’ve mentioned in the past that in your house there’s a poster of Winston Silcott. (One of the “Tottenham Three”, black men who were convicted in March 1987 for the murder of Polce Constable Blakelock on the night of 6 October 1985 during the Broadwater Farm Riot, in north London, despite not having been near the scene. All three convictions were quashed on 25 November 1991 after scientific tests suggested the men’s confessions had been fabricated) .So you’ve grown up around a family that’s really into politics.

With Mark Duggan, I wanted to speak for the people who lived here in my community. To me he’s not a news statistic or video clip. He’s someone I went to school with.
“Open conversation” is a track about me opening a page in my diary. These are my thoughts as a child. I mentioned Mark’s children at the end of the record.

I never worry about my political lyrics and I think it’s my duty to speak from the heart. When I do that it’s never wrong. We are all in a senior place now and more serious and so it’s important to speak on stuff. I’m looking at secondary schools for my son. Being a parent is a responsibility! I’m looking at routes to school. It all plays on in your head. Which schools are producing good consistent results….
I went through it all myself 16 years ago and here I am 16 years later thinking about it all again!

5

Maintaining a relationship whilst making music is a topic you cover on the latest album, and it’s a topic that a few other UK artists have made songs about this year. You’ve said that you haven’t been in a serious relationship in years and if you’re making a song about relationships you pick and choose several real life experiences to mix up on a track. Would it be fair to say that you have had to sacrifice love to focus on a successful career. What is the one thing you need a potential wifey to understand/do/get down with?

‎I do think I’ve sacrificed love for my career. I’m not selfish. A relationship is 50/50 with the time that you both commit. And when it comes to love I just don’t think I’m at that stage where I’m ready to give 100 percent. Its affected my relationships yes. I look for understanding in a woman. For example I can start a music session at noon and end at 6am. Who would understand that regularly? Taxi drivers have the same problem I imagine.

6

My era had a lot more R&B and soul to keep us all quite romantically minded. I get the impression youth nowadays are less romantic and more sexualized. How do you feel?

‎I think the energy of what’s around you growing up will affect your thought process and so music does affect ideas about life. If all the kids today are listening to tracks like ‘’These hoes ain’t loyal’ (Chris Brown) ’ instead of like back in the day we had ‘’ Let’s get married’’ (Jagged Edge), then one-night stands could be seen as priority to them instead of a long-lasting relationship.

7
Even though you’ve used female features on the album from names like Emeli Sandé, Laura Mvula and more, the grime and hip hop scene in the UK is very male dominated, where are the ladies and why are they not as prominent as the guys?

If I’m honest I think some of us are slightly biased. I’ll tell you why. Lady Leshurr and Lil Simz are sick. But as an MC you may have a concept about a certain song that you’re making and then a male MC comes to mind for a collaboration and maybe a female name only comes to mind on relationship themed tracks. Also, with us guys we are often circulating and sharing fans when we collaborate.
As well as that, with us guys I think we all support each other cos we’re fans of what we all do. My worst enemy could have a good song and I’ll tell them. We care about the scene and ourselves. There can’t only be one star – there has to be room for all of us. You know when Skepta’s doing a tour, we’ll all just jump in a van and go out and join him onstage and that way we’re sharing fans and that keeps it exciting cos we bump into each other at live shows all the time.

8

Is it this ‘sharing and circulating of fans’’ that’s been the top winning element of the UK grime scene making it without major record deal signings?

Record deals. It’s about building super deals. Signing to a mainstream label ‎helps financially cos you receive an advance and then you can just focus on the music. Now it’s about super teams and I understand radio, TV pluggers and press teams managers and A&R. Nowadays finances can come from anywhere but I know it’s a major factor to have a team on board that you’ve handpicked.
‎I’ve been fortunate cos with the label deal I’m in, I was able to bring my team to my label, but I had to go through both situations to understand them, so now when I speak to Stormzy I tell him ‘I found hurdles here and here’ and I talk about options that he can think about, so my experiences can be useful to others.

‎Nowadays we all collaborate with each other all the time like never before. It’s interesting, the other day I was talking to (singer) Shola Ama and I told her that I couldn’t believe that back in her era that she and Craig David didn’t have a song together?! I was a fan of both so we would’ve lapped that up. I couldn’t understand why was there no duet?

9

Hilary or Trump to lead the world next- One is hated, the other is more hated. Discuss?

Hhhmmm Hilary or Trump. I’m still following only God. However, If I had to pick from cancer and leukemia I’d pick Hilary.

10

This year’s MOBO Award’s is coming up – I know there was a disappointing year when people believed that you were snubbed when you’d had a big year – but awards shows and voting is always a minefield in itself. How do you look back on it now …with some perspective?

With the MOBO’S I learnt a valuable lesson. I have no feelings towards it any more. It put me off awards ceremonies for good as well as attending them. As artists we’re all naturally competitive. But in that scenario all you’re thinking is ‘’Did you really lose though?’’ After all It was just a moment. But you bought a suit and sat with your family and yes, I felt like I’d lost. So I’ve stopped attending so much stuff like that now, I don’t go the MOBO Awards.
I don’t know if I’d attend The Brits if I was nominated. I really didn’t like that feeling of all of us being pitted against each other. The bottom line is we are all winning now without mainstream stuff like that. We’re winning man!!!!

11

Your song All a Dream is one of my fave tracks on the album. What’s your biggest dream to achieve in your career, could American chart success be for you in the future?

‎My biggest dream to help people who are talented. I hear talent and I want that to be magnified. Whether my future involves me building a label? Being a mentor? Even watching my peer – fellow singer Shakka – at his live gig at Koko this past month, I felt teary and emotional. I recall calling him early on and keeping him motivated. His gig was sick! Being able to do my song Blackout with him and taking him to festivals has opened him up to so much more. So I’d love to get involved with mentoring talent like that more.

I wanna do it America, but at this stage in my life my son’s ten, my daughter’s five. They’re going through lots of change. Can I just leave for six months? I wouldn’t wanna waste their time and my time. The biggest problem with America is the audience out there understanding our style and lyrics and language. But having said that, when I was younger listening to Jay Z I decoded his words so really American peeps should now do that with us. Yeah, American recognition or from anywhere in the world is important. I’m never in the studio making music for just a few people!

So- everyone who was anyone in the grime music/ UK urban music industry was at Camden’s Roundhouse last night for the second annual Rated Awards.

Big moments of the night included Tim Westwood picking up the GRM Legacy Award, Kano took home Best Album for ‘Made in the Manor’, Giggs bagged Artist Of The Year Award, Skepta won Best Video for his smash ‘Man (Gang)’​, Manny Norte noting that A.Dot ”gets crisser gal than the man dem’,and Big Narstie actually used the ”C” word onstage!

JASMINE WITH NAUGHTY BOY , MANNY NORTE AND YASMIN EVANS, CHAMS (NFTR) AND SHOLA AMA, GIGGS, OMAR AND CRAIG DAVID.

Last night history was made, with the second KA & GRM Daily Rated Awards, celebrating the very best of British urban music. The 1,700-person capacity venue, packed to the brim full of artists, industry players and fans alike.

Craig David, Krept & Konan, Skepta, DJ and producer Naughty Boy and Professor Green were all in attendance, bringing the grime scene into the spotlight in a welcome togetherness and celebration of how far British urban music has come.

The KA & GRM Daily Rated Awards is one of the only award ceremonies that lets the fans decide the winners. By giving the power back to the people it allows the real purveyors of the British urban music scene to be recognised. The awards, which launched last year, were founded by KA Drinks and GRM Daily.

English MC AJ Tracey picked up the Best Breakthrough award, with other early winners including Skepta winning Best Video for his smash ‘Man (Gang)’, Charlie Sloth announced as Best DJ for a second year, and Rude Kid collecting Producer Of The Year.

Mercury Prize shortlisted artist Kano took home Best Album for his monumental album ‘Made In The Manor’, whilst Giggs took home Best Artist. Abra Cadabra was also full of emotion as he swooped upBest Track for “Robbery Remix” featuring Krept & Konan.

Last night saw some high-energy performances with WSTRN making a return to the KA & GRM Daily Rated Awards stage, tearing it up with Youngs Teflon for ‘Best Friend’. We also saw Craig David & Big Narstie perform their hit single ‘When The Bassline Drops’ as well as performances from MoStack, MIst, Fredo, Abra Cadabra, Ray BLK, Donae’o, Big Tobz and Ghetts x Rude Kid.

BBC Radio 1Xtra presenter and A&R Director at Atlantic Records Twin B paid tribute to best friend, business partner, and UK music industry icon Richard Antwi, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Richard was responsible for helping establish the musical career of a number of British artists including Lethal Bizzle, Wretch 32 and Tinie Tempah.

Closing the night off was Artist Of The Year winner Giggs, who ran through a crazy set of old and new tracks. As he performed his latest single ‘Whippin Excursion’, the stage was invaded by fellow artists, including Kano, Skepta, Ghetts and GRM Daily’s Posty.

GRM Daily founder and CEO, Posty presented the final award of the night – arguably the biggest one – the GRM Legacy award, which highlights the achievements and influence within the British urban scene. The prestigious award went to DJ & presenter Tim Westwood, who throughout his career has championed the British urban music scene. Westwood is one of the most recognised urban UK DJ’s of the decade. He is regarded as the most influential figure in hip hop in Europe and as a pioneer of the UK scene.

Over the last three years KA Drinks has been helping to empower and elevate grime culture in the UK. From working with artists such as Ghetts, Lady Leshurr and Paigey Cakey in 2012, to supporting up-and-coming artists in their yearly ‘Get Rated’ competition. As co-founder of the Rated Awards KA has helped create a platform to celebrate the best of urban music, and is building a brand that will help to inspire the next generation of grime talent.

2016 has been another groundbreaking year for the British urban music scene and The KA & GRM Daily Rated Awards are here to highlight and commend this year’s high achievers. This year’s awards were broadcast exclusively on GRM Daily and ratedawards.com and hosted by Capital XTRA presenter Manny Norte and 1Xtra presenter Yasmin Evans. This year marked the second Rated Awards and the first year at the iconic Roundhouse.
The 2016 KA & GRM Daily Rated Award Winners

WINNERS

Best Breakthrough, In Association with Vevo AJ Tracey

Best Video Skepta – Man (Gang)

Best DJ Charlie Sloth

Producer Of The Year Rude Kid

Personality Of The Year Poet & Vuj

Best Mixtape 67- In Skengs We Trust

Best Track, In Association with BBC 1Xtra Abra Cadabra featuring Krept & Konan – Robbery Remix

Best Album Kano – Made In The Manor

Artist Of The Year Giggs

Get Rated Figure Flows

GRM Legacy Tim Westwood

Performances

Mikil Pane – Dear Diary

Donae’o – My Circle

Big Tobz – Uno My Style

Mo Stack – Liar

Mist – Karlas Black

Fredo – They Aint 100

Abra Cadabra – Robbery

Ray BLK – My Hood

WSTRN – Best Friend

Craig David – Mashup

Craig David & Big Narstie – When The Bassline Drops

Big Narstie – BDL Skank

Ghetts/Rude Kid – Mashup

Giggs – Mashup / Whippin Excursion