 Yes! The rumors are true. Missy Elliott really is back after 7 years and has hit her fans hard by releasing not ONE but TWO songs, titled 9th Inning & Triple Threat (OUT NOW so go grab your copies from iTunes). I cannot wait for the album to drop. Everybody who went to school with me will know I have always been a massive fan of Missy Elliott and her music. She is the reason I am a producer and songwriter today! Her music inspires me at every level. As I state in my YouTube interview, the fact Missy has shown support for me and my musical dream via twitter is the ultimate blessing and keeps me going. I could go on forever about why I love Missy but let me introduce todays blog! #KeepMusicReal is my hashtag for today because Missy brought up a point I have been thinking about for ages! See below:  This convo inspired me for today's blog  Missy's fans (also known as #MEaddicts) have been voicing how various stations are not accepting their requests to play Missy’s two comeback tunes. Elliott is a HUGELY, well-known, respected musician with millions of followers and has worked with the biggest artists in the game. She has always stayed true to her hip hop roots and has every right to be blasted on every station like before. But it seems today the industry is less about the talent and truth, and more about forcing listeners to grow accustomed to nonsense by recycling trash & replaying it until people find it catchy. Does this mean Missy is going to 'change' to fit the pop music world like some other hip hoppers have been doing? Hell no. In response to @9thWonderofPR,who was describing how he stands by Missy and refuses to settle for the ‘bubblegum and foolery’ the stations are pushing today, Missy stated: ‘Good music has become bad music and bad music is good music now smh! They not giving ppl what they want 2 hear. But hey I change music, always been ahead of time and I will continue 2 be and ppl will have 2 catch up! But it is something str8 that's happening behind the scenes that's blocking real music from being played. That's why y’all have to flood the radio stations to so u force them to start playing different styles of music’ @MissyElliott Amen. This does NOT mean just Hip Hop, it means but ALL styles people! This is why I chose present on AfroVibesShow home of African music! And this is why I have happily agreed to be a judge on local urban and world music talent show Bling_Ya_Ting! Because it helps support REAL music. Let's help spread this message! Don’t just listen to real music, share it, request it. #KeepMusicReal. Let’s lift these talented artists up from underground and into todays mainstream culture. Let's make them as big as Missy has made herself, just by being herself. How does Missy do it?  Not only does Missy hit you musically but she hits you visually. When I was a kid and even NOW, when I listen to a good song, I imagine a crazy video in my head. So as you can imagine, when I first discovered Missy Elliott I was over the moon. I thought ‘FINALLY! Somebody else with crazy ideas that has actually made them a reality’ and it gave me hope. To me, she is the only artist apart from MJ who I feel goes that extra mile to make her music-video’s unique and timeless! The only music-videos I have ever bought on iTunes are Missy's, Ludacris' and MJ's. Standing out as an individual is the most important thing any of you can do. ShaiRai from Mean Girlz Media said to me via Skype: 'I can tell that Missy hasn’t been tainted by the industry. I can tell she kept a lot of her real friends around her from the time when she was struggling, to now. Her same crew is around her and it keeps her a grounded person. And I feel like a lot of people lose sight of just being able to connect to real people.' So artists - don’t be afraid to fulfill those crazy ideas and just be YOU and stick with those you love and trust. And musicians - stick to your passion and do what you enjoy. Help inspire others visually. I used to get excited and choreograph dances to Missy's tracks and teach them to my friends at school because her music just makes me move. I want to get that feeling again and from more artists and I bet you do too! Don't forget to request Missy's music on all your local radio stations!! Missy is going to spread the word and YOU CAN TOO!!!  Written By Sazrah
@sazrah_producer Facebook.com/sazrahproducer NEXT BLOG: I will be interviewing Mean Girlz Media  To all my friends who are artists, musicians, DJ's, run record labels, manage musicians, or just are genuinely interested in music - This event is the thing for you! Best of Britannia (BoB), curated by award winning songwriter Guy Chambers (best known for his work with Robbie Williams) celebrates Britain's best music, arts, culture design, technology and manufacturing! Better still, an iconic British superstar will 'perform' at the event in the form of a hologram created by MUSION -the British company who created the famous Tupac Hologram. Guy Chambers said "British music talent is the best in the world because we take more risks, we embrace new genres, we aren't scared to be original and we have the confidence of an incredible pop heritage, I look forward to showcasing the best of British talent at BOB 2012." When?: October 5th, 6th, 7th (pick which day is best for you from the site) Where?: Farmiloe Building - London (details here) Why should you go?: Because with prices starting from just 5 quid, you can enjoy a whole range of talent and meet some like-minded people in the creative industry. Book tickets at www.bestofbritannia.com Performing Guests.... Matt Berry Star of The I.T Crowd and The Might Boosh will be performing  Linda Harrsion Upcoming multi-talented artist who you all loved to read about in my interview with her a few weeks back.  'Tupac Style' Hologram Of a surprise ICONIC BRITISH SUPERSTAR, I can't wait to find out who it is! Other Guests (Yes, there is more!!): The Janice Graham Band will be there (presented by ACID JAZZ: An East London label founded by Giles Peterson and Eddie Piller, associated with Jamiroquai and The Brand New Heavies.)
Helena Jesele: The sultry songstress whose unique sound comes courtesy of world-renowned producers such as Paul O’Duffy, who co-wrote Wake Up Alone with Amy Winehouse and Truth and Soul, who worked on Adele’s 19album. And MANY MORE special treats brought to you by industry professionals. Including a celebration of British film-making with an indoor pop-up cinema showcasing short, documentary and feature length films. So come on down, I know i'll be going! For more information and to BUY TICKETS go to: www.bestofbritannia.com Written By Sazrah @sazrah_producer Facebook.com/sazrahproducer  Beautiful :-) Cassie is a singer, songwriter and pianist who I was grateful to have as my friend at university. With over 25,000 youtube hits, her talent and skills are admired by people all around the world. Cassie and I both took music technology at uni and it was very male dominated! So today, we discuss how it feels to be a female in this industry and better still, her music and what music means to her. Cassie! Tell us a bit about your musical style? I write music as a form of expression, as I was growing up I played the piano when I was upset because it was one of the only places where I could sit and not think about anything, I would just improvise for hours until I realised I had taught myself piano by ear. All the music I write is written to convey my feelings at the time so is usually sad, slow, relaxing, almost film like. After learning music technology at university and college I now also combine production techniques into my piano/vocal songs to give a unique style to the music. Do you feel it is beneficial being a woman in the music industry, or would you see it as a negative? This is a tricky question! It can always be both depending on the person and how they convey themselves. As a female if you want to be taken seriously in any industry I would say think about how you dress/put yourself across, I've been around boys in class for the past 5 years and I have learnt a lot! If you want to be taken seriously for your talent/what you do in music don't try and impress with anything else but your musical talent otherwise you will be seen in a way you don't want. In college I must have been about 18 and my college teacher actually said to me: "You know you can slut yourself off in this industry!" I couldn't believe those words were just said to me! And from that moment on I realised that a lot of men who had experience in the industry saw women in that way and it made me want to get somewhere without doing any of that! I have felt that men have sometimes looked down on me just because of my gender and they assume you can't do certain things or they assumed that I studied music instead of music technology because im female. The worst is when you get asked to 'sing on my track' as a chat up line, you wouldn't know it at first, you would think 'great let's do some music'! But boys sometimes have other things on their minds! It's a shame really... I hear you! I've had a male teacher tell me something similar...'sleep with them if you have to!' were his words of so-called 'advice'! Anyway- What is your best moment of your music career so far? The best moment... I don't have a specific moment but the best times are when you get really great feedback from people about your songs. There's a video on Youtube actually and when I uploaded it, it was the first piano cover of 'What You Know' by Two Door Cinema Club' and now it has over 10,000 views and i've had so many nice comments about it! It's just nice to know that your really getting through to people! I spent so much time before I made music thinking 'wow how has this song made me feel like this'?! And to know you have done it to other people.. To see video- click on the underlined title or click HERE Who are your inspirations? People who can perform well and make their own music are a massive plus for me! Singers like Eva Cassidy, I don't know how she had lungs like those but she was incredible! Amy winehouse was an amazing songwriter, Judy Garland, Adele, Aretha Franklin, Hayley Williams, Joni Mitchell. Recent producers who I take a lot of inspiration from are people like 'Baths'. He is a classically trained pianist who produces amazing music tieing in vocals with piano and production techniques to create his own lovely unique style - Go listen! ...And a massive shout out to my nan! She loves hearing me play piano at home and has kept me with it over the years! What advice do u give other ladies who want to make it in the industry? Hmm! Be careful! Have fun and keep going! Don't let other people put you down or stop you and your music! Be a professional! View more of Cassie on her: YouTube Page Cassie on FB: Cassie Rowan Music
Hear more of Cassie: Cassie Rowan Soundcloud Cassie is NOW on Twitter : @Cassiiiieeeee  I just HAD to share my new secret to happiness. It comes in the form of a 7 track album titled ‘Born In Black & White’ by the very talented Myles Sanko. This album puts the ‘good’ in feel-good music and it has been voted 4stars by Time Out Magazine. Myles is local to me so I have met him and seen him perform plenty of times with his fantastic band Bijoumyo but I am eager to now watch him perform as a solo artist because I know he puts on a great show. This solo EP is a lovely fusion of all funk and jazz genres with great instrumentation, accompanying Myles’ soulful vocals. I particularly adore the horn arrangements and admire the catchy rhythms and melodies sung and played by ALL the parts. Although Myles has a different sound to Jamiroquai as a whole, the tone of the synths that dip in and out of each track remind me of the spacey synth sounds in some of my favourite Jamiroquai songs. There have been times when I have been down but as soon as I pop my ipod on and hit play on ‘Born In Black & White’, it’s like all problems are shaken away and all I want to do is dance! Infact, me, Mummy and my sister Anne had the TIME OF OUR LIFE to this album last weekend and caught it on tape. We’d had a hard week and Myles Sanko's music was a breath of fresh air for us and helped us unwind and feel good again. Below is the cheeky video of our lil party and better still, you can hear snippets of a few of my favourite tracks from the EP..... My Mum moves quite well for a 57yr old eh? Now I shall treat you to a video of one of the slower singles on the album…so that you can all and relax and calm down after seeing my scary family jumping around..... Enjoy So! If you like James Brown, you’ll love this album that’s all I can say. My only criticism is that each song comes to an end - I want them to go on FOREVER.
Download it NOW at: www.mylessanko.com Follow Myles Sanko at: @MylesSanko  A video like the above costs just £20! Today I want to tell y'all about ExpandaUK. A company that helps artists by providing the services for music videos and live music recordings. With video deals starting from just 20 pounds, ExpandaUK is a great service for young artists with a low budget. I thought it all sounded too good to be true so took a trip to London to interview the CEO of ExpandaUK and here is what he had to say!
Not only will ExpandaUK film and direct your videos for you, but they also give advice and guidance for artists who feel they need extra help in an industry that is ever changing. I believe it is a really positive and encouraging service and would recommend it to any artist who wants to make a visual idea in their head, come to life.
 I remember TJ as the friendly familiar face that one would constantly see around the campuses at my university! Not only was he the university president there, but he was also doing his Music degree so I saw him very often (as I was taking Music Tech)! He is a great guy and always has time to stop and chat.  My favourite thing about TJ is that he is ALWAYS smiling. I remember when I (finally) printed off my 10,000 word dissertation and walked into the library at 6am in the morning to bind it...There was TJ, sat behind the library counter with his big ol' grin! It was a perfect sight to fit my mood of finishing my disso! His joyous smile.  Now time to let y'all know about his music! TJ began singing as part of a Gospel Choir and has since become a solo singing artist. After he passed his degree, he spent a summer working as a singer at the exclusive Forte Village resort in Sardegna Italy causing him to perform all around Sardegna as well as Geneva. This also landed him a performance in Le Louvre in Paris and he is now studying for his Masters Degree in Music Performance back at Kingston University London (can't get enough of that uni!!!).
TJ writes his own material including poetry, which is often used as the inspiration for the lyrics to his songs. You can find them here. TJ is now working on a solo album with guitarist and producer Roger Bamman of Take The Beat.  Sticking to the local theme, let me introduce you to Tang! Tang is a Cambridge based musician who does regular monthly podcasts showcasing unique talent in genre's such as chillwave, post-dubstep, hip hop, electro house, spoken word, accoustic and EVEN MORE! So he covers a wide range of genre's. Tang also produces as half of music-production-duo Hans Frei. To hear a production by them click here. You can find Tang's NEW fanpage here. Feel free to 'Like' and contact Tang and show him your work. He loves hearing upcoming artists/producers and if you are lucky you may get on his next podcast! Below is Tang's recent (July) podcast: One of the features on July's podcast is MYSELF (Sazrah) ;-) Tang included a song I made for an assignment titled 'Machine Man'. I created it by recording every day sounds (such as spraying, water running, dogs barking etc) and made it into a beat! I got an 'A' on the assignment so was pleased with the outcome. So if you listen to the podcast you will hear him introduce and play this piece. You can also download 'Machine Man' below (FOR FREE) and feel free to remix, spit/sing on the track, or just listen to it! Download below: 
 As you all know I am a huge fan of independent ladies doing well in the music industry, so it was only right that I interviewed Linda Harrison, a successful singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, self-marketer and merchandise maker! Harrison self-manages her music career and is a true breath of fresh air in the money-driven, business-minded music industry that exists today. She has refused management and publishing deals to ensure she does everything the way SHE wants it. This is a young lady who is all about the music and the passion and you can hear this in her voice with every song she records or performs. With a large online fan base and over one million YouTube hits, Harrison is set to release ‘Overexposure’ on September 10th 2012 as the first in a series of self-penned singles. I expect all my musical readers of this blog are wondering ‘How does she do it?’ - I felt the same when I first read about her - but all will be revealed in my interview with Harrison. I had to ask her ‘Why?’ ‘How?’ and ‘What does the future hold?’ Here’s her response: Sazrah: How would you describe yourself to somebody who does not know anything about you or your music? Harrison: I get asked this question a lot. I usually say that I’m a pop artist but with a hell of a lot of aggression and attitude. I can’t avoid singing with passion, so it ends up being a really intense experience. So yeah, if anyone asked, I’m aggressive pop, I’m into fashion and technology and I’m really trying to bring that into my shows as well. You have over a million YouTube hits. How has YouTube helped you? YouTube gave me so much confidence. I was 15 or 16 when I first put my video up - a song cover. I got so many nice comments, but within an hour I had over 100 views. I thought, ‘ Wow, that’s really cool’ at first, but then I forgot about it because I kinda thought my covers were cringey, and I felt uncomfortable with people watching them. It wasn’t until later when I was in a class about marketing music that the teacher asked, ‘Has anyone released their music and marketed it?’ and I eventually put up my hand. I was quite shy in a classroom full of people. I said how I had uploaded my music onto iTunes and had marketed it through YouTube. But I had no idea that was actually what I had done until the second he said it - he made me realise that is where my sales are coming from, because people are watching it on YouTube, then they’re buying it. He made me show the class one of my videos and it had 25,000 hits and I hadn’t even thought about how big it was until I saw the classes’ reaction. I then began to picture all the different people sitting in their houses watching my video and that just feels amazing. YouTube has changed a lot since when I started, it is harder to get those kind of views. But it really gave me a big boost. It’s made a difference to my career. ‘Overexposure’ is your single due for release in September. You usually only release singles, don’t you. Why? The music industry has changed. I know the money is coming in from my singles at the moment. So I am sticking to singles to build up fans and use the money from my singles to make a good album. OK, I could do an album in the home studio but it’s not going to be what I want it to be. I need the money to work with the right people to help create the sound that I want to create. I want to do it properly. I’ve heard when you release an album you want it to be a movie. What is that all about? Not just the music industry has changed but everybody’s life has changed. Even myself as a lover of music - I don’t have the time to sit down and listen to an album. But yet I still find the time to go and see a film. You know, I love Rihanna, so don’t get me wrong on this, but every song on her album is like a single. And an album, to me, needs to be a story and an artistic journey. Like now, I am releasing singles to get some excitement going and perform them. But those singles shouldn’t necessarily be on an album. If I put them all on an album it would proabably be a compilation. You’ve refused management and publishing deals. Why is this? They weren’t right for me. So it wasn’t a case of blocking them out as a whole, it was just the deals itself that you didn’t want? Yeah, well, I was blocking them out because I didn’t feel that they were the right people. I didn’t feel like they fully understood where I wanted to take things. It felt like they were trying to pull me in different directions. I’m willing to compromise to an extent because you should collaborate and that is how you are going to get the greatest impact, but they just weren’t offering me what I needed. Also, I do so much myself that they were offering me stuff that I already do! So it’s like, you know what? I want to do it myself, and once I have done most of it myself, maybe I can do it the whole way on my own. I’m hoping that maybe I can do it the whole way on my own and I can get a business doing something like that amongst myself still, but as a major artist. You know, billboards, magazines, whatever. I still want the whole advertising side of it but on my own terms. …..which leads nicely to my next question. You have your own fashion label, you’re into music and movies. Do you have a big plan to bring them all together? I do. I think when I combine them fully, I think of a live show, though. What I really get a kick out of is community, when you get hundreds of thousands of people in one space. Every time I see a gig, it doesn’t matter who is playing - it’s like, I’m almost in tears just with the sheer buzz from it all. So my dream would be to do a 3D show, use all the latest technology and try and get to every person in that audience. My very best friend is disabled and I often sit with him in the disabled area. You just don’t feel it anywhere near how you do when you are standing in that crowd. And one of the things I want to do is make it better for those disabled people and to get them. Or to get to those people that couldn’t afford tickets closer to the stage. So maybe I could fly up there, you know, I don’t know yet! It would be something good coming together and it would all be very visual. I think you need to grab people with everything and immerse them into something really exciting. What is the biggest regret of your music career so far? With my music career, I don’t think I have any regrets. I mean, when I turned down a specific deal and then the next year I wasn’t much further, someone said, ‘Oh I bet you wish you took that deal now' - and I thought, actually, no. ’Cos my music has developed and I have developed. If I signed it back then, I would have been a copy of Pink or a copy of Katy Perry. I know who I am. I maybe regret bumping into a couple of people who had perhaps slowed me down or held me back in my career for a little bit, but, hey, what can you do. And your best decision? By sheer luck I have made quite a lot of the right decisions. Like uploading YouTube videos - I think that gave me such a boost. Maybe going to LA for a bit. That helped my life, maybe less for my music. ...But you learnt a lot about you, which is what you put into your music... Exactly! It has just been magic, the way everything has happened. Every time I think something goes wrong, I get a realisation as to why it happened later. Like there was this one thing I really really, really wanted and I lost it and I was gutted at the time and cried for days. And then a year later I saw something and I realised that the person who won the opportunity I’d lost wasn’t living the life I wanted to be living – and that is what I would have ended up with. As a producer, I’m really into females in the industry because it is so male-dominated. So my last question is, if you could work with any female in the industry, who would it be? ha ha wow I always think of men when I think of this question! D’ya know what? Just for childhood reasons I would love to work with Pink , work with her voice. I’ve seen her live a couple of times and that gravel in her voice. I’m just like WOAH! I think I would really enjoy working with her. It would be interesting to work with Lady Gaga too, just to see what working with somebody like that would be like - but I think I would be scared at how similar we are, maybe. Thank you, Harrison Thank you  After interviewing Harrsion in Shoreditch, I watched her perform and was blown away. She managed to take me out of my thoughts and be a part of her and her thoughts and feelings with every word she was singing. It felt like time stood still and I could feel the passion in her voice. Not only does she sing, she mixes in with the audience, she gets involved with the instruments on stage, she brings out the beat with her movements and characteristics and brings out the emotion with her beautiful, warm, husky voice.
To keep up-to-date with all things Harrison CLICK BELOW: Her Website: LindaHarrisonMusic.com Her facebook: LindaHarrisonMusic Her Twitter: @lindamusic  Thanks to all of y'all who have been following my blogs! The feedback has been wonderful so I appreciate it! Anyway, I have done quite a few blogs about 'celebs' recently haven't I? However, the stories in general have linked to my thoughts or things to do with me. But those of you who know me well, know that celeb gossip really is not a massive interest to me! So it's time to GET PERSONAL and GET LOCAL for the next couple of weeks! I really want everyone to be involved! So if you know me, and want me to blog about you or your work HOLLA! So Artists, Producers, Bloggers, Sazrah's beasts - let me know what you want me to say about u!
Email me at: [email protected] with your ideas, photos etc and I will see what I can doooo-hoooo! x  HAHA! I can imagine a few of my secondary school friends from the UK and my 'Grade 8' school friends from Canada chuckling to them self when they see that I have decided to do a blog about the one, the only Kel Mitchell (or Kel Kimble as he was known in Kenan and Kel). This is because when I was a teenager, they will probably remember all my text books, diary's, back packs and notepads with 'I LOVE KEL' scribbled on them a million times in so many different colours! 'Obsessed' was not the word!! He was my first ever 'crush' (apart from Woody from Toy Story but we won't go there!! looool). I had so much information about him and pictures saved of him, that one day, me and my buddy Anita decided we would make a website about him! We named it 'THE BEST KEL MITCHELL PAGE' and updated it daily whether it was at the school library, or on our parent's computer! The website got extremely popular and we got thousands upon thousands of hits and a lot of feedback from all over the world on our guestbook from his fans! We were very proud of our work. It eventually became the FIRST page that came up when you typed his name into google too!! However, our GCSE exams arrived and we ended up focussing on that so much meaning we had no time for the website and now it is long gone (or floating around somewhere, incomplete and broken-looking lol). Eventually I also realised that there was no way on earth I was going to marry a celebrity so I decided to leave my obsession behind lol! Still have a lot of respect for the guy though. He is a very positive spirit who works hard on helping the youth of today! It wasn't until a couple of years ago when I decided to sign up to twitter that I found out Kel actually HAD acknowledged all the hard work Anita and I put into that website. See below....  Convo between me and Kel. He now even follows me on twitter :) What a kind soul! When I read the tweet, it was like that 13 year old girl inside me jumped for joy and said 'told you one day he would speak to you'! It was pretty cool. Since then, he has even answered some odd questions my friends have told me to ask him...such as 'Do you REALLY love orange soda?' hahaha.. you can see his answer in my 'favourites' on my twitter! What is Kel up to now? Kel recently got married (CONGRATULATIONS!!) and is a Professional Christian, Actor, Writer, Director & Producer. You can see what work he is up to by visiting... http://www.KelMitchell.net/ And can follow him on @iamkelmitchell I wish him all the best and thank him for answering all my bizarre questions on twitter and for appreciating my old wesbite. Wonder if he'll like this one?! By Sazrah @sazrah_producer NEW FB LIKE PAGE: Sazrah www.sazrah.co.uk p.s. .....update below ;)  Looks like he DID like this blog :) |
Author: SazrahSazrah is a UK music producer who has composed music for BBC 1xtra, Film, Catwalk and famous artists. Her blogs are about upcoming artists, music industry tips and general chit chat! Categories
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