His mother’s voice calling “Wake up Adam” was featured on a track from Portland, Oregon, rapper Amine’s 2014 debut mixtape, Odyssey To Me. But don’t expect to hear the mixtape. It was recorded at a time when 22-year-old Adam Daniel, who performs under his middle name, was just finding his feet in the music business. He has now disowned the mixtape and removed it from his SoundCloud webpage.
“I’ve had so many musical influences during the course of my life,” he stated. “My parents were immigrants from Ethiopia so they listened to a lot of African music. They also liked reggae. I have an older cousin who is really into R&B. I had a friend at Portland State University who is a classically trained pianist and violinist and I discovered hip hop myself.
“All these diverse influences were there in the songs on Odyssey To Me. I also vocalised in a kind of crooning rap style, a bit like Drake, rather than a true rap. The whole thing was mismatched and lacked structure. Even though everyone would probably realise I was just finding myself as an artist and make allowances, I want people to hear me as the artist I am now.”
As a youngster, Amine had no thoughts of entering the music industry. He was a sports fanatic with the ambition of becoming an NBA star.
“I wanted to be Kobe Bryant. The problem was I didn’t have Kobe’s talent. I loved playing basketball but just wasn’t all that good. I tried out for my high school team as a freshman and sophomore but didn’t make the squad. That’s when I realised I’d have to do something else with my life.”
Even at this point, music was not his preferred option. It was Amine’s friends who encouraged his rapping ability on diss tracks against other high schools.
“I went to Benson High School. Our local rivals were Grant High and Lincoln High. We’d make diss tracks against the other schools when our sports teams were playing them. I was the best at freestyling these diss songs but my friends really had to push me into getting on the mic. It wasn’t something that I took to naturally.
“It was only after leaving high school that I realised how much I missed creating these tracks. That’s when I finally started to take music seriously and came to appreciate that this was what I wanted to do with my life.”
After his dissatisfaction with Odyssey To Me, Amine refined his style on the EP, En Vogue, and a second mixtape, Calling Brio.
“My first mixtape was like being a basketball player in the NBA D (Development) League. I was trying to improve my game, learning what worked for me and what didn’t. The tracks on En Vogue and Calling Brio were like me moving up from the D-League and getting my shot with an NBA team. I was still nowhere near being a star but I was playing on a much higher level and holding my own against better opposition.”
Continuing Amine’s basketball analogy, his signing with Republic Records earlier this year was like leaving the bench players and joining the starting line-up.
“I knew I had to raise my game again. Signing the record deal gave me the opportunity to become a star. But I wasn’t sure if I could do so with the material I’d previously released. I had to keep improving.”
His debut Republic release was the single, Caroline. The track was issued on March 9 with an accompanying video not appearing until June 1. The song has been a slow burner but now sees Amine riding high in the upper reaches of Billboard’s Hot 100.
“It’s taken a while but Caroline has gone top five on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, done great on the Hot 100 and even made some noise on overseas charts. I think this is pretty good for someone who most record buyers had probably never heard of.”
Amine’s song is not about a specific girl.
“The first time I heard the name Caroline used to refer to a certain kind of girl was on OutKast’s track, Roses. A Caroline is a really gorgeous girl but not necessarily someone you’d want to marry. I’ve known quite a few. A combination of all of them make up the person I’m talking about in my song.”
IN BRIEF
Taylor Swift / Zayn
Taylor Swift and Zayn Malik have recorded a duet for the soundtrack of the forthcoming film, Fifty Shades Darker.
Written by Taylor, Jack Antonoff and Sam Dew, I Don’t Wanna Live Forever is the first single taken from the soundtrack. The movie and official soundtrack album will be released on February 10.
The song immediately shot to number one on the iTunes chart in America. Despite numerous postings on YouTube claiming to be official videos or audios, there is nothing at the moment from Taylor and Zayn though this should obviously change in due course.
If you don’t have iTunes, the song can be heard at (no www.) dopefile.pk/o8p0s2klrixj
Greg Lake
After the death earlier this year of Keith Emerson, now comes news that singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Greg Lake has lost his battle with cancer.
A founder member of the progressive rock trio Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Greg had already achieved great success as part of the rock band King Crimson. It was while touring their smash hit 1969 album, In The Court of The Crimson King, that Greg formed a friendship with Keith, then keyboardist in their support band, The Nice. They recruited Atomic Rooster drummer Carl Palmer and formed ELP in April, 1970.
The trio initially broke up in 1979 after which Greg played with a number of other bands in addition to his solo projects. His most successful solo work was achieved while he was still in Emerson, Lake & Palmer. His 1975 song, I Believe In Father Christmas, reached number two on the UK chart and became a perennial favourite around Christmastime.
How ironic it is that Greg should pass away when his best-known song is being played in shops and on radio stations yet again. The official music video is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXCEdrnaFlY
There is also another version with a different musical backing at www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPm6CheT6rs
All of Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s albums, plus a number of concert performances, can be found on YouTube.
Sir Elton John
Filmmakers, animation artists and choreographers should be interested in the possibility of creating new videos to accompany three of Sir Elton John’s most iconic songs.
To celebrate Elton’s 50-year songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin, official videos will be made by industry professionals for some of their early works. But those for Bennie and the Jets, Rocket Man and Tiny Dancer will be offered to anyone who comes up with compelling visual ideas.
The competition is split into different elements for each song. Top notch choreography is required for Bennie and the Jets, Tiny Dancer concentrates on live-action while Rocket Man is open to brilliance in animation. The three winning entrants will each receive a prize of 10,000 USD.
There is a short video of Elton and Bernie explaining the competition at (no www.) thecut.eltonjohn.com/. You must click on accept cookies to gain access to the rest of the webpage. Scroll down to a sign up button if you are interested in entering.
More from Elton and Bernie suggesting the style of videos they would like to see can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5BOILUFcS8
There is also a helpful guide for prospective entrants from music video director Ninian Doff at www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHs0DCPcDxE
Submissions must be made between January 9 and 23.
Rich The Kid
Rich The Kid has just released yet another mixtape. It is the fourth offering this year from the Atlanta-based rapper, songwriter and label executive.
As with almost all of his many other mixtapes, Keep Flexin is available to hear and download for free. It can be acquired at www.datpiff.com/Rich-The-Kid-Keep-Flexin-mixtape.810627.html
If you enjoy his music, type Rich The Kid’s name in the search mixtapes box to gain access to his other work available on Datpiff.
Amine’s Caroline has gone top five on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, done great on the Hot 100 and even made some noise on overseas charts.
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