R + P Post 12: Artists/Bands that have influenced my ideas

Jorja Smith

                                                                                     

Jorja is a 19 year old up and coming pop artist who grew up in Walsall, the mid-west of England.
She uses visual references to inspire her music and writes all her lyrics reflecting on real life issues although she said: "I don't like to write about myself. I like listening to people.". The first song she ever wrote was 'Life is a path worth taking', which she wrote in year 7 (aged 11). Her first single "Blue Lights" is based on the black stereotype and was inspired by Dizzie Rascal's 2007 political statement "Sirens".
Her music seems to me to deliver a lot of passion through her lyrics which I think is something very intriguing for young adults to listen to-we don't always just want to listen to (meaningless) pop songs. The track won high-profile admirers such as Stormzy and Skrillex and managed to rack up over a million plays on Soundcloud (October).


She is a breath of fresh air and very creative with her music making which is something we want to portray in our band/artist. We want them to offer something alternative to the every-day music that's already out there.


Most of her music is released on Soundcloud as this is where her audience are most likely to be found-young people of her own age roughly. This is a platform we are very interested in using for our artist/band as it appeals to a very large audience and consumers are able to share music with their followers by 're-posting' it. And she even created a self-made music video for her single 'Where Did I Go?'.
She told Hunger magazine: 

"At the house I’m staying in with my auntie, uncle and cousins – they were all away for the weekend – I noticed the lighting was really good on the stairs where there was a skylight, so I balanced the camera on the banister and just started singing. What I like about the video is that any girl could do it, so I feel like it’s more real and relatable for people."

               

Rihanna

Rihanna, the Bajan singer, song-writer, actress and fashion designer, living in America, just released her eighth album: 'Anti'.  She's aged just 28 but already has a net worth of an estimated (2016) $230 million. Her music covers a variety of genres including Dancehall, Reggae, Pop and Hip-Hop. She is obviously a lot bigger than Jorja Smith and has created an international brand for herself which Smith is very far off, but we really like the attitude Rihanna portrays.


Rihanna has a 'I don't give a f*ck' vibe about her person which is reflected in her lyrics, her out-there style and the way she speaks on social media and in interviews.

Rihanna throwing shade on model and singer Ciara

Rihanna tweets a fan

She has worked with lots of artists including Drake, David Guetta and Kanye West and her music videos often spark controversy from the public.
                                                   
                                                 

Both of these artists will inspire our ideas for our artist/band in terms of attitude, fashion, media platforms and public reputations. 

Rejjie Snow

Rejig Snow, born in Dublin, is aged 23 and released his first mistake in June 2013 which became number one on the iTunes Hip-Hop chart, above Kanye West and Jay Z.

He makes music belonging to both the RnB and Hip-Hop genre.

He is signed to a small-scale label called 300 Entertainment. He has one album called " Dear Annie " and one mistake named " Rejovich ".


Rejjie is renowned for his style. His instagram publicise some of his interest in fashion and culture as he travels the world. He has a total of 83.2k followers so far...

Although he has a huge amount of followers, Rejjie Snow is still a niche style of celebrity who makes music not for everyone and quite different to some of the mainstream music at the moment. He is not verified on Instagram as of yet and posts most of his music on the free platform that is soundcloud. His style, niche music taste and passions for creating his own music will be a big influence when it comes to creating the male of our artist duo.