Me and Rhi Jamming

Analyse Your Musical Development and

Creativity

with Reference to Genre

Bon-Bleu, United Colours of Benetton and Tie Dye; bright bursts of colour surround me as I try to walk in my platforms listening to Blur on my Walkman, whilst feeding my Tamagotchi and twisting my crinkled hair in my bucket hat. Conscious not to make it obvious that I was listening to rock music, although I quickly had my Spice Girls tape to hand. Peers made it clear that a girl like me should listen to music by people that looked like me. Granted I was always Scary Spice, during our school shows. Nostalgia is so imperative to my sound as an artist the ridicule, resistance, and restrictions I faced earlier In life made me so passionate about this forbidden music I craved "Rock". Now a woman, no longer a lost girl. I am so grateful to have the chance to focus and prioritise, not only my passion but the very blueprint that is me, My music.

Since being at UEL I have collaborated with many different creatives. I was always a fan of genres like Pop/Indie and EDM but did not have the confidence to explore them publicly and claim them without that push that university gave me. I relate and identify with rhyme and blues (R&B) because of my Caribbean heritage, growing up the majority of my family listened to some form of that music. However, elements of folk, country, and rock creeped in from my Scottish and Asian side, so a fusion of different styles was introduced to me from a young age. Nevertheless me being able to express all of my layers was not an easy process, it made more sense to do what was expected of me.

I always knew I was going to do something music-related from the way I would escape instantly as soon as I watched musicals like Oliver and Annie. I would sit and watch the same video over and over again, every day, and learn every single action, line, and song from the movies. (S. Bartlett 25 Apr 2022) When you are obsessed and nerdy with music you know that that’s for you. If the passion is so strong, you know that this is what you are meant to be doing from early on. My goal is to become a recording artist that is well known in their own right, and that can inspire and express themselves freely without needing to fit a mould. My dream is to be a singer and be paid to entertain and produce content that can move people and help them through joint experiences and compassion. (N. Mailer 1957, P105) explains "There is a depth of desperation to the condition to remain in life…the reward is knowledge that present, good or bad… for their cause, their love, their action, there is need". Recently I have been consciously looking into my past and present behaviours and thinking forward to the future ahead to re-discover myself, self-heal, reflect and analyse my progress and be fully present in my current process of defining my sound.

In the beginning, I listened to music that my parents would play, my Dad listened to Reggae, Garage, and R&B and my Mum was into 80s Pop, Disco, and Rock Anthems. Coming from a mixed heritage, being Afro-Caribbean, Bangladeshi and White Scottish has helped to make me eclectic with my music taste. For example; I am a Gospel trained singer. However, I was not brought up Christian, both of my parents had different religious beliefs, therefore I was raised Agnostic. I resonated with the authenticity of the Gospel sound it was powerful to me knowing that we were singing to a higher power. Learning how to harmonise and sing in a choir collective taught me discipline, collaboration, and how to blend and adapt. I chose to be in that environment to develop my voice outside of school. In school, the genre of music was normally pop/ country and or musical theatre. My maternal Grandparents were huge role models in my life, they both loved music my Grandad was a DJ and my Nan was a singer and dancer. The music they listened to became the music I would reference as the “Oldies but Goldie’s. The Motown, Soft Rock, and Blue-Eyed Soul they listened to helped me find my tone and experiment with riffs, vibrato, and melismatic singing. I feel as if I developed the Soul in my voice from the pain, I have endured and felt throughout my life, the music they played helped me draw my emotions out and release them into a creative outlet giving me a voice. Before I knew it I was able to control the sound I was projecting vocally and started to move more centre stage and grew into more of a lead vocalist.

When I started taking singing more seriously It was easy to fall into the stereotype that a woman of somewhat Afro- Caribbean heritage would automatically be an R&B singer. I had that distinctive look that fit that demographic and was already known for singing Gospel music. However, as I got older my love for rock music grew stronger, making me seek the grit and husk of that sound. For me nothing beats the authenticity of live instruments hearing, the atmosphere of a band simply hits differently from anything that can be produced electronically through music production software. The Soul from Gospel music is predominant in my musical make-up but my sound would not be distinctly me without the rebellious edge I get from my rustic undercover rock roots. These quirks and distinctions are imperative to what I aim to represent and project in my sound. Artists, I identify with that I feel truly embodies a sound similar to mine are singers like; Pink, Tina Turner, Etta James, Shingai (lead singer from the band Noisettes) and Gwen Stefani. Are all rock or soul singers that have a mixture of distinctions that makes them iconic and relatable to the beginning of me finding my sound.

Genre plays a big part in my musicianship because of my humble beginnings as a creative individual, I like to draw influences from real-life experiences and current events. Right now one of the biggest things I am dealing with is my break-up. Writing has been a great way for me to vent. Music is my healing outlet for women's empowerment, reassuring me that all my idols went through similar heartaches and produced quality anthems through their struggles. (Lorraine, 19 Jun 2019) My music aims to inspire people to take a mask off or put a mask on and truly be free to be themselves and feel something genuine and sincere. I have always been back and forth with music, trying to deny my passion and be happy in a normal 9-5 setting and to put stability and my responsibilities on the forefront. Nevertheless Covid-19 has shown me that life is too short to not be doing something that I love. I need to be embracing my passion or I would never feel fully fulfilled as a person. T. (Power 19 Nov 2021) For several years I ignored how music helps me and the gift of having the ability to be musical. Every other ambition to do anything left me but the music was something that kept me going.

I would like to try to redefine and create my genre not work my way into an existing style. I want to invent a Post-Genre of R&B Soul-Rock. A new immersive kind of music. (E. Stensvaag et al 21 Nov 2019) state's “Millennials… are more label-agnostic than their elders, showing preferences not to define themselves in their gender identity…or even in the music they listen to”. I want my music to be something that the new generation can relate to, something different audiences can find common ground within, without it being their usual genre allow my blueprint to enable me to become a world-class artist if you will. Being different when I was young was an excuse to alienate me however being different now is a strength and a strong statement of self. I am my music and my music is all of me like it or lump it!