WHAT HAS INFLUENCED MY MUSIC TASTE? – Part 1

Hey guys! I hope you’re all well.

People always seem to be impressed/intrigued by my music taste, asking me questions like ‘How do you know this song?’ or ‘How did you get into this kind of music/artist?’. These kind of questions made me think of all the different elements that have influenced the genres of music that I love. Get ready for multiple blog posts about this subject!!!

FAMILY

My parents were born in the UK whilst my Grandmother on my Mothers side is from Jamaica and Grandfather was born in Antigua. My grandparents on my Fathers side are from Ghana.

I’m envious of the fact my Mum was born in 1978 and my dad 1973 . They were teenagers in the 90’s!!!

WHAT GENRES OF MUSIC DO MY PARENTS LOVE?

Mum: Reggae, House, Rare Groove, R&B & Grime.

Dad: ‘Hip Hop, Rare Groove, Soul, Garage, House, Drum and Bass and music of various genres without lyrics’.

HOW HAS MY PARENTS’ MUSIC TASTE INFLUENCED MINE?

MUM

I have memories of my mum blasting out Dancehall in the car when I was younger and I would get sooooo embarrassed as people would stare lol. Looking back on it now I can see how her playing it all the time influenced my love for Dancehall music. We also used to jam to Funky House whilst Reggae,  R&B and Slow Jams (some of my favourite genres) were also played.

Songs to check out 

1. Bogle AKA Mr Wacky All Dem Deh – Before we’d leave the house we’d always say ‘you ready?, you ready?’
2. Vybz Kartel – Tek Buddy Gyal
3. Crazy Cousinz Ft Kimona – I See You
4. Happy Heart
5. Sizzla – Thank You Mama
6. Mary J. Blige – Be Without You
7. Naked – Marques Houston

DAD

I have memories of my Dad blasting  Jill Scott “Golden”  in the car. Looking back on this now, I feel so blessed to have been exposed to such good music at a young age.

Jill Scott is one of my favourite artists and If it wasn’t for my Dad I’d probably only be finding out about her now.  My Dad also introduced me to artists like Ledisi and The Foreign Exchange and has introduced me to some great soulful house.

He would also freestyle like a Garage MC in the car to Garage, House and Drum and Bass beats.

My Dad recently sent me a song by a group called The Mouse Outfit and now I love them.

Songs to check out 

1. Jill Scott “Gettin’ In The Way”
2. Ledisi – In The Morning
3. Ledisi – In the Morning / Alright
4. Foreign Exchange – Come Around
5. The Mouse Outfit ft. IAMDDB & Fox – I Wonder

JAMAICA

Family parties always played the best music. As kids, we’d all know the words to ‘grown people music’. When I first went to Jamaica, the resort had T.O.K. – Footprints on repeat (till this day I have a lot of love for that song).

Songs to check out 

1. Busy Signal – Nightshift / One More Night
2. Tarrus Riley – She’s Royal
3. Tarrus Riley – Gimme Likkle One Drop
4. Queen Ifrica – Let Get Silly
5. Beres Hammond – I Feel Good
6. Beres Hammond Tempted to Touch

GHANA

Unfortunately, I’m not close to a lot of my Ghanaian side of the family so I don’t know many old school songs. Listening to Ghanaian music is a way for me to connect to the culture . When I went to Ghana, one of my relatives had these songs on repeat king ayisoba – i want to see you my father & Daasebre Dyamena – Wafom

Songs to check out 

1. Sarkodie – Adonai ft. Castro
2. GHANA PARTY MIX III ( High life ) Mix by Mixx Nipa
3. Shatta Wale – Hosanna ft. Burna Boy
4. V.I.P Ahomka womu
5. Jaij Hollands, K Weezy, Kwamz & Flava – Bie Mu
6. Bisa kdei – Brother Brother 

LAURIE

Laurie (my step-sister) has also influenced my music taste and is probably the reason why I know a lot of songs people her age (25) used to listen to. I remember us dancing to music all the time.  I also recall writing out Chris Brown lyrics word for word, continuously playing and pausing the CD player (this  must have been before lyric websites were available).

Songs to check out 

1. Bongo Jam – Crazy Cousins
2. Chris Brown – Yo (Excuse Me Miss)
3. Chris Brown – Gimme That
4. Spongebob Dance / SpongeBob (Tote It) Dance
5. BUSY SIGNAL – UP IN HER BELLY

 

Thank you for reading!

Peace & Love

xo Sabrei xo

IT’S CARNIVAL *DESTRA VOICE*

Hi guys!

So with Notting Hill Carnival being right around the corner (27th – 28th August) I thought I’d do a blog post about Europe’s BIGGEST street festival.

THE HISTORY OF NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL

There’s much debate regarding WHO started carnival and WHEN the first carnival started. According to this BBC documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URS9f92EsEQ&t=295s Selwyn Baptiste, a Trinidadian steel pan player who arrived in Britain in 1960 took over carnival from Rhaune Laslett and carnival began in 1965.

Selwyn Baptiste

In the mid 70’s attendance numbers at carnival were at around 250 000. Now this number Is over 1 000 000 . Between 1973 and 1975, Leslie Palmer took over carnival, recruited more steel bands, live acts and attracted sound systems. Now the Caribbean influence was more than just Trinidadian. With more numbers came more Police and at this time there was great racial tension between the Police and Black people.

WHY I LOVE NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL

• CULTURE – Even though I personally go to Notting Hill Carnival for the Caribbean culture, now you’ll a find a lot more cultures being celebrated from African to Latino to British which is nice as it reflects the diversity of Britain. It’s nice to see everyone embracing different cultures.
• VIBES – The vibes are amazing. I always feel so happy at carnival and every time I’ve attended, there has always been a great energy ( I think I love carnival more than Christmas now haha).
• CLOTHING – The Caribbean carnival costumes are beautiful and you’ll see people in all different shapes and sizes rocking them. Hopefully one day I’ll be one of them.
• FOOD –  The smells as you’re moving down the streets are amazing. You can get food from an array of cultures but I always go for some jerk chicken and jollof rice.
• MUSIC/DANCING – My favourite genres I like to hear at carnival are Soca, Reggae, Dub, Dancehall, Jungle and Garage. I love my music LOUD and I enjoy feeling the music coming from the sound system in your chest. The music/dancing is always on point and everyone is so care-free.

10 SONGS YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO BEFORE CARNIVAL

1. Palance-Blaze ft JW – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SLGvqhch_E
2. Destra Garcia ft Machel Montano – It’s Carnival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9YWpJ8-fPo
3. WCK – Balance Batty – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn_5je2nXJw
4. Jamesy P – ‘Nookie’ – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLwSOszyOV8
5. M Beat feat General Levy Incredible – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL2Bgj-za5k
6. uk apache & shy-fx – original nuttah – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QMiCBJ7yRM
7. Dollar – Taxi – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWI0ejzQPcs
8. Skinny Fabulous – Monster – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwCcXIiYYnc
9. Booo! – Sticky feat Miss Dynamite – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzEnST_vJiE
10. Satisfy My Soul – Dub – Bob Marley – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6sgWJ4BVus

There’s so many more I could’ve picked but I’d be here all day otherwise.

GOING TO CARNIVAL WITH ALL THE BAD THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW???!!!

People I know and people on social media have expressed that they don’t want to go to carnival or are unsure about going to carnival this year because of things such as acid/terrorist attacks. I know everyone looks at things differently but the way I see it is bad things have been happening since the beginning of time and you can be attacked anywhere, even in the comfort of your own home! Don’t let the wrong doings of others stop you from having a great time. If you haven’t been to carnival before, I strongly recommend you go for the experience.

GRENFELL TOWER

With the Grenfell tower being so close to Notting Hill Carnival there will be a minute silence at 3pm on August 28th to remember all those that died and were affected by the tragedy. If you’re not sure what to wear to carnival, you could buy a Grenfell tee (http://www.love4.london/) , style it in your own way and at the same time you’ll be helping the residents of Grenfell as the profits will be going to them.

 

Thank you for reading this post. Until next time

 

Peace & Love

xo Sabrei xo

 

Twitter: @allthing5mu5ic / @Sabreii

Instagram: sabreinaomi

Snapchat: sabrei_97

 

 

This Ain’t No Intro, This The Entree…

If you didn’t get my title reference then shame on you lol! (for those of you that don’t know this is a line from ‘All We Got’ by Chance the Rapper feat. Kanye West https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hi3nbs3bD4).

Hey guys and welcome to my blog! My name is Sabrei and I’m 20 years old.

Why did you decide to start a music blog?

Have you heard the phrase ‘perception is reality’? I perceive my music taste to be top notch and no-one can tell me differently. I wanted to have an outlet where I could share and talk about the music I like and what better way than to start writing a blog?

How much do you love music?

If you know me, you’ll know how much I love food. Well… I think I love music more than food. Those that have me on Snapchat (sabrei_97) will know that I am always posting music. Music feeds the soul, is my motivator and a big part of my life… here’s why.

I listen to music…

• To praise and connect with God.
• When I’m in the shower (a shower without music is just horrible).
• When I’m doing work (If it wasn’t for music, the struggle to complete work would be magnified).
• When I’m getting dressed.
• In social settings (I love seeing music bringing people together in social settings)
• When I’m walking (Leaving the house without headphones will ruin my day and even if I’m just going across the road I need to bring my headphones and Ipod with me).
• When I’m cooking.
• When I’m at the Gym (Music enables me to persevere when I’m at the gym. When you feel like giving up, it takes that one song to come on and all of a sudden I get  energy outta nowhere and i feel like i can go on).
• At my job (At university, I have a part-time job at a nightclub and when the DJ is playing tunes you’ll catch me having more fun than the customers haha).

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and joining me on this journey. I have so many ideas, I can’t wait to bring them to life.

 

Twitter: @allthing5mu5ic

 

Peace & Love

x o Sabrei x o