Your Questions, Answered: Mixtape ‘22 Artists
As part of our Ask Us Anything series, we teamed up with Mixtape ‘22 artists - Victoria Jane, Saidu, Emma Cannon and Star.One - who answered all your burning questions about Mixtape ‘22, their love of music, what it’s like being in the industry and more. Here’s what they had to say…
QUESTIONS FOR VICTORIA JANE…
What does self-love mean to you?
I think self-love means knowing your worth, appreciating yourself and putting yourself first. And just accepting all your flaws.
How do you stay confident?
That’s a really hard question, as it’s hard for anyone to stay confident, but I think you just have to believe in yourself, and give yourself reassurance. The main thing I do to try and stay confident is just think of everything I have achieved. When I think back to that, it does help a little bit.
What fears do you have and how do you face them?
I have a lot of fears but I just try my best not to think about them and just try to concentrate on the now, working as hard as I can, and being the best that I can be.
QUESTIONS FOR SAIDU…
What experiences shaped you growing up?
I would like to say it was the people that I was around, from family to friends, the schools that I went to, the estate that I lived in and even the buildings that I see around me. I definitely feel like that because I’ve got lots of memories, for example, like me playing a game called ‘Slenderman’, where someone would be ‘Slenderman’ and we’d be in the block running away from that person. Like ‘It’ basically, but ‘Slenderman’ was just a better name for it. It was scary!. But I feel like the time that I spent in those places and around those people definitely made me who I am, because if it weren’t for them, I could have been a totally different person. Obviously, there are ups and downs and you learn from your downs and you even learn from your ups. You learn from everything around you and you even learn from other people as well. I’ve learnt so many things from my friends, I’ve learnt so many things from my family, so I’d definitely say those things made me into the man I am today. Even little things as well, like going to youth clubs and stuff like that. Just being around people, you know. I definitely feel like they have shaped me into the person I am today and I’m happy.
What is your advice for anyone wanting to get into the music industry?
I’d say set goals for yourself. Try your hardest to achieve those goals, no matter how big they are. The sky's the limit, you can do whatever you want! Don’t let no one tell you what you can’t do and what you can do, because only you can decide that for yourself. Make sure that you stay determined and make sure you have that drive in you to want to succeed. At the end of the day, your biggest enemy is you. If you’re being lazy, then you’re not going to get nowhere. You’re going to be like, “oh yeah, one day, one day, yeah”, but you’re not really trying to get to that one day. So, make sure that you stay driven, stay determined, stay committed, and strive. Strive and try your hardest, try your best, because that’s all you can do.
Who would be your dream artist to collaborate with?
I’ve got so many artists! But the number one for me personally is Chris Brown. He’s so talented, like so, so talented in whatever he does. Singing, dancing, rapping, acting, basketball, art, producing. You know, I just wanna be appreciated like the way he is for his talents. He’s definitely my dream artist that I would love to collaborate with. I'm gonna speak it into existence – we’re going to collaborate one day!
QUESTIONS FOR EMMA CANNON…
What advice do you have for people who want to make music professionally?
Have confidence. Have confidence in your sound – that is the main thing that will help you succeed. And just send it out to people. Find people on Instagram and send them a DM. Don’t be afraid of people who get loads of plays, they’re just people. You are just as good as them, you just haven’t got there yet. That’s my advice!
Do you ever get nervous about sharing your work with people?
Yes, and I don’t think that’s ever going to go away. I always get more nervous to show people that I’m close to, like my family, because I’m singing about things in my life and I’m in a really vulnerable state showing people this part of me. But it’s also a really beautiful thing and it brings people together, so yeah. It’s okay to be a bit nervous, it shows you care. But as long as it doesn’t hold you back, it’s okay.
How do you write songs? Do you think of a theme first or do you get random lines in your head and build them out?
I usually just start by sitting at the microphone and recording in pretty much gibberish and humming and just try and get a melody. And then I slowly fill it in with words. And a lot of the time, I’ll be humming or just doing phrases almost, and I can hear words through the gibberish. I’ll kind of just piece around it and usually I’ll end up talking about something that is actually going on in my life. So, it’s like a subconscious stream of words. It’s a pretty random process!
QUESTIONS FOR STAR.ONE…
Who is the most exciting artist making music today?
That is a hard one! It changes every day, if I’m honest. Like one week, Fred Again is doing crazy things with his production. Today, personally, I’m feeling Black Sheriff – an artist from Ghana. He’s just released his debut tape and he’s a very, very exciting artist. He could be one of the first global stars from this new wave of Ghanaian music.
I’m a singer, how do I break into the industry?
The way I’d answer that is actually flip it and say, let the industry come to you. So with social media, TikTok especially, I’d just make videos of you just sitting in your bedroom doing lots of things, doing loads of fun stuff, being creative with it and try to build a community. Interact with that community, do duets, reach out to people on social media. If you can build up a little fanbase and have some viral moments, then the industry is watching and they will come to you.
What was the best part about making Mixtape ’22?
For me, I’ve got two best bits. One, working with the artists. Music is what we love making and to work with Saidu, Victoria Jane and Emma Cannon – all incredibly talented artists – was just great to do and link up in the studio. And then two, was listening and speaking to the young people really. Some of them were so insightful and just had, like, such a clarification on life which was beyond their years. So that was really inspiring to talk to them as well, to see kind of what the things that are going on in the youth’s lives as well.
Star.One, Saidu, Victoria Jane, and Emma Cannon, took your ideas and opinions and used them to lay down three different tracks, with beats and lyrics that’ll inspire you and get your voices heard. Listen to Mixtape '22 now!
