Not So long ago many of us would have been musically influenced mainly by big American RnB stars, the likes of Jay Z, Kanye West, Beyonce, Prince and So on. Some of you like me might even go back a little bit further.. remember Shalamar, The Whispers or Earth, Wind and Fire. I grew up listening to their hits.
While this might still be the case and American RnB still dominants the charts, times are changing and you cannot ignore the rising music phenomenon from Africa which has been labelled Afrobeat or Afropop by some of us. Over the past few years African Artists mainly from Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa have been making serious inroads onto the the charts and club dance floors in the big cities from Lagos, to Accra London and New York. and you now have big international stars from the U.S rushing down to Nigeria to collaborate with and also sign up top Nigerian stars the most recent being Snoop Dogg, Kanye West and Akon.
As a result Nigeria in particular has now become a hot bed of creativity and innovation with its music industry literally going into overdrive and churning out hits from a new crop of superstars such as Dbanj, Psquare,Tuface and most recently Wiz Kid the latest superstar on the block. Of course that also means there are many new and not so new artists trying to make their mark and break through into the big time most of these however just tend to imitate the the big stars and quality and class is still not easy to find which is why its always good when you stumble on an artists with something special which you know is different and set to go places.
And thats exactly how I felt when I listened to this new track 'Hold on to your dreams' from SKD which stands for Sound Knock Down, the brainchild of an artist determined to push the bounderies and bring something new to the table, driven by a strong belief in fate or what some might call his destiny SKD believes that he was born to create something different and make a big impact on the music industry and you can tell from listening to this track which is already getting thousands of Youtube views that he is certainly heading in the right direction.
SKD is not new to the Nigerian scene and has worked his way up from humble beginnings, born in Nigeria, he began entertaining and rapping when he was in primary school. He was heavily influenced by Kurtis Blow, 2Pac, Run dmc, public enemy, NWA, Nas and DMX. and soon began developing his own unique style of rapping, he entered and won local and national competitions, making his first demo with his brother providing keyboard and sound engineering support. They say if you work hard and stay focused you will get results and SKD has definitely worked hard and done his time participating in various local and international talent shows, including O2 in the park 2004, the New York Music festival , LA music Festival , and performing in different night clubs and venues in , UK USA and Nigeria.
He has fast gained a reputation as singer, and rapper and accomplished guitarist. and says in his own words "I would love to make money from what I do, there's nothing wrong with that but I love the music even more and right now I'm holding on to my dreams"
Have a listen/download the track I'm sure you will be impressed and don't forget share with your friends. comments are also welcome.
Peace and Blessings.
Hold On 2 Ur Dreams by SKD
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