Let's Catch Up

Let's catch-up! I've had conversations  recently on the podcast with comedian Kerry Coddett,  soca star Kes, gospel singer K-Anthony, and reggae crooner Mortimer. All great interviews filled with reflections and life perspectives. 

Concert and festival season is heating up and I share my most recent experiences at the Traffic Jam concert featuring Damian and Stephen Marley. Buju and Sizzla are back on U.S. soil and I mention canceled concert disappointment, fan concert perspectives and new music I'm listening to.  

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the Style and Vibes podcast with yours truly Makayla. If you are new here, welcome to the family. Returning family members wagwan. I hope you guys are well.

Speaker 1: 0:16

Today is a quick solo episode with just me. I just wanted to take some time to catch up. There has been some really great episodes. A lot of new things are happening, so this is called the catch up episode, all right. So first things first. There is a new feature on the podcast you can now text me. So if you are on any podcast listening app, you can now text me and I will see the message directly. If you go to the description the show notes of this episode, you'll see at the top it says chat to me. Um, and you'll be able to just send me a quick note. Whether you are responding to something in the news, responding to something on the podcast, I would love to hear from you. So it's a brand new feature. So make sure you guys check it out and send me a quick note. Make me know. It's at work, you know.

Speaker 1: 1:14

So we've had a lot of really great guests over the last few episodes Kate, anthony Kes, we've had Mortimer, we've talked about me going to the Traffic Jam concert. So some really great content pieces, a lot of new things that I'm trying. Kay Anthony is the first gospel artist that I've had here on the podcast, so that was new for me Also. Sharing my experience from a concert perspective is also new, and then really getting to know some of the artists in the space is something I always love doing. So hopefully you guys have had a chance to listen to those episodes. If you have not, please be sure to go back and listen to those. I think what is so interesting is I just love getting to know people and getting to know their story and I think that it kind of gives us as listeners and fans a different perspective, and that's really what I'm trying to get at in these last few episodes. And then really with the concert, just bringing you along from a fan's journey of like what it's like to go to a concert Transparently.

Speaker 1: 2:29

I wanted this episode to be about Cranium's concert here in New York. However, it got canceled. So therefore you know the show must go on. You guys know I release a podcast every two weeks, so I was planning to go to that, but that didn't happen. It got canceled for whatever reason. They didn't really give a reason.

Speaker 1: 2:49

So I don't know what the logistical things that happen. And you know, sometimes that happens and you know, as fans you're kind of like, oh you know, disappointed. Or you know, I know Busta Rhymes was originally on tour recently and he had to cancel his tour, but now he's on tour with Missy and Ciara, so maybe those were some of the things that were happening behind the scenes that they wanted to kind of reprogram. I also remember when I went to see Janet Jackson she actually announced that she was pregnant so she canceled her initial tour and so everybody got refunded their tickets and then when she came back to the stage I had to buy the tickets all over again.

Speaker 1: 3:29

So as a fan and a lover of the music, I totally get disappointed, just like you guys. And you know, I know I'm in this media space and a lot of times I'll get offered to go to concerts under a media pass, sometimes not all the time, but going as a consumer is very different, so you get to really experience it. When you're in the pit with other press people or you're behind the stage, you don't get the same view, there's a lack of energy sometimes and you're really there working. So you're enjoying it for sure, but it is definitely considered work. When you buy your ticket and go to a concert as a fan, you're thoroughly enjoying everything. You have a different lens, a different perspective, you feel the energy of the crowd and the people right next to you. So sometimes I do like to go to these events as a fan, um, and even if I'm like bringing my family members or you know, someone is coming with me. I'm the person who. I just buy two tickets for everything that I like and I see, and whoever will come and whoever doesn't come doesn't come. I can always sell my ticket, but that's something that I just enjoy. So for me it's easy to kind of navigate that space, whether I am working officially or, you know, just taking it in and kind of working unofficially, so that that traffic jam concert was like an unofficial content opportunity that I wanted to share with you guys.

Speaker 1: 5:03

So, coming up, everybody seems to be going on tour and you know summertime, especially here in the States, is like festival season because of the warm weather. Between here and even in Europe you'll see a lot of your favorite artists coming and performing. We really just got a huge announcement around Budja returning to the States and, as I'm recording this podcast, there hasn't been any official announcements about him performing in the States. However, I think that there's a good chance that we'll see a concert from him coming up very soon. Also, we know that Sizzla is going to be touring. I'm definitely going to check that out as well. It's the first time he's been here back on American soil in a very long time, so I know the fans are really going to enjoy that, and I think his first stop is either in Boston or it's in Connecticut. So I am thoroughly looking forward to the festival season, glad to see Babylon free up the rest of them and that they can come back and perform for us.

Speaker 1: 6:12

I'm kind of figuring out my calendar right now, so I would love to hear some of what you guys are planning to do. I know there's a big reggae concert in Brooklyn. There's always usually a few in Brooklyn Barris. You know Fada Barris always come to where we are, um, so you know he's going to do his tour from the whole of the Northeast right Don't to Florida I'm back to Jamaica, cause that's what he does, um, and there are definitely going to be others in in the near couple of weeks. So I think I'm going to do like a little roundup of reggae and dancehall festivals and events that are happening that I'm probably looking at or interested or think you guys might enjoy. Look for that in the coming weeks. I'm not going to guarantee it's going to be in the show notes, but stay tuned to either a future episode or our Instagram website so that you guys can get your own calendars going and let me know where you guys are going to be.

Speaker 1: 7:11

So, from a music perspective, there's also a lot of music being released and I love it, I love it, I love it. I've actually still been listening to Kes's album, man With no Door, and the few songs that I keep going back to some are the ones that we've heard, like Banga, licky, ticky, but the ones that I go back to that aren't really released are yes Please, which is kind of like a slower, tender love song kind of thing. Honeycomb, which features Busy, signal and Formula. So those are my favorites off of that album. I also recently got to listen to Tyla's self-titled album.

Speaker 1: 7:53

So she is the South African artist who had the Water song and the Water Challenge on TikTok and I don't know why, but she gets a lot of hate on these internet, on the social media streets, because anytime Mrs Something Pulse Voltar is like something negative. I don't really know why, but I'm also kind of slightly outside of the the industry and in that genre in particular. Her album is really Emma Piano Bass. So if you're not familiar with that sound, it's it's a very South African specific sound, but it has like this EDN-ish. I don't even want to say that, but it has this like really nice melodic electronic sound mixed with, like traditional African instruments. It's really really, really good. I've been listening to it for a little while and you know apple has some really good playlists, but anyway, I'm going way off topic.

Speaker 1: 8:54

Um, the self-titled album is really really good. It's only 40 minutes long and it's a good like. It's a really concise project. It's a great intro to her as an artist, especially here in the states, and I really think it kind of gives a breath of her um her sound really, because while she does really lean on that Emma Piano sound, she does actually try some new sounds, like the song Butterflies, like I could totally hear SZA inspiration in that song. It would be so dope if they actually got SZA to do a remix with her on that song in particular, because I just hear the inspiration on that song.

Speaker 1: 9:37

But other songs that I go back to on that album is Safer, which is the second single off on the album. She does an intro which I Please keep the intros please. And then Safer is the first song and it's a great opening song for her album Jump, which has Skilly Bang on it. So I know that the sound is trending on TikTok. However, the whole entire song is really like a dance-off vibe. So I highly recommend you check out that song in its entirety, off of TikTok and on and on. It feels like a throwback song and she's really kind of talking nostalgically. Now I'm like listen, I'm like, were you even born in the era that you're talking about? But anyway, she clearly has an affinity for what she's talking about in that song and I really love the energy. So of course she has water and the water remix on there as well. So that kind of really rounds out the album.

Speaker 1: 10:37

It's an easy listen from beginning to end. Again, it's also a quick listen, so it's only 40 minutes in total I think it's. So it's an easy listen. If you're driving in the car and you have 30 minutes. You could probably make it through that album if you skip over the songs that you already know.

Speaker 1: 10:56

Also, kabaka Pyramid re-released his Grammy award-winning album, the Calling. So I love that because it kind of reminds us and he added some bonus tracks. He added some additional features on some of the songs. He re-released a few videos with the collaborations and things like that. So I really like when artists are going back into their catalog bag and letting us revisit the greatness that they already have. And, as you know, sometimes you discover and rediscover things from an artist that you kind of haven't seen or heard. So I highly recommend going back and checking out some of the videos that he has. Also, the girl I'm really I come with things. I'm so excited for them.

Speaker 1: 11:46

Lila Ike is releasing new music. Shancia is releasing her album. Tash alexander chat to me nice. That's why I have the thing called chat to me now, because attach, attach time. No, you know, because I really love her voice. I love everything about her and I think she has so much going for her from a songwriting perspective and we've seen her grow her music. I'd love to have her on the podcast. I should reach out to her people and see if I can make that happen. But she also rolled out with a really nice album social media uh, announcement for the album.

Speaker 1: 12:23

She actually not the album, the single where she kind of set up herself as a podcaster or a radio host and people would be calling in and she said what would you say if you were trying to? You know, um, get my attention and be, be someone of interest to me, and so she had all these different like little skits and I thought that that was so cool, it's creative, it's a different way of thinking and I think the artists are really listening and the quality is is coming back. I saw Naomi Coleman recently released something too. Um, kalia's doing some stuff. I'm like it's just all coming and so much music I can't wait to kind of share some of my records and put together a playlist for you guys, hopefully for the summer. Um, I can do that.

Speaker 1: 13:13

Um also, you know, bigging up the community, because I've been doing really good on social media. Um particularly focused on Instagram and I requested a Jolene mashup. So it was. Kes has a song called Jolene, dolly Parton is the originator of a song named Jolene that is super popular, and Beyonce just released her album Cowboy Carter and she did a interpretation of Dolly Parton's Jolene. I made a video and made the statement that I needed a mashup between the three and don't you know, the community respond.

Speaker 1: 13:57

Thank you so much, shauna for tagging Bo. Dj Bo did his thing. I'm going to put the link in our show notes so that you guys can see. But Shauna, dj Bo, big Up and Asev. Thank you guys so much. I appreciate the feedback, but I love when the community responds. It's a great thing. So that is it for me and the catch up today. I hope you guys are doing well. Please again send me a message. Chat to me, please on thanks and until next time later. My peeps. Thanks for listening to the latest episode of the Style and Vibes podcast. If you like what you hear and I know you do share it with your friends and family If you want more, make sure you visit styleandvibescom and follow us on our social channels, twitter and Instagram, at stylingvibes. Until next time, leah, tommy peeps.