CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – Since he was a young man, Gr8ful has always been in love with music and the influence that it had on people. At only 13 he was writing his own music and freestyling for other kids in the park. Several years later he is releasing his latest project, a set of singles under the title PERSPECTIVES.
PERSPECTIVES comes to the table with two main focuses to it. Not only does the project look at the different ways to approach the topic of finding your place in the world, it also hints towards the artist’s own name. “You have to look at things from different angles to practice gratuity sometimes,” Gr8ful explained. “I think the project, and the rest of my music is a representation of that.”
As a project, PERSPECTIVES includes two songs, “Pop Off” and “Carry On”. Each song uses its own unique methods to get you to the main idea of the project, that everyone has a place and role in this life. You simply are not alone.
Starting with “Pop Off”, this track takes on the more energetic half of the project. A collaboration between Gr8ful and a few talented artists of various backgrounds, the track blends together seamlessly. “It was so rare to get such a quickly cohesive feel from such a diverse group,” he said. “It’s something I want everyone to be able to feel. In this track and their own lives.”
“Carry On”, unlike its partner track, is inspired by a groovy 80’s sound. “This song is about being able to carry on no matter what is thrown at you.” Having a gorgeously communal feel to it, this song is a representation of the knowledge that you will always have someone in your corner.
“I chose the title PERSPECTIVES because each song takes a very different approach,” Gr8ful explained. While “Pop Off” has a very forward and high tempo feel, “Carry On” takes on a smoother, more Funky sound. Despite coming from different sides, the two songs lead you to the same important conclusion, live your life to the fullest and love who you truly are.
Following the release of the PERSPECTIVE tracks, Gr8ful is looking forward to the release of several different videos, ranging from behind the scenes moments to visual representations of the music. He will also be gearing up for future tracks and releases. You definitely don’t want to miss out on this artist.
“As a South African artist, I think that my culture and I have a lot to share with the world.” There is so much that Gr8ful has yet to share and he is sure to continue to turn heads.
Make sure to stay tuned in to Gr8ful on various platforms, especially Instagram, for new music, visuals and social posts.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClk9_vh020lzEgri3QDQGIw/videos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gr8fvl/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imaad.baderoen.3/
Website: Gr8ful.co.za
On April 15th, 2017, Benjamin Hey! took on a daily songwriting challenge. The NYC-based artist and producer, who was then working as an actor and model, has written a song every day since.
“It’s like one of those situations where I thought I was done with music, but it wasn’t done with me. So I decided to just try it again. But this time around, I said to myself, I have to have fun, so I can’t take myself too seriously. Whatever songs come through, I’m going to write it—if they are good songs, bad songs, if they’re serious, if they’re silly, I’m just gonna create it and not judge it. It led to me just doubling down on my commitment,” explains Hey! “I didn’t plan on writing a song every single day for over five years. It just happened.”
Hey! started writing music in 2008 as an independent artist. Feeling that music had been following his various paths serendipitously—taking acting courses that always ended up having singing involved—he decided to return to music-making after a 30-day challenge that was brought to his attention by a friend who was a contestant on The Voice. The friend ended up with 4 songs, while Hey! wrote 22 songs. He soon reached out to a producer friend in L.A. (Jonny On The Rocks) and started production on those 22 songs.
That soon led to writing and producing “Beat For The Gods” by actress Laverne Cox, which reached no. 41 on the Billboard Dance Club charts. That pushed Hey!’s energy threshold to songwriter even more, but this time having fun with that drive and creating music with an organic heart.
“It’s a journey where I’m learning to just be open, be flexible, and especially with writing a song every day, I never know what the subject matter is going to be, but I do show up to write it when it does drop in,” says Hey!
In another cosmic shift for the artist, after traveling to Puerto Rico to visit friends, Hey! ended up filming a music video. Word of mouth led to connecting with musician John Beyer, leading up to a writing and collaborating partnership that produced tracks such as “Powerless” and Hey!’s latest tracks “No Samples” and “RA-TA-TAT-TAT.” While Beyer’s musical influences ranged from balladeers, crooners, and classic rock, the pair managed to meet in the middle symbiotically and have maintained their musical partnership for 3 years.
“No Samples” is about not compromising when one knows what they want, written during the COVID-19 quarantine when Hey! was feeling isolated.
“I got through most of the pandemic by myself, then I said, okay, if I’m gonna want those things, and I do want love in my life, I’m not trying to settle for it. I want the steak. I want a 5-course meal. I don’t want no Happy Meal.” he explains, then quoting the song’s lyrics with a beat reminiscent of old-school R&B, “I’m holding out for something special and amazing.”
“RA-TA-TAT-TAT” is an anti-gun violence track co-written with Beyer. Since Hey! had grown up in the projects in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook, he’d initially been resistant to releasing the track that’s lyrics run dark. But just like his openness as a songwriter on his other tracks, he wanted to embrace “RA-TA-TAT-TAT” and realized its significance. Hey! soon had the hook for the song and its structure.
“As much as I did not want to touch it, it’s important because it’s a problem. We need to hear more songs that are anti-guns that have the recognition of the problem in all the major cities it’s happening in,” says Hey! “When we wrote the song, it was definitely geared towards inner city violence, black-on-black crime. But as we know now, bullets don’t discriminate, and this song is for everyone that’s been affected by gun violence.”
Since its release, Hey! and Beyer have performed the track at Spotify headquarters, and it has reached over 100,000 streams on the platform. Hey!’s daily songs are also leading him to a future EP release and continuing his songwriting partnership with Beyer—including what they describe as a potential hit track, titled “Money Girl,” a female-empowerment song about financial independence.
Benjamin Hey!’s journey over the past 5 years has led him to a lush music career–embracing opportunity one song at a time.
Hip-hop group The Underdogs are embracing imperfections, and creating a brand and musical identity that emphasizes on helping others through hard times.
On their latest single “Be About It,” the New Jersey-based trio—Lady Ink, Rafayel, and Butta—go straight to the point on the track, and see it as a gateway for listeners towards the rest of their music.
“We have Spanish records, we have records about the struggle, but I feel like people receive those things better when they know you better. And so that’s why I felt “Be About It” was one of the stronger ones to push as a record and to drop first because it’s very straight to the point,” says Lady Ink. “We’re just trying to engage the audience before we try and convince them of anything. When it goes like the more emotional records or the records that we’re trying to pull out people’s heartstrings we have to get the people engaged first before we drop those.”
The Underdogs met through mutual friends. Butta is cousins with Raf while Lady Ink re-connected with him through Instagram after he moved from Florida to NJ. Lady Ink has experience in the industry, previously signed to Hit City Records at 17-years-old, and Rafayel’s own project has over 80,000 streams on Spotify.
Their music ranges in variety—trap music, Latino rap that represents their Dominican and Puerto Rican cultures, and East Coast-style bars. On their 2022 record Who let The Dogs out? The Underdogs represent all of that, showing listeners what they’ve got.
But that isn’t all that they’ve got. Underdogs are both their sound, and a collective brand and movement. Under the name 360 Underdog, the group sells a luxury sneaker brand handcrafted in Italy. It’s not just about the aesthetic, but a way for Underdogs to help and advocate for others in need
“The whole point in creating the brand was to reach those people who we can relate to, people who come from nothing and those people who have those doubts and kind of hard to believe in themselves to do anything in life,” explains Lady Ink. “I want to be the advocate for comfortable living, basic human needs, and giving back to the communities in ways where it’s consistent […] We buy into so many things and we support so many things and there seems to be little to no return in doing those things. And I really want my brand Underdog to be that one where I invested in this brand, I’m wearing it, and I can really see how it’s putting structure in my life or affecting my life in a positive way and it’s not just for show or for glamor. It’s really helping people at the end of the day consistently.”
Underdogs want to connect in-person with fans once they begin performing live, and getting their energy out there. But there’s no rush—the group wants to create as much content as possible for listeners to see and for them to understand how serious they are about their work.
“I don’t want to go out there and try to connect with people and they search us and we have one video and an album. I feel like I really want to get a good amount of content and product out there that when we do reach the consumers and we do get our energy out there, they have something to go off,” says Lady Ink. “We’re really just taking our time and really putting our best foot forward and making sure that everything we put out there is 100%.”
Make sure to stay connected to The Underdogs on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/who-let-the-dogs-out/1645191998
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGuJCaNDU_I
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/360underdog/
https://www.instagram.com/straight_outta_jerz/
https://www.instagram.com/kingbohailbutta/
https://www.instagram.com/therealrafayel/
