Who is Yung6ix?
Yung6ix right now is a legend in the making, Yung6ix is one of the biggest hip-hop brands in Africa. I am working so hard to be a global superstar and not just a Nigerian brand or star. That’s who Yung6ix is.
How did you come about the name Yung6ix?
It started when I was really young. My name actually started from 6ixty and then people used to call me 6ixty Cent. I was a very big fan of 50 cent and from there, they started calling me 6ixty, when I got into the university, I was trying to make hot songs I started with Yung6ixty. I’m the kind of person that loves to work with my mind more than anything else. Most successful artistes always have two syllable names; P. Diddy, 50 cent, JaRule, but Yung6ixty was a three-syllable kind of name. So I had to shorten it to two syllables, Yung6ix.
What inspired you to do rap music?
Most of my role models use their music to express themselves – their daily lifestyles, what they do, how they party, how they talk to women, how they have sex with women. I was a lonely child who found more fun being with friends than with family. Whenever I was with my family, I was always lonely because I grew up in a house where I was scared of my mum and dad. The only place I could express myself was on paper, which was how I started writing, trying to express myself and making music.
At what age did you start doing music?
I started very young. I remember being into the hip-hop stuff when I was in primary school. I was in the Boys Brigade band then, but I was not like the first choice drummer. So I always went back home to practise with Milo and milk cans and then when I got tired of playing what we were learning in school, I would start playing old songs like ‘Gangsters Paradise.’
Were your parents in support of you doing music?
Nah…. they were never in support of anything; they always broke my Walkman, CDs and did everything to keep me away from music.
I noticed you use a lot of wordplay when you rap. How do you come about it?
You know one thing about the Hiphop part of me, that’s the most intelligent part of Yung6ix and that’s why I love Hiphop. You have to work with your mind, go back to things you were taught – like how you were brought up and at the end of the day, making music is not just about making rhymes or just making lines. As a rapper, you have to be able to put out punchlines and metaphors.
Who is your favourite rapper and how has that rapper inspired you?
I can’t say I have one favourite rapper right now. Lil Wayne and Jay-Z are my greatest influences but 50 Cent was actually the guy that motivated me to rap. He motivated me to go into the studio and make a song.
When is your second studio album, ‘Billionaire Ambitions’ officially hitting the market?
‘Billionaire Ambitions’ is an EP. A lot of people want it to be an album but it’s an EP for a reason. Next year, we are going to have a way bigger project than ‘Billionaire Ambitions.’ I have been working on ‘Billionaire Ambitions’ for the past one year and the single from the EP, ‘Blessings’, just took me by surprise. The success of the single was just amazing. So I’m going to capitalise on that and give people ‘Billionaire Ambitions’ right now; but I have way bigger projects coming up next year with acts that people are not even going to be expecting in Nigeria as well.
Your lead single, ‘Blessings’, featuring Oritse Femi received quite a warm reception and is getting massive airplay on radio stations. How do you feel?
I feel blessed with that single. I think God just came and said ‘you know what? You’ve been grinding for so long it’s about that time you have another hit song.’ So, I think that’s what it is. It is God! I can’t really express the love I’m getting from that song, because sometimes I get tweets of radio stations playing the song in Uganda, Kenya and even places where they don’t speak English. I’m like, ‘how do these people get to understand what I’m even saying in this music?’ But at the end of the day, God has a way of communicating music to people.
How did the label, Kash Kamp, come about and how has the partnership between Kash Kamp and Trick Billionaire Musiq aided your music journey?
Right now, there is no Kash Kamp and there is no Trick Billionaire Musiq. It is one, it is ‘KKTBM’. That’s what it is; it is like two families becoming one.
Can you tell us more about the label mates signed to KKTBM and what we should expect from them?
Right now, we have a couple of acts. We have Percy, B-Raiz, Stage-1ne, SD, Gameface family but they are based in the U.K. Even B-Raiz is based in South Africa. So, you see where we are going with the label. It’s not something we want to sit back and try to be competing with everybody out there by putting our songs on radios, Alaba and what not. We are trying to create a platform in Nigeria whereby music will be done properly.
Where do you see the Nigerian music industry in the next three years?
The Nigerian industry, right now I think, has to be the second or third biggest industry in the world. I think Americans are beginning to feel the pressure and the growth and they want to tap into the Nigerian music industry. So, I foresee that one of the biggest markets to come is going to be the Nigerian music industry. I think Nigerian music artistes are going to be some of the richest and most influential in time to come.
I’m sure your female fans would love to know your relationship status. So, is Yung6ix in a relationship right now?
I have been single like my song, ‘Blessings’, in case you don’t know that’s my latest single; that’s what it is.
What advice do you have for upcoming rappers?
I have always been determined and I always set goals for myself on a daily basis to make sure that I do something to improve or make my career better on a steady. So whatever you are doing or anything you do, you have to believe in yourself. It starts with believing in yourself and when people believe in you, that’s when you start making the money. Then they know that when you put out music and they buy it, they are going to be happy, they are going to enjoy whatever they are paying for.
Now to all the fans who have supported you from day one, what would you like to say to them?
God bless them. I have always told people only God loves my fans more than I do, so God bless my fans. I appreciate all of them. I think I have some of the most loyal fans in the world. I have real fans. I know I have fans that can shoot other people for me. God bless my fans and the love they show me is incredible.
NewTelegraph
No comments:
Post a Comment