With all the energy the world seems to be drowned in, misogyny, materialism, cynicism to name a few it’s rare to find a pocket of music with positive ideals and a production filled with frequencies that induce a great sense of calm and inner peace. In today’s textures of music which has a lot of reality drama narratives that manifest from social media I never thought I would experience anything as tranquil as Seriously Daniel.
Born and raised in Johannesburg Seriously Daniel is an independent singer, songwriter and rapper, working with the likes of Benny Afroe, Miguel Pregueiro and Austin Lurring to name a few. As a AFDA Graduate where he studied live performance he won an Award for Original Song of The Year in 2017 before he graduated.
Upon an intense interview where I asked him about his album Colouring outside the lines I got to learn a great deal from his experience living and teaching in china and how his perspective of the world changed when he experienced a completely different social setting than the one he was accustomed to.
With songs like “The New Black” and “Everybody Lives Life” this album is something every dreamer and every south African needs to hear. We had our interview at the peak of a beef between The Big Hash and J Molley in which racial tension almost broke with a controversial tweet by Big Hash which took a simple beef between two artists and almost morphed it into a situation where racism would dominate twitter.
Everybody Lives Life is a song that celebrate the humanity in people irrespective of their race and in some societies such as china where Daniel says he can barely feel any racial tension, it is a song that many people should be aware of for the sake of shifting the consciousness we carry towards things pertaining to racism, that in fact we should address core issues work on solutions and look beyond these categories of identity and do our best to build from our history as opposed to add on to a destructive legacy by keeping racial norms alive and well.
The New Black is a song that challenges the norms of everyone saying you can’t achieve anything you dream of just because you are a certain way. Daniel reflected that he was shunned upon and bullied because of his height and growing up in high school was not the easiest thing for him and what one can appreciate was how he was able to create light from a negative situation and set trends in his own right.
Another favourite is a song called Made For You and Me which was refreshing to hear as the current state of the industry is filled with music that endorses heartbreak, Cheating, revenge, and conditional love, this song is a pure homage to when love was about the person and the memories you create with them more than the fancy items you can buy for them, I remember that as much providing for your partner and your family (If you are a married person or a parent) just buying thing that people need or want is not the definition of love there is more to love than this, there is time, conversation, nurture, care that comes into effect.
An album filled with positive energy and messages, if you are tired of having your soul dragged by the harsh realities of life than this ep is one for your headphones, mind and ears to indulge in, especially when you are low on faith and need something to believe in.
Follow Seriously Daniel on Social Media
Twitter: @Seri0uslyDaniel
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouslydanielmusic/
Instagram: @seriously_daniel
Article by: Malibongwe Dladla
Images Curated By: Malibongwe Dladla
Contact: @the_kinsman88/urbandivinity88@gmail.com
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