When I asked Emily if she is a super fan of Bulela Podcast, this is what she had to say, “I’ll be honest, I haven’t watched much of the it (Bulela Podcast) but I saw the reaction to Church’s (Church Ulukuta) album, Together and also the interview you did with him and I particularly enjoyed those.”
After the necessary self-promo of Bulela Podcast, now we will focus more on Emily Hakoola and her craft. When asked about her craft and involvement in the music industry, here is What Emily had to say, “I’m a singer/songwriter. It’s difficult to place myself in a specific genre because I feel like I’m a mix of different genres. But if I need to say, I think I’m a pop artist, a pop star, if you may.”
As mentioned in my intro, Emily is Zambian (if this is not yet obvious) and here she shares where in Zambia she is from,“I grew up in Kafue, a small town. I do add some parts of my roots in my music. Probably not as much as people might want because I wouldn’t say I’m Afrocentric, I’m almost the opposite but I do acknowledge where I’m from, just not in an obvious way.”
Emily started her music career, at a very young age,
“I stepped into the studio for the first time when I was about 12. My friend (El Legendary) who’s a rapper/singer invited me to sing on one of his songs and I’d say I grew into the whole studio thing and I wanted more, so I stuck around.”
On who is her biggest inspiration re making music Emily says that her biggest influence is her mother. “My mother (who can not sing btw). She listened to all kinds of music and we’d jam together in her car. Singing along and dancing gave me so much joy and was a great bonding experience. Music has become a link to those moments for me and a link to my mother.”
There is a Visual offering by Emily she recommends we all go and see, “I have a live performance out that I did with Geo (Emily Hakoola - Nativez Live Performance). I did 3 songs off of my album.” To top it all off, Emily promises that she is working hard on her upcoming album, which is a very deeply personal project. “I don’t have any projects out yet but I am working on an album and I must say I didn’t understand some of the things I went through until this album so it’s a window into what it was like at certain points of my life.”
When asked about her creative process, Emily says, “expressing myself has always been a bit of a challenge for me. As much as I enjoy doing it, it’s a bit of a struggle coming up with sentences to describe what I’m actually feeling. The song “XO” from the live performance came out of a dark phase and It contains some pretty deep things and to find a creative way to bring it out wasn’t the easiest but weirdly, it helped that I was depressed. I guess I am an impulse writer, if that’s a thing.”
On collaborations and artists she would love to work with, Emily says, “I have 3 AMAZING people that just always blow my mind musically. Jon Bellion, Labrinth and Owl City. These three people are so creative! Their sound isn’t something you can see coming or think of. It would be a huge dream to have these people in one room. My God!”
On how we can support her craft, Emily says, “I’ve always wanted to sing at Global Citizen and at the Jimmy Fallon show. Sharing my music, streaming and buying my work when it’s out. Some sponsors would be good. I think branding and promotions are a great way to get far and that requires money.”
On life lessons learned to date, Emily shares, four points
“Fear will cost you your opportunities and you’ll have to watch someone else enjoy something that could’ve possibly been yours.
Don’t chase after love, it’ll find you
Make friends, you can’t grow in isolation
Take responsibility for your emotions, you’ll pay the price, not the people who hurt you”
When asked what she thinks is the value of the Zambian Music industry, Emily gives us the following insights: “I think it’s great for tourism, look at Coachella. Thousands of people go there just to enjoy music. I think music brings people together, no after where they come from, their skin colour or language, music is a language that connects all of us.”
You can find Emily Hakoola via the following link: https://linktr.ee/EmilyHakoola
Find more Bulela Podcast content HERE.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.