Shakka, The Effervescent, And Musically Gifted Genius Gives Us A Glimpse Into His World [Interview]

The most exciting Zoom call I've had to date, Shakka graced me with his presence from the comfort of his parked up car, he was cool, calm and collected. A man filled with endless amounts of knowledge about the music industry, our conversation flowed. We spoke about a range of topics, from how he believes 'Real Rap' music is authentic and tells real stories and how he believes 'The beauty of rap and grime is, that it has the ability to paint a picture of what it looks like to be someone from the roads or a place where opportunity isn't plentiful.'

Photography by Chris Baker

Shakka is all about letting the world know about the true Black British experience or a diaspora experience, and believes we have to let our story shine in the most authentic way possible. When asked about his thoughts on the current R&B scene, he said 'I think it's sick, the tenacious desire to make banging stuff, with or without the support of the world is great.' He believes the UK R&B scene is missing the collaboration element of music and thinks it doesn't happen enough. 'R&B could have so many moments but I feel like we're trying to protect what we have, I just want to see more projects and more mix tapes'.

He also praised the MOBO awards for being a space where the UK scene could see themselves win for once, although he doesn't believe artists should think that's where you get your source of validation from. He believes in order to stay grounded in the industry, you have to have your 'day ones' with you on the journey of ascension, as they'll remind you who you are. He's thankful to have had people in his inner circle who do that.

NW: Hey Shakka, how are you and how have you been?

Shakka: I've been the happiest I've been in a really long time. This sounds weird from someone who's been locked in his house for about a year and a half, but it feels like I had enough time to be able to do some self reflection, to look inside myself, to find out who I am and what I want. A lot happened and I'm now in a space where I'm putting out the best version of myself in audio form, doing it at a rate that just wasn't possible before. I've just got this freedom that I have never had before. It's taken a while because there have been many factors, one of them is my pen game, I feel like it's gotten a lot better. I also have great friends as collaborators to do videos with, to do shoots with, all that kind of stuff. I have a great team, my manager has been with me for 10 years, and she has been a huge inspirational force in every stage of my career, helping us scrutinise all kinds of stuff, you know? So there's a lot of reasons.

NW: I know you've been in the game for a while, like over 10 years now, and you have a lot of accolades. You've had three EP's, a mixtape, you've had so many things under your belt, so why do you feel that this time, in 2021 you've felt truly like yourself, what do you think has hindered you in the past?

Shakka: I think a large part of being yourself is having the space and a platform to tell your unapologetic story along the way, someone's going to tell you that aspects of yourself may not connect, this is how it's worked before, this is the blueprint that they see according to who you are, you don't necessarily fit the bill.

I'm now in a space where I don't have people criticising what I'm trying to do and it's just essentially me, my manager, and the team that I'm working with right now. We're just having fun and doing stuff without having to explain, because a lot of it doesn't need explanation. I think what needed to happen was, for us to just be like, you know what, let's just do this.

NW: That leads me on to my next question, because you came up in the era of Grime, so JME and Skepta etc but you were in a totally different lane, you were going down the R&B, more soulful route. Was it hard, especially as a Black British UK Male Artist to stick to your passions, when you could have had people in your ear saying, 'yeah, that's actually not working'. Now you're one of a few, and I respect that you never swayed towards what was most popular at the time.

Shakka: Thank you, It was, um, it was a mixture of emotions. On one hand, I loved what I was doing and I loved the people I was around, doing a collab with JME at the time I did it with him, yeah that was mental for me. Songs like, 'Man Don't Care' for example, I was a fan beforehand and then people like Frisco, people like Chip these are all musicians and artists who make songs that come from the same world and culture that I come from, so I don't feel like I'm being anyone else. None of that is foreign to me. But I did know when I did drop an EP, or when I dropped a mixtape, there would be no Daily Duppy, no Mixtape Madness...etc.

NW: Yeah, there was nothing to elevate or support the R&B UK culture in the early 2000's. You had other platforms that pushed grime to the forefront. So Where do you go? Do you go to America? Do you go overseas?

Shakka: Exactly, and some of us do, like Ella Mai she's explicitly said in interviews, when it comes to R&B in the UK, there's very little support, and this isn't to again, send for any of the institutions who have been fighting and working hard to just try and shine a light on the talent here. I'm sitting here as a recipient of two R&B MOBO awards, like I can't complain and be like, where's our acknowledgement, but at the same time there's a plethora of different outlets that these MC's can use to find an audience, a buying, willing, listening audience that listen to their stuff, and that was my challenge for a decade. I had to just acknowledging that and be like cool, I just have to have songs that bang irrespectively.

NW: I know your Dominican, right? Your Dad actually introduced you to music and he was part of a reggae band. So did the Caribbean music, and the Dominican Creole ever influence your art form or your music?

Shakka: My Dad's whole experience, influenced everything that I did. He came here in 1962. I'm not even about to speak this history lesson because it's really not a documentary about my past, but in short, he has real life experiences of what institutionalised and overt racism looks like, he had real life experiences of what it may have meant to not be in a space where his dreams of being a musician could have been fulfilled, but he plugged all of that passion and that desire and that want to see me win against all odds growing up. You have to work five times harder than everybody else unfortunately, you have to show the world that you're capable because some people may not give you a second chance, it's very easy for you to be characterised and put into a box.

So him and my Mum collectively sent me to music schools when I was young, this was government grant schools at the time, because my parents couldn't afford to do any of that stuff around that period. I'm learning classical music, I'm learning different styles of rock music, I'm learning Baroque music, I'm learning orchestral percussion, and musicianship, and I'm like, okay, there's something fascinating here. I was essentially a sponge, I wrote songs in that school that eventually made the first Mixtape that I made.

NW: That coincides with the saying that you are a product of your environment and where you grow up, like who surrounds you can shape you in some respects. The same goes for me, because I'm from Essex, from a small town called Harold Hill, so I'm from from way out. People don't know how to react to you when they first meet you, because they think you should act a certain way.

Shakka: Exactly! The experience that I have as a black man growing up in Grove, Notting Hill, I mean that place was like skittles, a melting pot of not only people from different countries, Greek, Africans, Jamaican, Chinese, Vietnamese, Romanian, Bulgarian, but it was also a place where different classes existed. So when you went to school, and the house parties were being announced, you would be in some guy's house where the ceilings are mad high, and they had a chandelier, and drinks that you never heard of before. My experience was very varied and the music that I listened to varied as well. The people I hung around with were varied, so when it came to people trying to understand who I was, and what I sounded like, and why I listened to OutKast, Coldplay, Radiohead, as well as Dizzy Rascal, people didn't know what that meant, or what that sounded like. Until they heard me sing, and they were like, okay, no, you could do that, that's sick. So, yeah, I feel like, the climate and the place we're in, it made it very difficult for someone with my particular DNA, to strive.

NW: I was actually reading an article the other day, talking about the impact that Caribbean music has had on the music scene, not just in music, but culturally in the UK and overseas, saying that if it wasn't for Caribbean music, and Caribbean patois then the UK would have at a hole culturally. I think that's so true, I just think it's quite interesting that, small islands can have such such a massive impact on the world.

Shakka: It's very, very important to hark back to the original people who made those iconic Carribean records that influenced a particular sound. Sean Paul is a perfect example, he did 'I'm still in love with you' and the records massive you know, but he payed homage to original singer Alton Ellis, one of Jamaica's legends. I wholeheartedly agree that Caribbean music has definitely influenced not just the world, but most definitely the UK.

NW: Let's talk about your new single 'Solo' with Goldlink. I know you were in Ghana for like two weeks filming the video right? What was it like working with him and how did that collaboration even come about?

Shakka: Okay so boom, we hit the studio now and the first session we make is 'Solo' and it just feels sexy, sophisticated, not oversold, spacious and escapist and has elements of lust but it doesn't feel savage, it just feels like it hits such a gorgeous balance. I'm just really proud of what we've achieved, every song that we have, there's always somewhat of a 'dream' of people that we want to collab with, but I could only hear Goldlink spasm on it, and I'm a fan, and you cannot not move when you hear him, it's just impossible.

This was all put together during COVID times, so I haven't had a chance to see him but the team that we worked with to shoot the video, is Silk, so Ray Fiasco and Yamini, we've been working with them for the past couple of records. They heard the song, and they were like, 'If you want to shoot this abroad, we have connections in Ghana let me know...' I said, say no more.

NW: What was Ghana like?

Shakka: There's a difference between living when you're the minority, to then existing in a nation of prosperous millions who look just like you. Your spine immediately stiffens and goes straight, like your sense of awareness of how powerful you feel and how powerful you could be and how possible it is for you to achieve your dreams is just crazy. Ghana felt like being at home with my Mum in Dominica, because the dialects are similar, that sun still beats on your head the moment you come off the plane, the food is similar, and the attitude isn't foreign to me, the energy is just absolutely majestic.

NW: You must have taken a lot of inspiration from being in Ghana as well, I can imagine it spurring on a lot of creativity. But I want to ask you about your debut album, what what can we expect from that?

Shakka: I always hate answering this question (laughs) because that makes me have to almost tell you what the experience is going to be like, despite the fact that I know everybody's experience of my music is going to vary and be different depending on who they are. It is my debut album, this is my first album, this is my first full length project and every time that I say that, it feels surreal to say, because it's been 10 years that I've been making music and putting songs out. But this feels like there's a distinct difference between the 'Say Nada' me and the 'Solo' me. There's a lot of growth and there's a lot of stillness that I have, there's a lot of not wanting to do what everybody else does. I really just want to give the impression that a journey still matters.

This album feels like growth and feels more like what I think R&B should sound like from a Black British artist, who has a lineage of inspirations.

NW: What have you learnt from previous tracks that you've done and how has the time you've been in the industry helped to put this album together? Do you feel any pressure?

Shakka: No, I don't feel that way at all, at one point I did, but I'm not looking for one incredible hit moment, I'm just looking for the sickest road trip with my supporters. I think that's the key, it's all about what the journey is going to be like this time and what time zone I'm transporting people in to. My aim is to show the different shades of what Black British music can look like.

NW: I know you've recently won a Grammy Award for your song writing on Dua Lipa's 'Future Nostalgia', album, that's a major achievement!

Shakka: I often sink in to that feeling, what that feels like... but then my work station is looking at me like, are you going to finish this first or nah? So I have to go back to work, I have an album to make, but at the same time it's incredible to know that an album I had the opportunity to contribute to was acknowledged on that level across the board, yeah it's really dope.

NW: I know you concisely decided to sing in a British accent as apposed to an American accent. I think that's great, so what made you decide to stick to doing that and essentially stand out?

Shakka: Because in my mind, I'm thinking why aren't we? Our accents are so incredible, and are snap shots of our experience. We have our own way of being sexy, we have our own way of being aggressive, we have our own way of talking about the problems in the world, so why would we do otherwise? Like, it took a while for our accent to be normal and it's a staple now. Where we come from is sick.

NW: Well that wraps up this interview, I've really enjoyed speaking to you and thank you so much for your time, I know you've been so busy but I've learnt so much from you, this has been incredible! Have a great rest of the day and hopefully we get to speak soon in the future.!

Shakka: Bless you Demi, the questions were really dope and this was an incredible interview, it's been a wonderful experience to have this conversation with you, so much appreciated! Thanks again, you're a saint, take care!

Top Tracks from Shakka on Spotify