38HIPHOP//RNB DJ TARGET
Have you had a very busy sum- mer so far? Yeah summer has been really busy! Ever since Good Times came out and went to number one we’ve been doing shows, travelling, going to festi- vals, in the studio finishing our album - it’s been crazy all summer!
As a founding member of Roll Deep, how do you feel about the massive success that you have seen them through? Yeah we’re all over the the moon, we’ve been working for so long and Roll Deep has come such a long way from an underground movement. To be having all this success now makes us feel like all our hard work has come to light now.
You’ve got so many great artists involved with Roll Deep, is there anyone else who you would like to collaborate with?
Yeah we’re always looking for other acts to work with. What we tend to do is work with acts that nobody has
ever heard of before because there’s so much talent in and around where we are. With many of the artists we’ll get to the studio and help to make names for people. Yeah we’re always up for collaborating again, we’d like to do something with Plan B actually.
Did you have any specific musi- cal influences when you were growing up that inspired you to become involved in the music industry? I don’t think there was something specific but I just always loved mu- sic. My mum and my nan always had something playing - pop, reggae, jungle music, hip hop -
What do you most enjoy about hosting your own radio show on 1Xtra? I’ve always loved radio, and being on a radio station which is national is great. I love playing new music and seeing that people are enjoying it. I love see- ing that. What music do you like to listen to in your own free time?
MELEKA
THE GUESTLIST NETWORK | SEPTEMBER 2010
We had a chat with DJ Target from Roll Deep to see what’s happening with the East London star.
I listen to all sorts, from grime to hip hop to reggae. I like to listen to stuff that we’re not making, as well as listening to our own music, I try to listen to other stuff. The other day I was listening to Imogen Heap this morning - so yeah, we’re into all sorts!
You’ve played a variety of gigs such as huge festivals like Wireless, do you have a favou- rite gig that you’ve played? This year I’d say probably Wireless. It was good to be back in London and the crowd was wicked, we played the main stage and the Pepsi stage. We’ve loved all of it really. Dubai was good this year, we hadn’t done that before. Ibiza’s been really good this year. The whole summer’s been wicked, but yeah I’d say that Wire- less, Dubai and Ibiza have been the top ones. What’s next for you? Right now we’re in the studio wrap- ping up the album and we’re getting ready to promote that in October. I’ll be in the studio probably through-
out the winter as well. We’ve got a UK tour coming up in February too so I’ll be keeping busy!
If you were invisible for a day what would you do and why? That’s a good question! I would probably just sneak around! It would be quite fun to hear what people are saying and see what they’re up to when they don’t know you’re around!
Catch Target on BBC 1Xtra every Friday 7-10pm and check out Roll Deep’s al- bum ‘Winner Stays On’ this October!
Steph MacGillivray
After winning Hugo Urban Rules in 2008, MELEKA has stormed the scene with her quirky performances alongside her party-starting funky house.
So, firstly, well done for win- ning Hugo Urban Rules! How did that feel? It was great to win! It’s great to win anything, it was really cool and it de- fiantly helped put me on a platform and let people know about Meleka, so yeah I was very grateful!
You rapidly went on to make a track with Basement Jaxx, how was your working relationship with them? It’s really good, I speak to Basement Jaxx when they’re around, when they’re in the country because they tour a lot, but our working relation- ship is good.
Out of all of the songs you have done, what is your favourite? This is gonna sound really, really rubbish, but my songs are like my daisies! They all come from a cer- tain place in me because I write my own songs. Go has defiantly got a special place in my heart because it was the first single and it helped put me on a platform and it helped win Urban Rules. I would say that my favourite song right now would have to be ‘Miss Me’, which is the new single, which will be out on the 26th of September.
What was your dream as a kid? My dream was to be a singer, a song- writer, a dancer, an actress [laughs], a model, a lawyer, a hairdresser! But I love singing so it was always kinda singing, and performing.
Well you’re swiftly on your way to succeeding all of them! I’m not sure about the lawyer thing though, are you going to pur-
sue that? Well I might play a lawyer in my vid- eos! But I don’t really think I’ll be rep- resenting anybody anytime soon…
Who do you like to listen to? I’m really enjoying UK music at the moment; Incisive is someone that I really enjoy listening to. I really love Skepta’s song ‘Rescue Me’, I just love it!
What are your ambitions now for the future? My ambitions would be to continue my success that I was able to get with ‘Go’, my new single’s out soon, which we just shot the video for, so I’m very excited about that. I’m also doing a lot of collaborations with people which I’m really excited about.
What would you say puts you apart from other artists? Definitely my name. You can’t go to Blackpool and buy a cup with my name on! But I would say honestly, I’m a very real person, and my music reflects that. Also my ability to inter- change, and put my self across to be relatable.
Do you still get nervous before going on stage? I don’t get nervous when I’m singing ‘Go’, but I’m getting nervous singing ‘Miss Me’, just because it’s a new song, and people might not know it as much as they know the old single. I think it’s good to get nervous.
What was life like growing up? I’ve had a really good life, I’ve moved around a little bit, but I was always involved in music. I went to Sylvia
Young’s for a little while; I went to acting schools as well, so I was very performance driven at a young age.
So now we’re gonna have a lit- tle fire round of a few random questions… If you could take any artist to dinner right now, who would it be? Who would it be? It’s a difficult one! I would probably go out with…erm… let’s say..Tinie Tempah, because we did a few songs a little while ago so it would be nice to catch up with him.
Do you have any lucky pants? No! I don’t have anything lucky! That’s a bit rubbish. Maybe that’s what I need!
If you could have a swimming pool filled with anything, what would it be? Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. My Nan al- ways used to tell me when I was younger, ‘you can tell a man by his shoes’, and so it’s very important that you have good shoes! They don’t have to be expensive, but they just have to look good.
Make sure you grab the new single ‘Miss Me’ from 26th September and keep up to date with Meleka by:
Twitter.com/melekamusic www.meleka.co.uk worldofmelekamusic.com
Yazmine Karaoui
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