Leading grime acts share advice with PRS for Music at AFROPUNK London

Diverse and inclusive London festival was supported by PRS for Music

As AFROPUNK gears up for its Brooklyn festival this weekend, PRS for Music celebrates its inaugural partnership with the London version of the now global annual event. 

Fresh from the AFROPUNK London stage, JME, Kojey Radical and Nadia Rose all spoke to PRS for Music’s membership magazine, M, about their tips for new songwriters, who they’re tipping for success and more. All three interviews are available to watch now on the M magazine website. 

Tips for new songwriters:

• Nadia Rose: “Don't look at what anyone else is doing. I notice a lot of young people talk about what someone else is doing, what they've seen them do. Don't look at that. Just channel your lane.”
• Kojey Radical: “I started off as a painter, and then started writing poetry. Poetry was my outlet for a lot of things. Then I moved from poetry to performing acoustically. For the most part, I just let it flow organically. I didn't want to ever make it a thing like, 'I'm going to be a music artist today'. The industry and the process is so difficult, I had to make sure I was mentally prepared to even be involved in the first place.”
• JME: “Music has no language. Even if you're going to add a language, like you're going to speak English on the track, you don't have to speak English to make sense like you would in an English lesson. You just need to express yourself using the language you have and the sounds you can make.
  “Music isn't a formal piece of media, it's anything, it's an expression. Don't even think about trying to make a song, just enjoy yourself with music. If you like it, someone else out there is going to like it. Try to find like-minded people.”

Ahead of the London festival, PRS for Music held a workshop for new talent at Camden’s Roundhouse, offering advice on how to generate an income from creating music. The performing right society, which represents more than 125,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers, also took part in judging AFROPUNK’s Battle of the Bands competition. Judges on the night were AFROPUNK founders Matthew Morgan and Jocelyn Cooper; producer, manager and music industry consultant, Kwame Kwaten; Lucy Scott, Live Events and Programme Producer at the Roundhouse Trust; and PRS for Music’s Stefania Pavlou.

As well as AFROPUNK Battle of the Bands winners Blackfish Collective, here are 10 acts Nadia Rose, Kojey Radical and JME are tipping as the next big thing:

• Prynce Mini
• 808 Ink
• SlowThai
• Oscar Worldpeace
• Ragz Originale
• Cosima
• Flohio
• God Colony
• AJ Tracey
• Honey-Blades

PRS for Music was incredibly proud to be part of AFROPUNK, with its ethos to celebrate diversity and inclusion through music and culture. As one of the most exciting and uplifting new events to come to London, we fully support the important role that AFROPUNK is playing, both in giving established artists an inspiring space to perform, and helping emerging talent find their voice through AFROPUNK Battle of the Bands.

808 Ink, Oscar Worldpeace and Flohio have all received funding from PRS Foundation, the UK's leading charitable funder of new music and talent development across all genres.

See more from M magazine at www.m-magazine.co.uk 

ENDS 

For more information about PRS for Music, please contact:
Coral Williamson, Communications Executive, PRS for Music
coral.williamson@prsformusic.com / 020 3741 4777

About PRS for Music

PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 165,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers around the globe. Headquartered in the UK, it works diligently on behalf of its members to grow and protect the value of their rights. With a focus on innovation and integrity, PRS for Music is redefining the global standard for music royalties to ensure creators are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public. In 2022, PRS for Music collected £964m and paid out £836.2m in royalties. prsformusic.com