Influential/ Inspirational Artists

As I discovered earlier, rise of the internet in the last 10 years has had a significant effect in the way in which artists are discovered- with websites providing platforms for both social networking and online media to be consumed at the same time- with websites such as www.soundcloud.com enabling the listeners to both comment on their favourite moment of a track for others to see and also share it via sites such as facebook and twitter (www.facebook.com/www.twitter.com).

Spooky  Black

It has also helped smaller bedroom artists such as spooky black- a 16 year old experimental/ R&B artist from Minnesota, USA who was discovered after uploading a video for ne of his songs on Youtube. The combination of the aesthetics of the video and his whole image caused the video to go viral, and as a result, within half a year he has gained worldwide fame- with millins of views on yotube and over 67,000 followers on soundcloud. The thing which inspires me about Spooky Black is that he brought about his own success and acclaim at the age of 15, and that it wall all thanks to the internet- and this is how he continues, as an unsigned artist- giving me inspiration to create an unsigned solo artist for my music video. Below is the video which sparked his success:

Sharing options on soundcloud

Facebook and Twitter pages are a key free form of promotion

FKA Twigs

I feel that FKA Twigs is an inspiration for my music video, as not only is she a British Alternative/ Electronic artsist, but I also like how she uses her own dance in all of her videos so that the audience can identify her. Working as a bakcking dancer for artists before becoming successful, she uses her talent to provide visually enthralling videos. I was also inspired by the way she uses settiing in her videos- as shown in the vide for 'tw-ache' embedded below- the use of a foggy, ghtostly setting reflects the distorted, supernatural-style audio and the themes of distress and isolation.

Rejjie Snow

Rejjie Snow is an Irish born rapper who was recently signed to Elton John's Record label 'Rocket Music Entertainment'. Snow became known after posting amateur music videos on YouTube under his previous moniker 'Lecs Luther'- with his success owing to both the surreal narratives set around Dublin and the contrast with his unique soft rap voice- influenced by a childhood he spent growing up in the USA. I would like to take inspiration from Snow's use of post modernism and surrealism in his music videos in a way which evokes a comedic tone to entertain the audience as they listen to his songs consisting of a unique voice mixed with nonsensical and often comedic lyrics.

I think that the concept of this video- opening with a parody of old American popular music, TV and lifestyle, before cutting in to the actual song- this alternative approach to a video could also be effective, especially if creating and indie rock video- contrasting between the old and new to make it seem outrageous and funny.

 Not only is Rejjie known for his music, he is very well known n social networks such as twitter, instagram and Tumblr for his unique appearance and quirky fashionable dress. I think that in order to create a more appealing and current video, my artist should also be dressed in a deliberately uncool manner to create a unique sense of style.

Rejjie Snow, an independent Irish Rapper/ Songwriter with a unique style