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Inadiflo Interview

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29 April 2003 No Comment

You met the label now meet the group. Check it.

1. First let me congratulate you on releasing this album, how you all doing?

Hola, hola!………thank you and we’re doing great thanks.

2. Would you define yourselves as kwatio artists?

Kwaito is a big part what we do as Inadiflo – but we are essentially an urban cross-over of sounds, including kwaito, r&b, hip-hop and soul.

3. Why and how did you get involved with music?

We grew up in musically orientated families and it has always been a major part of our lives. We were singing and dancing from a very young age. Smash won a singing competition on ‘Jam Alley’ back in 1996. Two years later we formed Inadiflo and Gaby Leroux spotted us. 

4. What are your thoughts on Hip Hop?

We embrace it, just as hip-hop is a way of life, a culture, which embraces a great diversity of people. I wouldn’t say we are serious ‘heads’ in the hip-hop scene, but there’s a lot of love and friendship in that scene and this is what we love about hip-hop. 

5. How have you been received by the Jozi kwaito fraternity?

Our music has been play listed on all the Jozi stations, so they must like what we are doing musically. We are about to hit Jo’burg with a tour and feel confident that we will win over a lot more fans when they see our live act. 

6. Since you guys are making a lot of noise now, would you say that you are attracting more punani?

We have girlfriends – no comment!

7. What would you say is the thing that shocked you the most about this music industry?

Has to be the Sama awards – I mean, how does that work – when will the right people get the awards that they have worked so hard for?

8. What artists in south africa do you look up to and which ones would you like to collaborate with?

Mmmm, there are many SA artists we look up to – Papa Hugh, Mama Miriam, Mandoza, Ishmael, BOP, MP5, Rebecca Malope……….We are up for collaborations and hope to work with some of the big names out there.

9. What was it like for you growing up?

We grew up and lived in diverse environments, from seapoint to the ghettos, but we had great childhoods, thanks to our parents.

10. Do you ever get situations when you are just hangin around and then a taxi/car drives past and they are playing your music? What does that feel like?

It feels unreal! Takes a while to register – then it’s like ‘Fuck, that’s our music!”

11. Can you tell us how you approach writing a song and putting it all together?

We are always singing and messing around with melodies and lyrics. This way when we get into the studio and start working with the producer, we’ve got a lot of ammo to work with. The beats are usually where it all starts, creating the mood. Then D-$tar will either put a bassline or keyboard melody down and we’ll experiment with different ideas until it feels right. This is the easy part. We have so many melodies and ideas that we did’nt record on the album. The difficult part is following it all through with a solid finished track.

12. What are the reasons for you waking up in the morning?

Knowing that we are getting closer to our dream.

13. A lot of people would assume that people become famous overnight, but there’s a lot of hard work involved in getting to a place. What hard work did you have to endure and were there disappointments/obstacles in the past that you’d like to share?

Hey, we are by no means famous – well not yet – and we’ve worked our butts off to get even this far. Long hours in the studio, practising our live performance every day to improve on it, being low on cash, little time for socialising. And the disappointments – we could write a book. But, this is what we were born to do and we wouldn’t change it for anything.

14. What would be the ultimate live show for you, where would you like to perform?

Live at the MTV awards!!

15. What would have to happen for you to say “I finally made it!”?

Seeing our families living in a safe environment. Seeing our younger brothers get a good education and a better financial start-up in their lives. Travelling around the world and back and selling a shit load of albums.

16. If people had to meet you for the first time, what impression do you think they’d have of you?

Spontaneous, positive, humorous and down to earth brothers.

17. When do you plan to drop the next album?

Not any time soon, we still pushing this album. It would be cool to do a quality album every two years. 

18. What lessons do you have for upcoming artists out there? 

Don’t drop out of school and make sure you’re in this business for the love of it. 

19. What do you think is the next step for kwaito in this country?

Who can say? Kwaito is constantly evolving and the sound is maturing. It is a uniquely SA sound and for that we can be very proud. As long as we keep it fresh there will always be a market for it. We want to push the boundries of kwaito way out of orbit and already have some new ideas for that. Whether people will buy it or not, is another story! 

20. Is your album available on vinyl?

No, but we will be releasing remixes on vinyl.

21. If Mugabe came to you and said he wanted to be on a track with you would you do it?

Hell no!! The man lacks soul.

22. What was the first album you ever bought?

JB – Miriam Makeba
Tino – Canibus – Can I bus
Smash – EPMD – The joint

23. Thanks for talking to us, do you have any last words or shout outs?

Yeah, our families, the Phikes, Buyanas, Matwana families. Our loved ones. Keep strong, have patience and believe in your goals.

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