It's Time

So it’s been a long time coming. From the days when I used to play songs on my piano for hours. When I used to lock myself in my room and play Beethoven, Chopin and Bach. From the days I used to get lost in the music of Bob Marley, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Beyoncé and attempt the legendary songbird’s runs, Miss Mariah Carey.  I still laugh at how much of an amateur I must have sounded to my mom and dad. But I didn’t care, I kept singing anyways.

When I was a kid I used to wish I could be like Alicia Keys. She was and always will be my idol. Her depth, her musicianship, songwriting skills and humility as a superstar have never been lost on me. The first album that changed the way I thought about music was the Diary of Alicia Keys. I’ve listened to that album more times than I can count and to this day, it’s still my favourite album of all time. I’ve heard a lot since then, and I gotta admit, I still think it is the masterpiece that I thought it was back then. I can only hope to be half the musician Ms Keys is. After having several hiccups, having to quit my classical training at 16 and mustering enough courage to try again I think I’m finally ready.

It’s not always easy coming from the back. I’m not from a developed country, with professional performing arts high schools, endless grants for music education but I am from a country that is known worldwide for our love of music. Reggae. Dancehall. Rocksteady. I’ve been influenced by these sounds for as long as I can remember. But there is one genre that isn’t from my country that made a lasting mark on me forever. R&B, Soul, the Blues. Whatever you want to call it. But there’s one thing I know, and it’s something that I’ve known since I was a child. When you hear that music you feel it. So I’m on a mission. On a mission to help you feel, take away your worries, and get you trapped in my world of music for a few seconds. I can’t guarantee that you’ll like it, because as an artist I can only do what I’m capable of. But I can guarantee that at the end you’ll feel it.

Take this journey with me.

Layla

Always Yours.