We talk to Tha Deadeye
Trevor Locke talks to the Leicester hip-hop artist who featured recently on Takeover Radio’s Made in Leicester
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Leicester artist Tha Deadeye has been growing in popularity since his breakthrough in 2011. A turning point in Tha Deadeye’s career came when, in 2011, one of his tracks was played on Radio 1, when he became the unsigned artist of the month.
JP’s (Joseph JP Patterson) underground number one track of the month One Life by Deadeye featuring Nat Powers was played on the DJ’s Radio 1 programme. JP said “Back in the day, myself and Deadeye would drive up and down the country to bassline raves and he would always freestyle – he was good. I remember always telling him to seriously consider jumping on the music thing properly and focus – he clearly took the advice. On One Life, the rapper teamed up with Nat Powers – who produced the track and sung the hook – for this very emotional, and quite inspirational, track about the ups and downs of life. ”
Deadeye told us that he follows other Leicester hip-hop artists including KY, Pinky GoGetta, J&I and others. Keen on collaborating, Deadeye told me “we are all in this together. Artists should support each other’s work and learn from each other.” “We all neesd to work together to put Leicester’s hip-hop on the map”, he said. “Leicester is a great place but it lacks direction.”
Deadeye likes live music as well as being in the studio recording; he had a great time at the Oxjam Festival, performing on the Urban stage which was organised by Cyrlene Braithwaite. “It was a great experience. One of my best performances so far, it boosted my confidence”, Deadeye told me. Deadeye has been recording at Leicester’s Yellow Bean Studio; he really likes it there “the whole set-up is really good, it makes you feel comfortable and Jonno is very helpful and he is not scared to give advice when its needed. He helps to produce the best possible sound”, Deadeye told me.
I asked him what inspired him, Deadeye said: “Making music and writing songs and when people take notice of what you are doing it is very gratifying.” As a live performer he hopes that next year he will get more engagements out of town – “Leicester has a great scene for hip-hop and it’s not just all about London.”
Deadeye hopes that next year will lead to growing recognition and that his music will get nominated. He is working on an EP and more mixtapes. He also places great value on the people he has worked with such as Uncle Frank (Frank Benbini) and Abbee Audio. “It’s important to meet people and network – in that way we can all help each other”, he told me. He hopes to get on to festivals next year and get his music out there to a wider audience of fans. I saw Tha Deadeye perform live at City Link-Up Unsigned at the Music Cafe and was immediately struck by how good he was and how much his performance and songs stood out.
Links
City Link-Up Unsigned show in September
See also:
The home page for our Urban Music section
