We recently caught up with Jay P of the brand new group Kamisa for some exclusive insights into how and why the group was formed.
Labelling themselves in broad terms as an Urban Music group, Kamisa consists of members Jay-P, Mr Linx, and Black Athena. As individuals they are no strangers to the Hip Hop community and have been working as emcees, songwriters, and vocalists for over two decades.
Jay P or Jean-Pierre as he is also know has an illustrious trail of number-one radio singles in his capacity as a solo artists as well as with various groups includingSupadan & the legendary Hip Hop crew Black Noise.
So while we were checking out their new video for their first single 'To The Top', which you can check out further below, Bruinou.com asked Jay P how the group came into existence as we are well aware that all three members do have existing music industry careers and individually are quite successful at what they do.
"To put Kamisa into context I must first say that I'm very passionate about Hip Hop culture, and I love making Hip Hop music. However I'm also a very open minded and experimental artist, and I found that within Supadan (A band that did exceptionally well on the South African charts in the mid 2000's) I was able to create without any restrictions and expectations."
"As a result I fell in love with the idea of creating non genre-specific music."
"Fast forward to the present; Ras Jona from Australia was on holiday in South Africa and he got me and Black Athena interested in working with him in our capacity as musicians for an exchange program between Africa & Australasia."
"I should also mention that before that Elsie aka Black Athena contributed additional vocals to my track ABC, she is the female voice in the song. She also features on several songs on my new unreleased Hip Hop album which I parked for now."
"Of course Black Athena is also an artist who loves creating outside of Hip Hop's boom bap genre, and she doubles as a singer as well."
"Because of our (Elise & I) various collabs and features together, and because of our like-minded approach to 'music' in general; I identified her as a partner in music."
"Naturally since Garth & I have for a long time been making music together, and he and Elise just hit it off instantly, getting along as if they knew each other for ages, I saw this natural flow of energy as the perfect opportunity for the three of us to start creating together."
"That in a nutshell is how Kamisa started."
The group honours their foundation in Hip Hop by delving into a range of social issues via their tracks. Kamisa laces their songs with current music production and modern sounds, making their music progressive and ever evolving.
The name Kamisa is inspired by the trio's acknowledgement of and and as a means of honouring their KhoeSan roots.
Kamisa means place of sweet waters, and it makes reference to Cape Town which once was a refreshment station for passing ships. It also refers to an underground reservoir which flows from Table Mountain to a functional canal positioned under The Castle of Good Hope.
Kamisa’s debut single 'To The Top' was first aired on Good Hope FM's 'The Ready D Show in the first week of July 2016 and iot has been riding a wave of popularity since it first hit the airwaves.
Kamisa made their debut live stage performance on Sunday 31 July 2016 when they were the headline act for the long standing monthly Cape Town live music event
'Expression Sessions Kuila' (ESK), which is held every last Sunday of the month in Kuils River.
The explosive performance they delivered immediately led to bookings for further gigs.
Kamisa also caused a sensation on social media when they performed live on air in studio at Good Hope FM's The Ready D Show cypher session. Significantly it was the first instalment of the show's live video stream broadcast of the cypher which subsequently generated thousands of views online.
We at Bruinou.com are quite excited that Kamisa has confirmed that they will be performing at the #ONEoctober Parkjam of which we are the official media partner and digital marketing sponsor.
The #ONEoctober Parkjam takes place on the 1st of October 2016 in Clarke Estate Elsies River.
You can now Stream or Download ‘To the Top’ Free on Bruinou Numberz.
keep up with all of their latest moves on the Kamia Facebook Page.
WATCH: To The Top by Kamisa on Youtube
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