Individual Preparation

The songs which the vocalists picked are from a variety of genres, this meant I would have to play in different styles and understand the stylistic features of the genre. This meant I had to do some research in order to understand the role the drum plays in each genre.

Janelle and Hafusat's songs are both from the Afro beats style of music. I listened to D'Banj - Oliver Twist and Wande Coal - Iskaba, as well as the songs which Janelle and Hafusat chose, in order to highlight some key features in the rhythm. There's is frequent use of syncopation and complex rhythmic features. To input this I made sure I understood the ostinato played in the songs the singers chose in order to have the same Afro beats vibe.

Shanade's first song choice was Rihanna - What Now which was a Pop song. I listened to Rehab another one of Rihanna's songs featuring Justin Timberlake. They both had similar rhythmic patterns and helped me understand how it is used. The beat wasn't too complicated however timing is very crucial in order for the song to have that strong pop feel.

However she later changed it to Jorja Smith's version of Luther Vandross - Never too much. This was a R&B song. 

Fabrianna's song was Jazmine Sulivan - I Need You Bad which was a Reggae/ Soul song. Preiviously, I had performed as a drummer a reggae song for a singer which was Beres Hammond - I Feel Good. This made me more confident about playing the song as I gained some knowledge then when trying to understand reggae music. Still, I listened to Bob Marley - No Women No Cry as the song is a famous reggae song. The rhythmic features I learnt about reggae music is that the snare and kick both play simultaneously on beats 2 and 4. Also I was able to gain some knowledge about fills in reggae from the Bob Marley song which I implemented in Fabrianna's song. We later added Pressure - Love & Affection at the end of the song to add our own stamp to the performance.

Lyssa’s song was Jorja Smith - On My Mind which is a fusion of R&B with UK Garage music. I only listened to the original song by Preditah to gain some inspiration. The song was very up-beat and the tempo is key for the success of the song.

Diana's song was Charlotte - Dirty Dirty which was a Pop Ballad. These songs are very expressive due to the nature of the style. So in order to portray this same expressiveness I would need to exercise dynamic contrasts. 

1. I practised Janelle's song Gbona in order to get the rhythm right and to understand what I could do during the song.

I also practised Adeipena as those two songs were going to go together in one performance

2. I practised Hafusat's songs Case and Ye in order to familiarise my self with them, this would make me feel more confident about playing fills once I understood the basics.

3. I went through Fabrianna's song Need you bad in order to understand the beat of the song and it's features. Although I had played reggae songs before I felt i could do with practice as I hadn't played on in quite sometime.