Neo-soul meets nu-jazz artist Roselien dropped by to speak about her main musical influences, one thing she’d change about the music industry and the forthcoming release ‘Give Me a Break’.

To anyone new to your music, name 3 words that best describe your sound.

Neo-soul, jazz, rnb.

Who are your main musical influences and why?

Meshell Ndegeocello, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Frank Ocean, Moacir Santos, Stevie Wonder. They’re all expressing their unique self by using elements from different types of black music such as jazz, soul, rnb, Bossa nova. What they are creating and expressing resonates with me on a deep level.

If you could change about the music industry, what would it be?

I would change it so that women are equally appreciated for their skills as men are. I would want for women to be appreciated for their work and not for their looks. Its a horrible and frightening evolution we now face on social media: female musicians are pushed to sexualise theirselves in order to increase their following. It’s completely absurd to see how artists build a following based on how they portray theirselves on instagram, then drop a random song which seems to be secondary to the image they portray. The message to aspiring artists now seems to be: use and exploit your looks to build a following; then drop some music. I will always advocate for the opposite: appreciate me for my CRAFT not for my looks. Reality is this is much harder for women than it is for men.

What’s the best advice you’d give to your younger self?

Stay true to yourself and know your are ENOUGH no matter what other people tell you.

Give our listeners some music recommendations that we should check out!

Bombataz, Ruby Francis, Wonky Logic, Kuna Maze, Mambele, Loraine James, Stace, Cody Currie, Jobee Project

Tell MoggBlog viewers about your latest release! What’s the inspiration behind that?

‘Give Me A Break’ is about living on the edge and sacrificing a lot in order to achieve your goals. It’s reflecting on exhaustion and self-doubt. It’s also about life choices one makes and the consequences those choices have.

You can find Roselien on Facebook and Instagram.

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