15 December 2023

Written by Don-Jitsu

MUSIC

Q&A w/Amarii on NEW project,
From Bremersdorp With Love LP.

Amarii (born Lindelani Simelane), is an artist and producer from the kingdom of Eswatini, Africa. The name “Amarii” stems from the Latin word “Amare”, a translation of his second name “Thando” which means love. He grew up having been exposed to music by his parents, being a part of his primary school choir and taking lessons in playing the piano, as well as the drums. Later he would be influenced by the likes of Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, Chris Brown, Kanye West and Drake, inspiring him to pursue music.

Among his highlights, Amarii has performed on some of the biggest stages in the kingdom like Pop Sunday, Dragon’s den, Nasty C & Cassper Nyovest’s African throne tour, DTTV’s “Represent” & House On Fire.

On the 7th of December, Amarii dropped a full body of work titled, From Bremersdorp With Love. We got to chat to the 5 time MTN SWAMA nominee on his LP and here's how it went down.

1. What inspired the project?

The name of the project actually came first. Shooting and releasing the "thought it was love" music video inspired the idea to embrace my surroundings as an artist. From there, came the inspiration to associate a sound to my surroundings. So the whole project was a combination of the existing sounds, stories, aesthetics and descriptions of the city and our take on how the city should feel, look or sound. Essentially, in this case "the city" is the place where i grew up and that feels like a good point for me to start telling my story through my music.

2. Three words that best describe your project?

Introspective, Vibey, Experimental

3. Who was on production?

I was on production for every song on the project.

4. What was one of the most memorable moments of creating the LP?

I think the collaborations with Yung TMPO and Grixxly, I enjoyed working with artists I don't normally work with. It actually made me very eager to work with a lot more people and just see what we can make together.

5. Based on the number of songs and verses on the LP, you clearly had a lot to say, was this project an avenue for you to vent?

I think the goal was to have fun and just let the music take me wherever while I try to tell a story on the side. So, most certainly. I have so much to share in the future as well. For now I really just wanted to give a glimpse of the place that made me who i am, all the highs and the lows, the way we get by and even the negative parts of our society.

6. What's the music scene like in Bremersdorp/manzini?

There are so many dope artists from Manzini to be honest, a lot of them we are still yet to discover but there's some serious music coming from this side . Although this is true, the recognition and respect for hip-hop artists from there is still growing. At some point a hip-hop artist from the area should be able to host a show at a big venue and pack it out. Until then, we're on the grind.

7. What's your favourite track off the LP and why?

I think "truth" is my favourite song mainly because it was such an experiment for me. I really enjoy playing around to find new ways to present music and this was one of those moments for me

8. Now that the project is out there, what's next for Amarii?

We've got some visuals on the way for a few of the records on the project, please do be on the lookout for that. moving on from here, it's definitely more singles, more visuals and content like my youtube vlog "welcome to forever" the next full length project I release will definitely be my debut album.