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Guestlist met up with Paige Ashleigh Young, the UK’s next big female artist!
RnB/Hip Hop | Monday 6th July 2015 | Jelena
Guestlist caught up with the rising UK star for an exclusive interview at Black Space, Shoreditch. Step by step Paige Young is making her way onto the scene, turning the heads of none other than A$AP Rocky and Waka Flocka Flame!
How are you? Life treating you good?
I am very well thank you! Very good, very busy but I am having a lot of fun!
Where are you from?
I am from Essex. I live in Essex but I have kind of been all over the place. I am based in America but am back here in the UK while doing a lot of traveling. But born and bred from Essex. I go home quite often. When I come back home from America I go straight home. It’s always “Mum what’s for dinner and lunch? Help me I'm hungry!”
How did you get into music?
I went to a musical theatre school where I did singing, dancing and acting. That was where I learned the basics. But I was more of a singer at school than anything else. I was not sure if I wanted to go into musical theatre or not, or what I wanted to do. But a lot of the teachers told me that I would be great as an artist as I had a good voice and a specific look. And singing was something that I really wanted to do so I proceeded to go to a music collage in Islington, London. I just started to connect with people. I met a few producers along the way and produced my first couple of songs there, which I think are awful now but back than I was like YES! I'm so good at this haha! Everything went from there really, from involving management, people that know people and it just evolved from that.
Who have been your musical influences?
Growing up I lived in a house where my parents would play a lot of Michael Jackson. I was obsessed with Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Destiny’s Child, that’s why I have a massive obsession with Beyoncé now. She is like a triple threat! She sings, dances and seeing her on tour, she is absolutely amazing. I get a lot of my influences from her. Also Rihanna, I love the way she is fearless. She is effortlessly cool! You want to be her friend, she is wicked! She can put on a bin bag and still look amazing. So they are my main influences but I love acoustic stuff as well. Big fan of JP Cooper at the moment. I love Ben Howard. And all of the urban stuff such as Chris Brown etc.
How would you describe yourselves as an artist?
I would describe myself as edgy, pop, and urban. Everything I do is real. I will just walk into the studio and record a track, if I like it I will keep it but if I feel that it’s not for me I won’t. I have developed a lot as an artist the last year into who I truly am. I definitely know the sound that am going for now.
What would be your dream collaboration with any rapper/singer or producer?
That’s such a hard question. I would pick Drake, I would love to collaborate with him. I would definitely pick a girl as well so it would either be Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj or Rihanna. Regarding producers hmm… there are too many to choose from. I wanted to work with A-Trak who is on my upcoming E.P, I am a big fan of his stuff. And also Kalenna Harper, who I got the opportunity to work with as well as Sonny Digital because that’s the sound that I am going for. I am really grateful that I got the chance to work with them.
How does the music scene in the States separate from the UK?
They are quite visual in America. It is all about the visual and your brand, they love the triple threat. There is so much talent in the UK, grime is huge here! They just need to put it out on a global scale, which is hard. But just look at Skepta, he is doing great globally alongside other UK artists! They have been collaborating with artists from the States that have brought them out there, which has helped them a lot. But I don’t prefer one over the other. I love the talent here and I love the talent in America.
What was the inspiration for the song 'All The Way'?
I wrote this song with Kalenna Harper. I was in Atlanta just chilling in the studio and we were just talking about relationships, personal experiences and stuff. The song is basically just going all the way with someone. Just being yourself and not holding back, which I think a lot of people tend to do in relationships. I don’t know if it’s related to trust issues. But it is a good song to listen to and just think "screw it I'm just going to do it", whatever it is. So that was kind the influence behind the song. I left a part out of the song for a rapper. A person that I knew was in contact with Chip who was happy to jump on the project. And he did a great job! Most of my songs are very personal. All of my songs mean something to me or have inspired me from something that I have done or experienced. That’s when it’s real! So I have some good stuff in the E.P that you have to check out!
When is your E.P coming out?
It’s coming out on July 7th and it’s sounding wicked! The name of the E.P is Polaroids. I love to take pictures and travel and have grown so much as an artist, so I thought why not take polaroids of everything that am going through and put it all in the album. I can just look back at these pictures and reminisce on great experiences and all the amazing people I meet on the way.
What can people expect from your upcoming E.P.?
The vibe is just really sexy, edgy, cool and urban. I also included an acoustic track which mixes it up a bit. It is a different range of different songs. I have two songs that are ballad inspired. One of them, which is called ‘Dream Chaser’, is one of my favourite tunes on there. It is a really personal song. It is a song describing how I feel being an artist and experiences that I have been through. Then I have some fun upbeat songs that are great for when you are at the club or having a drink with your mates. I tried to put in a piece of everything on the E.P. I just hope that people like it.
What’s your message behind your music?
I am just a young girl that likes to have fun and enjoy life. But at the same time am very driven and focused on my career. The message is "if you want something go and get it!", don’t just think about it, chase it. If you have a dream don’t hold back on it. Just give it a 100% and have the mindset that you can achieve it. Some of the songs are about being happy and embracing the person that you are.
What has been the biggest struggle in your life?
Oh that’s a hard question! To be honest when I first started to do music it was really hard for me. I had a managing team that I was working with and because I was quite young it was hard for me to get to where I am today. You have to go through a lot to get to know who you are as person and artistically where you want to go. I went through some really hard times because I started to have doubts. A lot of people tell you what to do but you have to know for yourself what’s right for you and where you want to go. I decided to leave my manager at that time and that put me back to square one again. I had put in so much work for three years and my thought was "what do I do now?". You have the thought about giving up in the back of your head but I just moved forward and kept on going. Thank God I met my current manager and he completely understands my vision and where I want to go. He is wicked! My team want to work with me and they put in a lot of effort and passion into it, which is amazing. It works out in the end, you just have to push through it and be positive.
What is your definition of success?
You want your music to be global. You want people to know who you are and respect what you are doing. As long as you are proud of yourself then that is success in itself. You don’t have to be the best singer in the world or whatever it is that you are doing, you just have to focus on yourself.
What song of yours captures the true essence of Paige Young?
‘Dream Chaser’ means a lot to me on a personal level like I mentioned earlier. It's about the struggle of becoming an artist.
What does the future hold for Paige Young?
Hopefully a lot of success! I am a workaholic so I want to work hard and strive to the level I want to be at. I just want people to connect with me and follow me on my journey. At the end of the day your music is not really successful without your fans. I just want to build that fan base and have people that really want to support me and do this with me.
Follow Paige on Twitter.
