Born in Auckland, New Zealand and adopted by London’s East End eight years ago, Rawiri James is a gifted singer/songwriter and recording artist swiftly gaining an increasingly large fan base and following. This year, Rawiri released his debut album “Lost Boy” and featured on this project is the explosive single “Trip The Alarm”.
Raw, fresh, no autotune in sight, Rawiri James puts across a narrative with great clarity. The lead vocal is laid back, swagger-filled, unconcerned, close to the mic and in our faces. The lyrics are perfectly juxtaposed with the vibe of the music. Rawiri James creates a series of awesome, transformative moments that set the song up somewhere rather special. Rawiri James knows how to craft something that washes over you like a wave of color but impresses and provokes thought in the same instance. The second half of the track sees a more hip-hop style delivery from Rawiri, proving his versatility. Fusing a mellow groove with flickers of hip-hop, soul and R&B all at once, “Trip The Alarm” is difficult to pigeon-hole. The central artistry of it roams free, so the experience just becomes about the music and the idea, and these have been perfectly presented!
Check out “Trip The Alarm” here and read more with Rawiri James below!
Hey there Rawiri James! Welcome to the BuzzMusic community! Congratulations on your latest track "Trip The Alarm". How did the overall production go for the song?
Thanks! I'm excited about it! I wrote the song a long time ago and one of the boys back in New Zealand asked to create a beat for it. Kaivai crafted this sick throwback to early 00's R&B and although it's uptempo, I loved the party beat contrasted against my deep lyric confessions.
We're incredibly excited to be featuring your track "Trip The Alarm". We definitely sense that old-school flair you bring to a more contemporary R&B style. Where do you find your inspiration to curate tracks with such originality?
I grew up on that golden age of R&B, where Usher reigned supreme and you had Joe, Blackstreet, Marques Houston and all of them. They were my vocal teachers, really. Lyrically, my inspiration comes from my personal experiences and I ain't afraid to be vulnerable about it. "Trip The Alarm" talks about my battle with addiction. And it's funny when I see I people getting down to the hook, partying, while I'm singing "stop stripping me of my armour/before this quit becomes harder..."
What would you say is the most impactful takeaway message from "Trip The Alarm”? Do you feel like you're able to connect with your listeners on that deeper level?
Look, I think these days we're all addicts to something - whether it's hardcore drugs or alcohol, or working out, or money, or relationships or sex, or social media. In that sense, the message is universal. My fellow addicts and alcoholics might feel me on the track just a little deeper than most people, though!
How would you describe the music scene for your particular genre in your hometown? Do you believe that you can fully develop your sound in the city?
R&B will always have roots in metro areas like London. It's not the major genre and hasn't been for a while but it has its place, and its followers. I want to build my London team, for sure, but I understand that as independent musicians with online access, my success is more likely to be found in small pockets around the world than concentrated in one area. That being said, hell yes, let's get some American fans too! I love travelling the U.S. and it would be sick to do smaller venues on tour there.
Is there anything exciting happening for you within the next few months?! Any upcoming shows you can share with the BuzzMusic community?
This month has been crazy, for real! The album Lost Boy has just dropped and it's available everywhere. I wrote a YA supernatural thriller novel, also called Lost Boy that is based on the same themes as my album - that comes out the last week of October. I also won a script writing competition and had a short play up at the Spotlight Theatre in London and that was based on one of the album tracks, "Voices..."
So, yeah. Kinda crazy! Now that everything's releasing, it's time to build on that, keep finding them fans and spread the message of positivity!