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Unsigned Hype Pravini

Pravini came a long way from the day she was born on January 9th, 1985 in The Hague in the Netherlands, to the soulful and talented artist she is today.

Encouraged by her mother to take piano lessons at the tender age of 6 she found the love of her life in music. After graduating from high school at 18 she left Europe on her own to participate in the summer performance program at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. There she sharpened her skills as a musician, playing the keys and writing her own songs.

After her return to Holland she recorded her first demo containing 4 tracks, all written by Pravini and produced by Sage. A year later she released her first single and video titled Cuz I'm A Lady. By doing this she broke boundaries by being the first Dutch Indian R&B soul singer releasing a single and music video on The Box. That same year she received her first award, the HSFN music award, for her accomplishments as an artist. Not only was she noted for her boundary breaking music video, but also appreciated for writing her own music outside the traditional Bollywood genre the Indian community is used to.

In 2006 she teamed up with the Beat-lockz crew from St. Maarten. Along with one of their most talented producers, The Quinn, she created tracks like Love Flow, I Don't Think So, Feel Me (Holla) and Lonely Woman's Story. Like always she wrote the lyrics and the music to these songs. Produced by the Beat-Lockz, they combined their unique styles and blended them together into a new product that carried their signature: Quinn's thick instrumentals along with Pravini's sassy but sincere lyrics, melodic flows in tight harmonies, smooth but powerful vocals and her touch on the keys.

After ‘Cuz I'm A Lady and the release of her second single, I Don't Think So, she has been invited regularly to festivals and other performance stages to show her music and to share her talent. Some of these shows are captured on tape, like the Black Magic Woman Festival and Miss India Holland, both available on myspace and youtube. Always leaving her mark by connecting with the audience and bringing music from the heart.

Because of her background and her ability to reach and touch people she was asked to become the goodwill ambassador of the Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD), an international human rights organization with the objective of promoting human rights for those areas where severe violations have victimized relatively large populations. In 2007 she travelled, along with 24 other representatives of GHRD for the MadeIndia project, to India to experience the problems India is facing. Overpopulation, extreme poverty and corruption are a few of the serious issues India is dealing with. As the ambassador of GHRD it is her duty to raise awareness on issues like these. By using music as a tool and show stages as a platform she's able to tell the stories of people who can't speak for themselves.

After her trip to India she felt the need to use her own voice and share her personal experience. This resulted in another collaboration with the Beat-Lockz crew: Question, featuring L-Styles, one of the other GHRD representatives who joined her on her trip to India. Question became the main song of the MadeIndia project and turned into Pravini's second music video. The song was meant to raise awareness on the problems of India and to make people think about what they can do to help out. Important to remember is that a small gesture can make a difference.

Now Pravini is taking it to an international level by collaborating with some of the most talented myspace musicians. Beatmakers like Joe Burn'em, Mighty Quinn, Phraim, Timeless and La Le' from the States and Willy Wizz from France have all contributed to her debut album. The album contains some of Pravini's most personal songs and shows her perspectives on life, love and music. Music that is inspired by soul, jazz, hiphop and R&B, all fused into a unique style that Pravini has been able to make her own and all written by this talented artist, who is to this day still one of the few female Indian soul singers doing it big.

Pravini

Location: The Hague in the Netherlands

Contact: myspace.com/pravinimusic or email me: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or Purchase Cd

Unsigned Hype Pravini

Urbansteez.com interview with Pravini

Unsigned Hype Pravini Urbansteez.com: Tell us your name, and what area do you represent?

Pravini: My name is Pravini and I consider myself to represent soul music. Even though my influences are from different areas like R&B, jazz and hiphop, in the end it comes down to singing and writing from the heart and bringing my soul to the people.

Urbansteez.com: How long have you been pursuing a career in the music industry?

Pravini: I've always been doing music but I've been taking it to a serious level about two years ago when I released my first single and music video. That's when I made music my lifestyle and came up with a plan to pursue my musical dreams. So it's always been a dream of mine but I've been actually realizing the dream since two years.

Urbansteez.com: What were you into before music?

Pravini: Music has always been my first love but I majored in media studies at the University of Amsterdam so that's something I've also been interested in. What I did was analyze the effects of the media like television, film, radio, Internet and stuff like that on society. I'm still intrigued by that.

Urbansteez.com: Nice. As an artist how would you describe your style and why?

Pravini: I have a sassy but sincere writing style. I always choose my words carefully and make sure my lyrics are like no one else would write and sing it but "Pravini". My flows are melodic and almost mc like at times (so I've been told). So it's the specific combination of my voice, lyrics and melodic hip hop flows. And that's something that I consciously strive for. And I always have some kind of piano elements in my music ‘cuz I always start out with the keys, pen and paper. But when producers ask me to write to their beats the music is already created so it comes back to my writing and singing style.

Urbansteez.com: What would you say separates you from other artist doing what you do?

Pravini: I think it's the combination of me being a Dutch lady with an East-Indian background blending music that's influenced by soul, jazz, R&B and hip hop. One advantage that I have is that I play the keys and I usually perform while playing the keys, so that's something that sticks with the people. And I love connecting and interacting with the audience when I perform. So again it's a combination of different elements that not a lot of people would put together in one person, but I'm here to surprise them!

Urbansteez.com: What have you learned in your musical pursuit?

Pravini: That nobody is gonna pursue your dreams for you but yourself. If you wanna make it to the top, you're gonna have to be the one who has to work for it. So it's really about making it happen for yourself. It took me two years to finish my debut album because I was depending on other producers or people who wouldn't pull through. I was insecure about my own capabilities. And it got to a point where I was like: "You know what, I'll do it myself. I'm just gonna have to learn along the way". So I made the decision to really invest in myself and once I did that everything started to come together. So it's really about being true to yourself, following your own path and having faith in what you can do.

Urbansteez.com: I see, If you had your pick which label to be signed to, which label would it be and why?

Pravini: Hmm, I can't think of a specific label at the moment ‘cuz there's so many out there. But what's important to me is that the label allows me to be myself. I want the artistic freedom to be myself as a person and as an artist. I like to think outside the box and try new things and need a label that supports that.

Urbansteez.com: Who in your future would you want to collaborate with and why?

Pravini: Wow, there are so many musicians out there...Well one of the many I'd love to collab with is Lupe Fiasco. The reason why I say that is ‘cuz saw him perform the other day in Amsterdam and his energy on stage is amazing. A lot of times when American artists come to visit Amsterdam they get caught up in the coffee shops and that affects their performance on stage. But Lupe's performance was on point especially with the band he brought with him. I feel like I could learn a lot from just working with him. He brings positive vibes and wonderful music and that's what it's all about.

Urbansteez.com: Lupe and pravini, that's good music right there....What are you working on now, and when can we expect to hear more of you?

Pravini: My album PraVision just came out so I'm doing shows to get the music out there. Besides that I'm working on a few projects at the moment. I linked up with this French producer Nidle. He's releasing his album later on this year featuring 10 artists from all over the world, me being one of them. He did the instrumentals and asked me to write and sing to it. And that's what I'm doing for several other producers, like Cheerful Mood from Germany and Jura Shaheed from the States. But the next project of my own is gonna be a collab with Timeless. He did "Do Unsigned Hype Pravini What I Do" for my album which is gonna be the next single. Me and him really hit it off so we decided to do a whole project together. But we're taking our time for that one ‘cuz we're both caught up in other projects so that won't get out probably ‘til next year. But until the next project of my own you'll definitely hear from me through other collaborations.

Urbansteez.com: Niiiiiiiice, good stuff!! Who are your influences?

Pravini: Jill Scott has been my biggest influence, especially on a lyrical level. When I heard "A Long Walk" my life changed. I was so blown away by her rhymes and depth and play with words and sounds. It set the bar for me and from that moment on I was really conscious of my lyricism. But she's one of the many artists I listened to and learned from. I learned a lot from just listening to how artists like Talib Kweli write and flow. I learned about the possibilities of the piano by listening to Alicia Keys. I was touched by the soul of Aretha Franklin and the timeless classics by Michael Jackson. And the list goes on and on haha.

Urbansteez.com: Jill is truly an artist, you named some of the best!! What do you think of the music world right now?

Pravini: I think the music world is ready for something new and I think the newness is gonna come from the independent labels because they're not afraid to take risks. I also think the independent labels have more heart for the music instead of the money and the heart for the music is what the people need. Sometimes I really get frustrated over what I see on TV (at least over here in the Netherlands, I'm not sure what it's like over there in the States). Because I can't relate or connect with what I see on TV or hear on the radio when I know there are so many talented artists out there who deserve to be heard and recognized. But I do feel like the music world is already changing especially with Internet playing the lead role.

Urbansteez.com: Yea independent labels are starting to take matters in their own hands, it's a good look!! Where do you see yourself a year from now?

Pravini: My plan is to move to LA next year in March. So to answer your question literally that would be LA haha. But on a musical level I just wanna keep growing as an artist and share my music with the people by doing shows. I can see myself being a part of bringing the newness the music world needs.

Urbansteez.com: LA is definitely going to be a new experience!! What will you do with your first royalty check?

Pravini: Buy me some new music! Haha. Or some new shoes (I have a thing for shoes). Or both if it's a big check! Haha. To be honest I don't know, I do music for the love of it. My first check will probably go into my savings account or I'll use it for something I need or want when I actually get the check.

Urbansteez.com: That's wassup!! What's in your sound system right now?

Pravini: Lupe Fiasco's The Cool! Yeah after seeing the show it had to be in there haha.

Urbansteez.com: Who is your celebrity crush, please tell??

Pravini: Haha wow ummm I used to have a crush on Kanye ‘cuz I fell in love with his music so I figured the man behind the music must be amazing. What I liked about him was his confidence and his drive, his swagger. But that crush passed after seeing his MTV Awards tirade haha.

Urbansteez.com: Lol he lost his top at the MTV awards...How can fans contact you in the future (myspace, email, PO box, etc.)??

Pravini: They can check out my official myspace: myspace.com/pravinimusic or email me: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Urbansteez.com: ANY SHOUT OUTS???

Pravini: Everybody who supports good music! But I gotta give a special shout out to Joe Burn'em, Mighty Quinn, Doug Evans and his Soul Logistics crew, Phraim, Timeless, Willy Wizz, Wildelux, Nidle, Bandana, Cheerful Mood, Jura Shaheed, La Le', Beat-Lockz and M-Lo! And I gotta give a shout out to my parents ‘cuz I love ‘em for putting up with my musical adventures! And thank you Urban Steez for hearing my music!