My name is REYDEN, a young R&B / Hiphop / Afro-Pop upcoming artiste and song writer from Accra, Ghana West Africa. I am student of Accra Polytechnic, majoring in Marketing. Music has always been my talent and passion. I sing and I rap in almost all my songs. i compose in English, pidgin English and sometimes I throw one or two local languages in there.
I was born in Kumasi, a city in the Ashanti region, where I grew up in two towns respectful, Bantama and Krofrom. My dad was a military officer so I have lived most of my life in the army barracks.
The kind of music I do is a hip-hop rap and blend of contemporary rnb mixed with African pop music. I was in a music group called SURI GHANA, from 2012 to 2014. We made songs that could climb charts but the management did no promotion on the songs and shooting videos for them.
I broke out officially in the later part of 2014 but because of school I have to give myself time off music and concentrate on school work and just halfway into 2015 I started doing music. I started off by sharing my old songs on campus through WhatsApp to my school and mates and the response went even outside of the school walls.
Opened doors for me to perform on many campus events and outside. I was awarded the ‘’Best Student hip life/hip-hop award 2015 (Male) for my work.
That told me to even work harder and record new material and put them out and wishing people will like it and I will get discovered.
My goals heading into 2016 is to be able to get my music heard by the biggest number of peple possible. To be a mainstream artiste and I am working on developing myself, writing new songs every day and being a better artiste mentally.
Currenty I have a song called ‘’When I get Ur Hear’’ which an AfroPop influenced RNB tune. Which is doing well when I shared it. I featured a dance hall artiste called Rain Papa. That song can be found on my soundcloud account. I know when it gets on radio, it will be a hit.
I have a small studio set up in my hostel room that I have been practising and recording and writing with on my laptop.
There is much I want to say and I do that through my music. I am a quite type and that is how I express myself. Every new song I record is a learning process for me. Everything I know I lean it on my own. It’s my belief when I get discovered and under a management or record label it will be easy for me to flourish and become an even better artiste ten times than I am now because of the resources that will be made available for me.
I work hard on my music and stay humble. I know how to program music and in most cases that I go to the studio to record I already envisioned how I want the beat to go and I collaborate with the sound engineer to make it come to light.
The music I do is a music people can easily relate to. On my soundcloud.com/reydenmusic I recently share a song called MISSING YOU and the words and concept of the song got people calling me to tell me how they really relate to it. When I write, I think about it as it happens. I don’t write fiction, I write about life, love, sex, pain, social issues, God and inspiration.
I am currently working on my mix tape called ‘’MY NAME IS REYDEN’’. It is going to be a mixture of afican pop, soul music, rnb and rap. My music’s highest dream aside winning multiple Grammys is to be able to let my music touch people’s lives positively, for me to be a philanthropist through this and to give back to the society in the near future.
My fan base is now growing bit by bit. My instagram is : @Reythegreatest
Twitter @ReydenLive and Facebook: Reyden
EXPOSED VOCALS: HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT EXPOSED VOCALS? WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO SIGN UP?
REYDEN: ON TWITTER
I WAS NOT ACTIVE FOR A WHILE SO WHEN I STARTED GETTING ACTIVE ON THERE WITH MY MUSIC, THEY FOLLOWED ME AND YEAH WE HERE NOW.
EXPOSED VOCALS: SO TELL US YOUR STORY. WHERE DID YOU GROW UP? WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO BECOME AN ARTIST?
REYDEN: I WAS BORN IN KUMASI, A CITY IN GHANA, I GREW UP IN UADDARA BARRACKS, BANTAMA, MY DAD IS AN ARMY OFFICER, I WASN’T ALLOWED TO GO OUT LIKE MOST KIDS WITH STRICT PARANTS, SO I FOUND MYSELF LISTENING TO MUSIC ALL THE TIME, AND I GUESS I GREW THE LOVE FOR ALSO WANTING TO NOT JUST IMIATATE I WAS R KELLY, MICHAL JACKSON AND JAY Z BUT ALSO STARTED WRITING MY OWN SONGS. I DID A FEW AND GOT GOOD COMMENTS FROM MY FRIENDS I WAS LIKE IM TAKING THIS SERIOUS. I BELIEVE I GOTTA MAKE MY PASSION MY PROFESSION YOU KNOW.
EXPOSED VOCALS: HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT NAME? WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION BEHIND IT?
REYDEN:
REYDEN, IT HAS GONE THROUGH MAKING CHANGES TO ITS FINAL NAME NOW. I STATED WITH JUST SAMMY, LATER ON SAMMIE REY AND NOW ITS REYDEN. REY MEANS KING IN SPANISH AND DEN IS MY OWN ACRONYM FOR DESTINY AND THE SAME TIME REY WAS A SHORT WAY OF REMEMBERING REDEFINED. SO ITS REDEFINED DESTINY. I BELIEVE IN DESTINY SO I JUST WANT GOD TO REDEFINE IT IF ITS GOING BAD.
EXPOSED VOCALS: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ONLINE MUSIC SHARING? DO YOU EVER GIVE YOUR MUSIC AWAY FOR FREE? WHY?
REYDEN: YES ALL MY SONGS I GIVE AWAY FOR FREE AND ON SOUNCLOUD FOR FREE STREAMING BECAUSE IM NOW STARTING SO I JUST WANT TO GET HEARD. THATS THE LOVE FOR IT. IM NOT DOING IT FOR THE MONEY PER SAY BUT DOING WHAT I LOVE AND IF I HAPPEN TO GET PAID FOR IT, THEN ITS A BONUS. I JUST WANT TO GET HEARD AND SEEN.
EXPOSED VOCALS: SINCE EVERYONE WAS A START-UP ONCE, CAN YOU GIVE ANY SMALLER OR LOCAL BANDS OR ARTISTS LOOKING TO GET GIGS AND AIRPLAY SOME TIPS?
REYDEN: I BELIEVE THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS REALLY TOUGH BREAKING INTO IT AND YOU AS AN ARTIST OR BAND GOTTA BE SMARTER AND NOT JUST HAVING GOOD MUSIC. YOU GOTTA WORK ON RADIO FRIENDLY SONGS, SONGS THAT PEOPLE CAN RELATE TO AND YOU HAVE TO KNOW YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A TEAM BEHIND YOU AND WILL HELP YOU SHARE YOUR MUSIC AND GET YOU HEARD, THAT’S HOW YOU GET NOTICED AND GET INVITED FOR SHOWS.
EXPOSED VOCALS: DO YOU EVER MAKE MISTAKES DURING PERFORMANCES? HOW DO YOU HANDLE THAT?
REYDEN: YEAH I THINK EVERYONE DOES, ONCE IN A WHILE ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW THE DJ PLAYING YOUR SONGS. WHEN I MAKE MISTAKE DURING PERFORMANCE I LET IT FLOW COS SOMETIMES THE FANS ARE INTO THE MUSIC YOU ARE THE ONLY THAT NOTICES IT BUT YOU MAKE SURE YOU CORDINATE WITH THE DJ NEXT TIME.
EXPOSED VOCALS: DO YOU TOUR? ANYTHING INTERESTING HAPPEN ON TOUR THAT YOU THINK OUR READERS WOULD ENJOY HEARING ABOUT?
REYDEN: NO I DON’T BUT WHAT I DO IS, ANY POPULAR ARISTE THAT I SEE HAVING A SHOW IN MY AREA I TRY TO OPEN FOR THEM.
EXPOSED VOCALS: WHERE DO YOU USUALLY GATHER SONGWRITING INSPIRATION? WHAT IS YOUR USUAL SONGWRITING PROCESS?
REYDEN: I GET INSPIRATION FROM LIFE, PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND FROM PEOPLE. SOMETIMES I WRITE FICTION, I IMAGINE BUT SOMETIMES PEOPLE RELATE TO IT LIKE I WAS TALKING ABOUT THEM LIKE MY SONG MISSING YOU. I WRITE ABOUT INSPIRATION TOO. WE ALL NEED IT.
EXPOSED VOCALS: DO YOU HAVE A BAND WEBSITE? WHAT ONLINE PLATFORMS DO YOU USE TO SHARE YOUR MUSIC?
REYDEN: NOT REALLY, I CARE ABOUT THE CONTENT I LISTEN TO SO I DON’T HAVE SUCH SONGS ON MY PLAYLIST, HAHA!
EXPOSED VOCALS: WHAT ARE SOME REALLY EMBARRASSING SONGS THAT WE MIGHT FIND ON YOUR MP3 PLAYER?
REYDEN: YEAH A LOT. I HAVE NEW PROJECTS I AM WORKING ON NOW. I HAVE SPOKEN TO POPULAR ARTISTE THAT GONNA BE DOING FEATURER WITH THEM AND HOPEFULLY HELP BRING ME TO MAINSTREAM. CANT WAIT TO LET YALL HEAR IT.
EXPOSED VOCALS: IF YOU WERE GIVEN HALF A MILLION DOLLARS AND A YEAR OFF, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? HOW WOULD YOU SPEND IT?
REYDEN: I PROTE MY MUSIC ON MUSIC PROMOTION WEBSITES, THROUGH WHATSAPP, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, HULKSHARE AND SOUNCLOUD. WHATAPP AND SOUNDCLUD WORKS BEST FOR ME.
EXPOSED VOCALS: ANY PLANNED STUDIO UPGRADES? WHAT ARE YOU WORKING WITH NOW?
REYDEN: ITS EASY MICHEAL JACKSON. BECAUSE HE IS A MUSIC GENIUS. PERIOD. GOAT.
EXPOSED VOCALS: HOW DO YOU FIND WAYS TO PROMOTE YOUR MUSIC? WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU?
REYDEN: I LOOK FOR ONLINE AND SOCIAL MEDIA COS THAT IS WHERE PEOPLE GET NEW STUFF AND INFORMATION FROM AND ITS EASY TO ACCESS.
EXPOSED VOCALS: IF YOU COULD PERFORM ANYWHERE AND WITH ANY ARTISTS (DEAD OR ALIVE) WHERE AND WHO WOULD IT BE WITH? WHY?
REYDEN: THAT ARTISTE WILL BE SIA AND PERFORMING IN MADISAN SQUARE GARDEN. THATS MY DREAM. AND I KNOW THEY BOTH GONNA HAPPEN ONE DAY.
EXPOSED VOCALS: SO, WHAT’S NEXT? ANY NEW UPCOMING PROJECTS THAT YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT?
REYDEN: YEAH LIKE I ALREADY SAID I HAVE LIKE 3 PROJECTS THAT IS GONNA BE ON MY MIXTAPE, KING. JUST WAIT ON IT.
EXPOSED VOCALS: IF YOU WEREN’T MAKING MUSIC, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING?
REYDEN: I WOULD BE STILL IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS, RUNNING MY RECORD LABEL REDEFINED DESTINY RECORDS, AND BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR. I LOVE HELPING AND I CAN DO THAT THROUGH MUSIC.
EXPOSED VOCALS: DO YOU REMEMBER BUYING YOUR FIRST ALBUM? WHO WAS IT? WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD?
REYDEN: YEAH THE FIRST CD I REMEMBER BUYING WAS A COLLECTION OF RNB IN 2005. IT HAD MUSIC FROM R KELLY, USHER, LIL BOWWOW, SEAN PAUL, AKON, JOE ETC… I REALLY WANTED TO BE LIKE THESE HEREOS AND I AM STILL WORKING TOWARDS IT, I THANK GOD ASIDE MJ ALL OF THEM ARE STILL ALIVE.
EXPOSED VOCALS: HOW DO YOU JUGGLE THE REST OF YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES WHILE TRYING TO STAY AHEAD IN YOUR MUSIC LIFE?
REYDEN: IT’S DIFFICULT BUT WHEN YOU HAVE A LOVE AND PASSION FOR IT YOU ALWAYS FIND AWAY TO MAKE IT WORK. I AM CURRENTLY IN THE FINAL YEAR IN SCHOOL AND ITS TOUGH BUT I MAKE IT WORK. I PLAN WELL WITH MY TEAM.
EXPOSED VOCALS: WHAT SHOULD FANS LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2016?
REYDEN:
MY FANS ARE GROWING EACH TIME I RELEASE A SONG SO FIRST OF ALL IM GRATEFUL FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND THEY SHOULD EXPECT NOTHING BUT GOOD MUSIC FROM REYDEN. IM GONNA MAKE THEM PROUD. BELIEVE! TEAMREYDEN.