Bubblegum Club

Tag: neo-soul

  • Musician RHEA BLEK : The Goddess of Finesse

    Musician RHEA BLEK : The Goddess of Finesse

    Rhea Blek calls herself The Goddess of Finesse (aka Finessa). It’s apt because she has an impressively delicate touch and skillful use of her voice, which is pretty in line with the definition of ‘finesse’. Rhea is singer/songwriter born and bred in the city of Durban, which you can kinda tell if you’ve been paying attention to the sounds coming out of the 031 lately. Although she says she creates genreless music, Rhea is part of a growing group of brilliant young women in Durban, like Red Robyn, Nipho Hurd, and Victoria Raw, who are making incredible neo-soul, R&B and jazz influenced songs that touch the soul. And I don’t even believe in souls.

    Rhea is firmly her own woman though, and while she may be playing in similar spaces, she’s doing it completely in her own way. On the opening track of her debut EP THIIIRD WAV, ‘Terms and Conditions‘, she opens up by confidently asking if she can shoot her shot and get down to business with a fine-as-hell man, with no strings attached, terms or conditions. Although, she also admits that she wouldn’t mind a little l-o-v-e, she’s happy to just get what she wants if the fine-as-hell man is down with it.

    Track 2, ‘Clyde‘, is a take on Bonnie and Clyde, but, as Rhea explained on Facebook, “this time, instead of Clyde running around and doing the crimes and Bonnie being down for it, it was Bonnie being the boss and Clyde being a loyal lover and partner in crime. That’s why the hook says ‘ride or die, sink or fly with me’”. Apparently a friend was supposed to do a verse but “the niggas were like ‘what you wrote is too hot, the song is yours, just write for the whole song’”.

    ‘Clyde’ is actually what inspired the whole EP, or, as Rhea puts it in another Facebook post, “After that, we decided – you know what? We’re making an EP, that’s what the fuck we gon’ do!” She also explains the concept for the album in her candid post, “I thought about centering it on love and on a love story with someone that started since we were kids, that’s where ‘TEENAGE DREAMS’ comes in.”

    ‘Teenage Dreams‘ is the last track on the EP and it’s a cute love song. According to Rhea, “That song is a story of how and where the love began and how long its sustained to the present. It’s just a big thank you to the dude and appreciation for the love. And it’s called ‘TEENAGE DREAMS’ because the love is so amazing it feels like we’re teenagers in love and we’re dreaming.”

    Rhea has been racking up the gigs around Durban and has even made a few Gauteng trips of late, and now that she’s put out some music, she can’t wait to put out more. She’s actually working on a follow up EP already and will be part of the We Are One Festival in Joburg alongside the likes of Moonchild, DJ Doowap, & Nonku Phiri on the 31st of March. Make sure you look out for The Goddess of Finesse, you’ll be impressed.

  • PURE wants you to treasure yourself

    “It was amazing being part of this collective voice but I had my own voice that I think for a while was dying to have its day,” explains PURE in an honest conversation about her decision to pursue a solo career. This has seen the former front-woman of Fruit & Veggies, and later The Pranks, do a 180 degree turn, both sonically and personally. “There’s always issues [in bands] and I was tired of that. In my life I was also approaching this massive shift. I stopped drinking. My daughter was the main beacon of light for this shift that happened. When I was fell pregnant it was a chaotic time. I was a mess. I was still in Fruit & Veggies to sum things up.”

    The shift that motherhood had catalysed led her to return to herself and to a type of simplicity that isn’t present in bands. “Soul, neo-soul and the voice prominent music was my first love, before I even got into the punk scene in Durban. I had this weird a cappella thing I used to do with my friends. I think in a sense it’s coming full circle of that. It’s so important because for a long time I’ve been pulled away from myself. Now it’s PURE. Now it’s time to focus on myself.”

    Inspired by a series of events that involved over consumption of drugs and alcohol, and culminated in a painful weekend spent in a tent at a festival dealing with the repercussions leading to an intense period of self-reflection, “Treasure”, the follow-up single to her debut “No Secrets”, explores themes of the self and how we so often neglect the world within oneself, trying to fill the void inside with worldly pleasures rather than through deep work from within. “The idea is to transcend into this glorious and magnificent being, rising high above and taking pride in the scars and pain that have brought you to this place. Projecting a future of hopefulness and powerful transformations through embracing the light as well as the dark in one’s own path.”

    The music video, co-directed by PURE alongside Bastien Lienardy, echoes this interplay between the light and dark parts of the self. A visual representation of a dream she had, the video shows the interplay between these two aspects of the self. “In the video you can see a little bit of friction, back and forth battles and it kind of represents how sometimes we try to fight that dark side but in all fairness it’s very much part of who we are. And the more we try and fight it, the more we give it power.”

    Having found her path this year, PURE is ready to forge ahead and start her journey as a solo artists. “I have a lot of plans for 2018. I feel like 2017 was a lot about getting into the rhythm of being a mom, juggling job, juggling career, trying to make time for this, trying to make time for that, and now I’ve found that balance. I really want to just spread my wings in 2018.”

    Photography by Nick Gorgon