Hamilton rapper attends international music festival
A University of Waikato law student and rap artist opened two shows for US artist Phora recently.
A Hamilton rapper mixed and mingled with some big musical names while attending an international music festival in Los Angeles this month.
Winston Anthony was the only New Zealander among four international artists invited to attend the Indie Entertainment Summit (IES). The IES is an annual five-day festival that includes seminars, showcases, workshops, and concerts.
The 21-year-old Waikato University law and arts student said the festival gave him the opportunity to expand his network with contacts such as Violet Brown, the vice-president of Tech N9ne’s record label.
During the IES he expected to do only one performance but found himself doing several, capturing the eyes of key players in the underground music scene.
“[They] introduced me to Phora, one of the biggest independent artists over there [in LA] at the moment, and he asked me to open on his tour,” he said.
Anthony was Phora’s opening act for two sold-out shows.
Phora first saw Anthony perform Trayvon, a song from his latest album BlankCanvas. The track is about social issues surrounding 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s murder in the United States earlier this year.
With over 10,000 views on YouTube, Anthony says America responded positively to the song with some saying it was “going to impact so many people’s lives”.
But alongside his musical adventure, Anthony was appointed as the New Zealand correspondent for Undergroundhiphopblog.com.
“[This means that] any underground hip hop that I send to them makes it onto their blog which is huge, not only for me, but New Zealand hip hop as a whole.”
Anthony says he is thankful his fans have supported him along his journey so far.
“I’ve been blessed with talent, I’ve been blessed with drive and motivation, but all of that will only get me so far, it’s the fans that actually push you to that next level,” he said.
