Artist Focus: Barbudo

Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

Artist Focus: Barbudo

If you were to picture yourself at a beach festival, with an Aperol Spritz in hand, the funky sound of Barbudo would be sure to get you moving.

The brothers Ben & Harry Stanworth plus their best friend Elliott Salter, hailing from Havant (South of England) have created their own unique blend of modern Funk, Soul and Disco, with some Psychedelic chord progressions throughout their discography.

The sweet vibes of Barbudo take inspiration from Michael Jackson, Chic, The Bee Gees and Prince, artists that Ben & Harry’s parents would often play to them at home during their days out on the disco scene. Parliament, Funkadelic and Anderson .Paak are three names they said they would love to support at a live show, and this is hardly surprising considering their style!

Their track ‘Realise the Reality’ I found notably brilliant, with the knock of a ‘Thundercat’ beat, but written in a major key. The song encapsulates their playful, joyful identity. You could say they make you want to talk about that ‘Secret Admirer’ (their 2018 single). Ben’s seemingly nonchalant tone is brilliantly confident and elegant, with great vocal licks and kicks that are very original and identifiable.

Their track ‘Magnolia Mansion’ is a great flagship to their genre stirring pot. A classic bassline and an excellent, clean drum beat sure to get a crowd moving. Their cool use of chords on a Wurlitzer type electric piano gives a lovely chilled vibe to the verses, before the clearly disco influenced guitar brings us to the front and center stage of the ‘Magnolia Mansion’.

Overall, I have been blown away by Barbudo, and await their next release. Their melodies have definitely struck a chord with me (pun intended).

How can Jeeni support artists like Barbudo?

JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience.

• We give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. And they keep 100% of everything they make.
• We empower our audience and reward them every step of the way.
• We promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect.
• Access to artist liaison and a supportive marketing team

Check out Barbudo’s Jeeni page: https://jeeni.com/?s=barbudo

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01
Mar

WesLi D - ‘Walk Of Life’ Single Review

WesLi D’s first single of this year is an inventive and ambitious hip house banger, sure to evoke warm summer memories from all. A new addition to Jeeni, ‘Walk Of Life’ is currently the only track on WesLi D’s showcase and yet, the track still paints a vivid and inspired image of his craft and creative capabilities. We can’t wait to add more of WesLi D’s older and future tracks to Jeeni’s database of talent. Check out WesLi D on Jeeni: https://jeeni.com/showcase/ctq6hi7bzb6e/?view=about WesLi’s versatile voice and production style means that he’s able to represent a host of sub-genres and influences. His album from last year, ‘Sunny Days Ahead’ covers UK jazz rap with ‘Time Flies’, garage with ‘Pressure’ and most relevant to his newest track, WesLi dabbles with house in the last two tracks, ‘Clear Mind’ and ‘Yours To Keep’. Featuring chopped-up piano chord stabs with intense, layered beats, WesLi does so well to incorporate old-school house elements into his sound without diluting either his or his muse’s style. WesLi’s entrance into hip house is a calculated and smart transition; the final tracks to his album acted as a hint at what he’s been experimenting with lately and then, chronologically, comes ‘Walk Of Life’. The introduction for 'Walk Of Life’ is brave and very unsubtle for such a chill single; instantly the majority of the beat is heard, except without the four-to-the-floor kick drums to act as its backbone. The result is frankly, a jarring and odd display of almost random drum hits. Which is why it’s so satisfying when the kick finally does enter after four bars. The payoff for that initially weird introduction is beyond worth it, because the perfect context and explanation for those eclectic drum beats is provided in the form of steady kick drums and a commanding bassline sitting under it all. A totally effective and brilliant introduction that catches the listener off-guard and lets them know that this single isn’t standard by any means. WesLi D’s particular step into hip house feels particularly reminiscent of Channel Tres and his approach to beats and rumbling basslines. However, something that WesLi can utilise that Channel Tres struggles with is an adaptable and flexible voice. Where Channel Tres mostly just speaks softly over his beats, WesLi can confidently speak, rap and sing on his tracks. On ‘Walk Of Life’, we mostly hear WesLi’s singing voice which is as velvety as the Rhoades-esque electric piano that warbles across the entire piece. A highlight for me on this single are the choruses which completely changes the vibe from the pre-chorus which is the most pessimistic and tonally dark section of the track. In fact, the lyrical sections of this single are so clever in that they each represent mood shifts in WesLi as he processes the passing of time and trying not to let his dreams pass him by: In the verses, we see a hopeful but concerned mind-set, “I don’t know where I’m going on this walk of life, But I’m hoping that everything will be alright”, then in the pre-choruses, WesLi is in a dark and gloomy place as he says, “I’ve been searching for some time now. Tryna take some time out. Feel like I’m running out of time now”. Finally, the choruses move from minor to major in an uplifting modulation to represent WesLi D at his most optimistic, “It’s all mine, walk of life. Ain’t no dream passing me by”. A deceptively simple track from WesLi D as he seemingly masters the hip house genre in one of his first attempts. Listen on Jeeni here: https://jeeni.com/walk-of-life-wesli-d/ How can Jeeni support artists like WesLi D? JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience. Album review album review album review • We give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. And they keep 100% of everything they make. • We empower our audience and reward them every step of the way. • We promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect. • Access to artist liaison and a supportive marketing team.

05
Jun

Independent Musicians and Performers Community Group

The Independent Musicians and Performers Community (IMAP) has been set up by the founders of Jeeni. Our Community is for everyone and anyone creative: musicians, voice-artists, performers, poets, singer-songwriters ... the list is endless. We connect, collaborate, share and support each other, while we have some fun and make a real difference. We are a completely independent group and have no interest in political debate in this community. We encourage our members to share their original music and performances. Jeeni launched IMAP 28 days ago today with the single purpose of helping and supporting fellow artists with relevant news, blogs, stories, videos and top tips on how to cope in these challenging times. We scan the media every day for what support is available for musicians and performers. We make it our mission to wade through lengthy documents and policies so you don't have to, and we grab the main highlights and takeaways to make it easy for you to absorb the plethora of information swimming around. The industry is being very responsive and coming up with lots of ideas, like allowing artists to keep earning by adding donate buttons on streaming platforms. Some organisations are making grants available, some are discounting their streaming platforms, whereas others are allowing artists and fans to sign up for free. We expect to see many online services partnering with one another to combine their overall membership offerings, such as Soundcloud and Twitch. And we are very interested to see what the major global companies do and how they respond to these new and unknown market conditions. How practical these ideas are in real terms, only time will tell, and we will keep an eye out for scams, as in this very sad and challenging time it's inevitable that many will try to profit from COVID - 19, by introducing unethical and downrights crooked practices. We are making it our mission to name and shame projects and organisations that are under scrutiny and suspect, and encourage our members to do the same. IMAP is an active community group with over 1.2K new members in 28 days 2.8K approved for sign up, and 2.2K posts, comments and reactions. We very much want our members to invite their friends, families and other artists, we are all in this together and your great ideas need to shared. It doesn't matter where you are around the globe, and we would love to hear more about what other community groups are doing to support their members. Take a look at the Independent Musicians and Performers Community and join us today. You will be welcomed with open arms. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2529935880656436/about/ Shena and Mel

21
Dec

Welcome to Our Annual Round-Up of The Jeeni Project for 2021.

The pandemic has had a devastating effect on independent musicians and performers who are the core subscribers to the Jeeni platform. 83% of our professionals have been unable to find regular work, 33% of our artists have not earned a penny since restrictions were lifted earlier this year, and 20% say they will give up the struggle for recognition permanently. In support of our existing membership, we agreed to suspend paid subscriptions during the lockdown and may do so again in light of the current situation. Our Generation-4 platform was released on schedule, and our Generation-5 platform is scheduled for release on Amazon Web Services in the second quarter of 2022. This year, our pre-market valuation increased by 12.5% to £4.5million. Our awards and grant funding increased to £245,540 since launch and our investment funding increased to £513,734 since launch. The number of members in our musicians and artists community increased to 9,979, of which 5,424 are often active and 4,555 are continually active. The number of artist showcases on Jeeni increased to 2,492 with a global audience outreach to 3,430,790 fans. Team Jeeni increased to 15 core members. We launched our popular channel of Inside Story celebrity interviews, alongside Artist-of-the-Day and weekly News Roundups. Our most recent Jeeni Festival was enjoyed by 27,489 viewers, of which 7,739 were live-stream, plus another 19,750 on catch-up. Our world première of the jazz opera Spring Street topped 67,000 viewers, and for the first time, we achieved 10,000 visits to the Jeeni platform in one hour. Four of our strategic partners have become prominent for mutually beneficial marketing and support: BIMM - Europe’s largest music institute, Gradfuel - with over 10,000 graduates on their books, SeedLegals - the UK’s Number One growth hub, and Chillblast - the UK’s most awarded PC manufacturer. Stay safe and well, The Jeeni team.

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