RockCorps has teamed up with Coca-Cola® and ABI to bring the Coca-Cola® RockCorps concept to young South Africans in Gauteng. Young volunteers between the ages of 13 and 18 gave 4 hours of their time to volunteer for the benefit of a local charity partner. They were rewarded with two tickets to the Coca-Cola® RockCorps Concert in Johannesburg this Saturday, featuring Busta Rhymes and Ciara. We caught up with Busta Rhymes ahead of the Coca-Cola RockCorps Concert in Jozi this Saturday.
What influences your animated style for your videos?
I like to keep the package surprising. I take my experiences and I apply them constructively so that in the end I benefit from them.
How did your career take off?
Brooklyn is where I primarily developed. I had an opportunity to make records and perform in clubs here and there, and I started networking with the right people in the right places. My making it is a combination of grinding, grinding, grinding and being lucky enough to finally get a shot.
How have you grown since you started in the industry?
I’ve been through it all – through the thick and the thin. It all helped me distinguish who my real friends were. That helps you focus and create some really great music
How are you feeling about your upcoming RockCorps concert?
I have performed with RockCorps in different countries around the world. It is awesome that it has now arrived in Africa, with Coca-Cola RockCorps, and I can’t wait to be a part of it. The crowd can expect what I always deliver – an unforgettable show to reward them for all that hard work.
You have performed for RockCorps before, what makes this platform so special for you?
I have volunteered alongside kids at RockCorps projects around the world, and seen them celebrating at the reward concerts. Every time the energy is amazing. Not all kids want to get involved in their communities, but the music really changes that. It inspires people to do things that they would never normally do, and I love being a part of that.
Please tell us more about your upcoming album, Extinction Level Event 2?
Everything about it is a reference to the way I have evolved as an artist. You know the moments I had as far as collaborations, those people that I have worked with before or that I’m working with…incredible artists that I have never worked with before, the wait is until now. This album has a great balance of the original cast from 1998 that worked on Extinction Level Event—the team players that contributed sonically to the album from live musicians all the way down—and new artists that weren’t on the original, that love the original because they were fans of the original, that felt the need to contribute their new perspective on ELE 2′s overall concept. I just think that all of the necessary ingredients that were needed to make this album classic are coming to the table, which is gonna bring a whole other dynamic, a whole other feeling. A whole other milestone contribution to what is needed in music right now.
What don’t we know about you?
My favourite pizza? Anchovy pineapple!
What would be your message to our BONA readers?
Give, Get Given!
