Music x Fashion Culture - SBA

 A brief interview with a young creative.

So, Who are you? Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Who am I? I’m SBA, it stands for Soul Before Anything, a.k.a ‘Space’ a.k.a ‘Spacey’. Really, I’m a London born African youth trying to be a part of the culture, always paying my mind to the culture whether it be music, fashion or values all around the world. All I want to do is be a part of it, be a part of the creation, be a part of something where people can be like “yo, he was good when he did that”. That’s what I’m trying to be, making music is where my focus is at right now.

You mention that your focus right now is on your music, tell me more about that.

I make rap music, a bit of R&B, a bit of soul, moving into alternative rock occasionally –  so it’s quite diverse, there’s no specific genre for the music we make. We call it ‘Swayze’. Okay now you’ve got to explain what that means. The word ‘Swayze’ comes from Patrick Swayze’s character in Dirty Dancing, you know, he comes in and that’s what he does, takes peoples girls. So, you’re making Swayze music to take peoples girls is that right? Well yeah and their hearts and their souls you know what I mean, that’s where we’re taking our music.

I’ve got a tune out on SoundCloud at the moment called ‘Winter is Coming’, but I’ve been very discreet and selective with the way I put out music, just because I grew up writing music in Africa, so at the time I was beginning to understand music, I wasn’t learning it like I need to learn how to write a bar or certain choruses I was just going off of you write what you feel, so over time I just realised that you know what, I shouldn’t have to put codes and conventions on what I’m doing even though they’re already there in the industry, I’m just going to do my own thing and make it work.

Where do you get your fashion inspiration  from?

Well for me it has to be Pharell, Kanye and not to forget Jay Z of course! I’m more of a 90's baby, so we grew up listening to music artists like Pharell and watching people like The Clipse, studying these types of genres and the people so that’s the wave.

I can see that a few of your fashion inspirations are also in the music industry, whats your view on the influence that music has in the fashion industry?

Fashion and music go hand in hand because over time, from what I’ve seen from the scene in the UK, more specifically in London is that most of the artists who are popping or who are the best at the time, have their own unique style and even if it’s not their own, the way that they present it is unique and you can recognise that, and see it reflected in how they put things together and from that I learned that you got to try and adapt your style just the same as you progress and adapt to the changes within the music and yourself.

Outfit details:

Hoodie & Camo cargo pants: Urban Outfitters Flannel shirt: Sure leaf Top: Fear of God Trainers: Nike slyly exclusive air forces.

Instagram: @sba_universe