Playing with the right FLAVA

Melaine Warren

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

WINNERS of Fully Loaded 2011, Flava Unit's very own Matthew 'Badda Bling' Mothersill and Akeel 'Likkle Rich' Harris, have been making their mark on the Jamaican dancehall music secne with their amazing skills at disk jockeying. Recently, TEENage got a chance to sit down and hear from the men of the group.

TEENage: What is Flava Unit all about?

Flava Unit (Flava): We're about music basically. They say water is life and we think music is life. We're about delivering music in a professional, yet fun manner.

TEENage: What shows have you guys worked at? And what are those that you hope to work on in the future?

Flava: We have worked on numerous shows including Sting 2010 and Fully Loaded two years in a row. We have done LIME School Aid tours, LIME Christmas promotions and most of the major Guiness road shows. For the future, we are going to do a Flava Unit Tour in the Caribbean. One show we would definitely like to work on is the Shaggy Foundation show because of what the show represents; we have strong ties with them but never worked on it but we'd like to, in terms of giving back to the cause.

TEENage: What has been the highlight of your career since you guys started?

Flava: Well, there are a lot of highlights. One of the main highlights is the success and the attention that we got when we defeated Black Kat at Fully Loaded. Persons were aware of the talent but they didn't know we had that killer instinct. Also the LIME show, the vast majority of crowds and commanding distinction from the other DJs has been a great experience. We stepped up to the plate and delivered.

TEENage: When not working what do you guys do in your spare time?

Matthew: Apart from doing music, I'm a motivational speaker, so you find out that most times I'm in schools (Partnership between RE-TV and Ministry of Education as host of the school tour). Most of my work encompasses me doing motivational speaking and also working live on RE-TV. For more relaxing stuff, I'm just chilling with the team and working on new material.

Akeel: Well, when I'm not playing on the sound, I'm still doing music. I just go in the studio, play around with the engineering and vibes with my friends and my uncle in the studio.

TEENage: Are there any other special talents that any of you possess other than disk jockeying?

Matthew: For additional talent, I would say that how I look at it is that being able to do something as long as you're called upon to do it. I can and will do anything I set my mind to like a major government show where I have to be professional, I know I can be ready for that as well.

Akeel: (Smiles) I play cricket and football because I like sports.

TEENage: Do you have any influences? If so, who are they?

Matthew: On a personal level for me, there are a lot of persons out there who I look up to. If I should really pick any one person I would a pick my father. Things that happen with him in the past, has motivated me to do well. Overall I look up to anybody who aspires to be somebody.

Akeel: Well, I would have to say my father. Mi nuh know what dem man deh can't do. I always watch and admire that about him because him can help himself.

TEENage: There are so many disk jockeys around these days. What qualities does Flava Unit have that sets them apart from the others?

Flava: It might sound cliché but mi and Likkle Rich enjoy what we do and we have a chemistry. So, if for example, we are having an off-day, we have a mutual understanding.

TEENage: What can the public and the fans expect from Flava Unit for the new year?

Flava: Music is business, so persons can look out for our mixed CDs for ours fan. We will step into other genres other than dancehall and hip hop, to encompass all music lovers. The shows you didn't see us on this year you will see us on next year cause everybody calling us. We might not be giving them too much but we will be there.

TEENage: Any advice for persons who are looking to go into the music business?

Flava: You have to love the music. The business hard, so without love you going give up. You can have talent but there's no passion. Some people don't have that zeal. So have a real passion and love. Educate yourself as well. When you already fulfil your mandate, you should have something that you can fall back on.

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Playing with the right FLAVA