Okay, first of all, a big shout-out has to go out to Rocking the Daisies for bringing back South Africa’s biggest lifestyle and music experience this past weekend in two cities… No one could have anticipated that the festival’s grand return, after that two-year enforced hiatus, damn remember that?!
This year’s Daisies was, of course, headlined by US R&B superstar Kehlani, alongside iconic pop band Clean Bandit, pop rock machines X Ambassadors, one of the hip hop kings of New York Fivio Foreign and more, it’s no wonder that both shows were sold out and with raving reviews to match.
The festival partnered up with global music legends Soulection and the Fiends (part of J Cole’s Dreamville crew) to curate two stages at the Cape Town event and separate take overs in Johannesburg that saw everything from stage diving to fans rocking out on stage with their heroes and getting one-ok-a-kind interactions, in one of the most immersive music experiences to be seen in South Africa to date.
The brand presence on site took the customer experience to the next level, with festival goers blown away by complimentary multi-sensory experiences that ranged from cool, wind-down relaxation zones by global streaming giant Spotify, Converse, inDrive and more, an F1 simulation and festival league by Red Bull, a customised H&M store that replicated one the brand recently debut at Lollapalooza, a resort built in the middle of the farm (along with the most grand stage on the African continent) by the headline sponsor Johnnie Walker, and MORE.
Event goers were treated to complimentary hair care by TRESemme and makeup by Maybelline, who also headlined their first stage, making them the first beauty brand in South Africa to do so, as well as nails by Essie, an Oasis stage near the dam by Savanna Cider – in Johannesburg they build a visual maze that was a photographic paradise, free Diesel fragrances, surprise merch and more.
The evolution of South Africa’s biggest three-day music and lifestyle event has truly taken the SA festival experience to new heights.
Now, during the Joburg experience, we were fortunate enough to be given a few minutes to chat with the one and only IAMDBB, who of course captivated SA fans during her moments on the Daisies stage and presence in Mzansi which you can read through below.
WORDS BY LESIBA MANKGA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY XAVIERREBELLION
My relationship with IAMDDB’s music began around the time the lockdown started in South Africa. Saying that I was in a terrible place would be a gross understatement but let me paint you a picture…
I had just been retrenched by one of the biggest hip-hop publications in South Africa due to the pandemic and soon after that moment, I experienced a series of mental breakdowns, which lead to my eventual admission to a psychiatric clinic in Parktown. My dire mental state saw me lose interest in everything. Music had lost appeal; food lost its taste and my overall existence felt meaningless. However, there is a silver lining in all of this…
Up till that moment, I was listening to 808 heavy music littered with lyrics about substance abuse and other reckless behaviour I would rather not mention in this intro. By no means am I blaming those artists for the state of my life, but to some extent, we have to acknowledge that you are prone to becoming what you consume. On the advice of my medical team, I was to purposefully seek out artists who, at the least, inspired feelings of calm… And that is how I discovered IAMDDB. Her Neo-Soul albums, Flightmode, Vol. 4 and Swervvvvv.5, are the albums that brought me healing… so you can imagine my excitement when I was told that I would be interviewing her at Rocking The Daisies.
I arrived an hour before IAMDDB’s set and I took part in the festivities at Rocking The Daisies like the Spotify and Cadbury stations… Very wholesome, right. When the time for IAMDDB’s set came, I was filled with a mix of excitement and nostalgia. I was ready to raise my hands and sing along to the sweet tunes but to my surprise, IAMDDB came on stage and one of the first things she said was “Open the moshpit!”.
As an interviewer, this completely threw me off because it meant I would have to rework my questions on a whim. I mean, I had prepared questions for a healer… Not a rager.
Following the end of her set, we were ushered into IAMDDB’s tent backstage. I was visibly nervous, and IAMDDB could tell. “Don’t be nervous, come give me a hug” she said, in an attempt to ease my nerves.
As fans, we love to have a one-dimensional view of artists. It’s easier to see them as these ‘products’ that we can neatly put in a box whereas that is completely inaccurate. IAMDDB is a human being, just like me and her transition from a Neo-Soul healer to a rager comes as a result of her lived experiences. Without further ado, this is my brief chat with IAMDDB.
First question, how are you dealing with the heat?
The heat is giving yeah! The heat was licking me down on stage but we managed to keep it together…
What would you say is the biggest difference between Johannesburg’s crowd and Cape Town’s crowd?
I found the Cape Town crowd to be a bit more reserved than the crowd in Joburg. Don’t get me wrong, the Cape Town crowd was amazing but I just felt a different energy from the people in Joburg. The people here (Johannesburg) were ready to rage with us.
Did you have the same twerk contest in Cape Town?
Of course I did! I can’t lie, the energy from the girls in Cape Town was amazing. Those girls were giving!
I used to listen to you way back in 2020 and you were really deep in the Neo-Soul lane but now you’re a fully blown rager. How did that transition happen and what inspired it?
I feel like as an artist, I’ve had time to explore my sound. I’ve done so much Neo-Soul and Jazz. I just feel as though it’s time for me to explore new avenues. A lot of the time, I had to channel a lot of the emotions that I was going through at the time and most of the time I was processing a lot of rage and anger. So instead of being toxic and taking it to Twitter, I opted to channel it into the music so that other people can use it as an outlet.
But that doesn’t mean I am completely done with Neo-Soul though [laughs] I still got the Jazz bars. I’m just making sure that I give my fans a balance of everything and give new listeners a different version of IAMDDB.
And if you could give one piece of advice to IAMDDB before she took a break, what would you say to her?
You don’t need to sign any contract. You can do it by yourself… Don’t think that anybody can give you the power because God has already given you the power. You just need to nurture the energy and trust where it’s taking you and believe in yourself; believe in your drip; believe in your source because you are the essence of where God wants you to go.
Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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