Chunes!

Sitting in the balcony, in the middle of the night with my hoodie on and my phone positioned in the best way ever for the Instagram Live, this interview was conducted. One of my smoothest interviews so far, people interacted and because the star in question didn’t throw plain answers around, everything was so organic!

I had the opportunity to interact with Miss Anunobi Veronica, professionally known as Tiny Braz who in her early days used to be an indigenous rapper. Currently, she’s a singer and songwriter and when asked what kind of music she made told us, “I would like to call my sound alternative Pop and Afro… it’s a splash of Pop music with Afro and other genres although when it comes to my vocal range and texture, you’ll get to understand that I’m also a soul artiste because I like soft sounds“. She also likes to consider herself a songwriter “lowkey”.

Reminiscing on life so far, she made us understand that life hasn’t been easy for her as she lost her parents early. Life basically inspired her music because it was the only medium of expressing herself and “a place to pass off the energy” but musically,” So far, it’s going fine although there’s been a lil bit of delay but the motion is already moving, there’s no time again… We are getting there”.

“Generally it’s our experiences, the things we see that makes us who we become and at the end, it’s working towards becoming the best version of yourself that matters”

Bringing back some old memories with my “When did you start making music?” question, she smiles and says “My first studio experience was when I was still in secondary school. I had to write a song, give it to my sisters for reviews, did some performances for them and then we went to the studio to record it. That was my first release and I don’t even know where it is lol“. “Does that mean family supported your music from the start? “, I chip in.“It was kinda complicated. Certain people in my house believed; like my late elder brother who was the first person to say he saw some potentials and then my sisters who were cool with the movement. One is a singer and the other a songwriter although not into music, I draw inspirations from their works so their opinions were really important and still is”.

Being an artiste who believes in being able to express oneself at any hour in your space, she explains her creative process…”Actually I have this nice view on my balcony; that’s where I get my inspirations from. I sit there, listen to some instrumentals from my producers, then I’ll write a song, send to my boss for scrutiny and when he sends feedback, the whole team reviews as well then it’s off to the studio and she more process”. Upon enquiries, it’s confirmed that she is currently being signed to a record label called Rewind Associates . “It’s more than a label, it’s a family who has a common goal of seeing my sound travel the world”.

Braz holds the thought that if you want to reach out to the deepest part of yourself, then you should listen to her songs. She confirms that she does foreign sounds but in ways that Nigerians would relate to as well. “I still represent Africa because we need to be recognized. My way of doing that is to let them know that our sounds are not restricted. We are very good at personalising different sounds”. This maybe justifies her dream of collaborating with Major Lazer and Black Coffee someday as she mentions, reason being that “they always present something out of this world and I’m all out for it”.

Earlier this year, she released her debut single titled “Candy Cane”, an afro house jam that you would fall in love with at the first listen and deeper as you keep on listening. She describes the song as “a song of passion, a sensual song. It’s just for people who are in love and wants to express themselves. Lovers enjoy it and be happy”. “Is there a lover behind this song? “, I ask. There’s a slight blush and then she says “There’s one actually. Although i wrote the song before we met but whenever I think of the song, he’s the only one that comes to mind”.

After a very interesting freestyle break, she shares her thoughts on being a female creative in the industry saying “With just being a woman; there’s little or nothing expected from you but we shouldn’t bank on that”. She doesn’t hesitate to thank DJ Switch who showed her love when she was starting out and made her understand that helping out a female creative could emanate positive vibes.

“I urge every female creative out there to use that as a spark to light up the flames. Let that be a source of inspiration when creating”

Braz is of the opinion that everyone making waves in the industry is a mentor because they are leading the way. Her consideration of “making waves” is when you have people that ride for your music, real dedicated fans who believe in your music.

Jollof rice might just have something attached to it that injects talents to its lovers. Exclusively as we wrap up the interview, she reveals that jollof is her best food with the same energy used to tell us to anticipate her debut EP coming soon in which there are no limitations to a genre. “I can’t really say for now when exactly we are getting the fire project but trust the process, expect the unexpected!”

Here’s the top five songs currently rocking her charts which will also show you that she’s got spice as well as justify her versatility claim.

• Devil’s Eyes – Hippie Sabotage
• Go Low – LAX
• Hell and High Water – Major Lazer ft Alessia Cara
• World People – Basketmouth ft Flash, BOJ
• Can’t Take It From Me – Major Lazer ft Skip Marley

Here’s a link to her song: https://tinybraz.fanlink.to/CandyCane