Daniel

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall" - Nelson Mandela.Hip Hop producer Daniel John lives his life by this mantra. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa Daniel was exposed to hip hop at boarding school in the late 1980's. “On a lot of weekends when the other kids went to their homes, I was staying back listening to their cassettes.”Inspired by various hip hop from Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince to Public Enemy, Daniel began writing songs and taping them to his father's cassette recorder. “It was a confusing time in South Africa back then. I learned that I couldn't trust the (state controlled) media. They weren't telling us what was really happening.” Hip hop or “rap music” provided an escape and Daniel explored his confusion through music. “I couldn't afford any real equipment, so I used my talking toy robots, mini Casio keyboards, pots and pans, and I would blend them with my raps onto a cassette.”After moving with his family to Canada in 1989, he continued working on his craft. He worked with hip hop groups Nubreed and Babylon Point during the late 1990's handling management, co-writing, co-production and performing duties. This lead to his greatest disappointment when both projects fell apart due to creative differences. “I gave everything I had to those groups, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.”In 2000 Daniel found himself back in South Africa networking around the country. It was during this time that he began focusing on the music production and song writing side of the business. "Being from the land of gold and diamonds, I've seen extreme wealth and the most devastating poverty. I definitely want to give back to the community through my music." He appeared on a mixtape song with local artist Spextatah where he became known for the quote “the one who stole souls for Egoli's gold.”Since that time, Daniel has formed an independent hip hop label Hot Jewlz Entertainment which is dedicated to promoting exciting honest music. “The industry needs a bit of a shakeup...things are a bit boring and extremely negative.”“Even though I've been knocked down a lot in my life with shady deals, shady friends and disappointments I can't be bitter. You've got to get up and try again, and that sums up my style, it's redemption music.” His current influences include Verbs, Wu-Tang, Kanye and christian hip hop artists Group 1 Crew. Currently Daniel is in studio co-producing a series of Albums with "electro-hiprock" artist/producer SUSPENCE. The dueo are also preparing for a re-introduction “music and basketball” tour through South Africa in 2009. “We hope to address issues that affect us all, and provide some music and life skill training too.”
Click here to visit the website Hotjewlz.com
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