Starting as a hobby in high school, Preethevibes’ four bandmates (PARA, MILIO, Jus-Q & KNGLVN) have come together to celebrate and embody fusions of Jamaican dancehall and West African music in latest single, “Money, Money”.
The quartet have honed their craft of making music, turning their once hobby into a triumphant career. Their latest offering, “Money, Money”, consists of a lavish mix of afro fusion and dancehall, full of ambient, passionate rhythms throughout that prove just why the group have gained such an avid following, and will continue to dominate the scene.
Infectious, exhilarating and bopping with rhythm, this single is bursting with melodic guitar lines, partnered with addictive percussion elements, one that will have you grooving all summer long.
We sat down with member MILIO, speaking on behalf of the band about early beginnings, individual talents and future plans…
Stream “Money, Money” now..
Read the interview below…
How are you all doing? Are you together or who are we speaking to?
This is MILIO speaking on behalf of Preethevibes. We’re pretty great! We’ve been super busy working on new songs, rehearsing for upcoming performances and filming visuals for our next summer release!
How did you all first get together and start creating music?
We met for the first time as a group at the WLIU BK Radio Station of LIU (Long Island University) in Brooklyn. KNGLVN, Jus-Q and myself had been recording songs for fun in my mom’s house. When we finally met PARA (our lead producer) in the professional recording studio of the college, all the pieces came together pretty easily. That radio station is where we started to turn our hobby into a serious lifestyle.
How do you combine all of your individual talents into a cohesive sound? It’s incredible!
Thank you! Since KNGLVN (Guyana), Jus-Q (Jamaica) and myself (Montserrat) were raised in New York by caribbean parents, there was already an innate blend of musical styles on the radio growing up. Our love for Dancehall music drove our friendships. Our friendships made it very easy (and fun) to freestyle together over as many Dancehall riddims that we could get our hands on over the internet. The 3 of us were subconsciously developing our vocal patterns and learning songwriting by recording songs over as many instrumentals as possible. This made it very easy to work with PARA, who prior to meeting us, had been slowly crafting his production style and identity. Combining Dancehall & Afrobeats (which we were introduced to upon meeting PARA) wasn’t so easy at first. We naturally approached every and any instrumental in Dancehall fashion. The more time we spent together, the more we shaped our approach so that the production and vocals sat well together. It seems so easy now but it did take alot of experimentation and enormous hours in the studio together to get it right.
How would you describe your sound and how have your upbringings in New York City influenced it?
Our style is essentially a fusion of Dancehall, Afropop and contemporary Hip Hop. Being that these are the most popular styles of music in Brooklyn and uptown Bronx (where we lived most of our lives) we blend these styles very naturally. We always knew there was a proper way to mix the three. However, there is nothing more natural than creating music that embodies your environment. Preethevibes embodies this sound.
Do you have a typical songwriting process?
We each have slightly different songwriting styles (which I’ll let the guys tell you about another time lol). However, our approach as a unit is simple. We treat each song the same way we would treat music on a playlist: if we love it, we nurture the song and release it. If we don’t, we skip it or continue to work on it until we love it. Just like a playlist, some songs take time to grow on us, some we love right away and to others we have mixed reactions depending on our mood. We are fans of music at heart, therefore, we try to put ourselves in the shoes of the listener.
Specifically, what was the inspiration behind “Money, Money”?
The inspiration behind ‘Money, Money’ is my desire to eventually build “prosperity” through our music. However, instead of buying cars and clothes as many desire (no judgement) I speak in my imagination about using that wealth to share with our community. In the second verse (“All that I pray for, is just the many, many reasons man ah suffer fi forward and labor”) I seek to bring some attention to the fact that people out there are suffering, mainly due to their financial hardships and that the lifestyles that we take for granted would mean the world to those in need.
What do you hope people take away from the track?
We hope that people realize that they don’t have to be “rich” in order to help others in need. People often think that handing out cash to people living on the street is the only way to help. All we really need to do is think of them as they are: people. We often deprive homeless men & women of feeling human by ignoring them and pretending that they don’t exist. The non-profit organization Invisible People, does an amazing job on a regular basis to bring attention to this very message. If we thought differently about how we approach homelessness we would be much closer to fighting this problem in our communities.
Do you have a career highlight thus far?
Yes! Our biggest career highlight is having people in different parts of the world at all hours listening to and sharing our music! It is an amazing feeling when people reach out to us to express how they feel about our music!
What other artists are you loving right now?
We’re really big fans of Koffee & Lila Iké, who are helping to take Dancehall & Reggae to the next level. Chronixx has also helped set a new standard to how musicians can become one with their art form and not lose themselves in “success”. Burna Boy has also done an enormous job representing himself on the world stage.
What is next for you?
More great music! We have been working on endless projects this past year (musical and visual). We have been receiving a great deal of support between London, England & Jamaica. Therefore, we hope to travel and perform overseas again in the near future. We are looking forward to bringing the music & message of Preethevibes to the world!