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Zanillya
"I would say that life doesn’t necessarily get easier, but you get stronger"
Zanillya is the daughter of late Disco legend Bobby Farrell (Boney M), and as a child was exposed first-hand to the highs and lows of a life in music. Yet it is by creating music that Zanillya feels she can come to terms with her own lows. She recently released her debut EP Choose Life which we can describe as a a heartfelt, varied yet cohesive collection of tracks characterised by her signature blend of R&B, Dancehall, Afrobeats and Hip-Hop.
We sat down with Zanillya to find out who she would love to collaborate with and if she could use a song as a theme song for her life currently
NEO: How long have you been making music?
ZANILLYA: I’ve been making music since I can remember. Music was super important in my household growing up, but also at my grandmother’s and aunties house. My family would do everything while music playing in the background. It really got us through the hard and beautiful moments in life, so it was very natural for me to create.
NEO: Explain your EP/Album using three words?
ZANILLYA: it’s raw, dark but full of light.
NEO: How would you describe your leading single ‘Alive’ ?
ZANILLYA: The track was written in a very dark time of my life. As the opening line states, “today I woke up feeling down, other times I feel so up, can you tell me what’s wrong with me, do I need some type of drug to feel alive.” I guess it’s my cry for help, me wanting tom life but battling my chemistry, traumas, and dark thoughts.
NEO: Who are your top 3 present artists and why?
ZANILLYA: Always a very difficult question as I love so many artists for different reasons but artists that I can listen to a full album from, which Is special are Frank Ocean, Kanye West and Wizkid.
NEO: If you could pick any three artists to collaborate with (dead or alive) who would it be?
ZANILLYA: Rihanna, the queen, I would die if I could do a song with her, Kanye as he inspires almost everything I do and Frank Ocean cuz he my favourite artist ever.
NEO: What three words would your friends use to describe you as?
ZANILLYA: Honest, Loyal, and funny.
NEO: What song would you use as the theme song for your life currently?
ZANILLYA: Circles by Mac Miller. It’s time for a change but I feel stuck. I know I will eventually find my way, but I need to get out of this circle.
NEO: What emotion do you experience the most?
ZANILLYA: Sadness but hand in hand with love. It sound self-contradictory but it really is the truth in my case.
NEO: If you could travel to one of the planets which planet would you go to?
ZANILLYA: I wouldn’t know as it never attracted me to make an outer space trip.
NEO: For your listeners and followers who are looking for some advice about life, what key advice would you give them?
ZANILLYA: I would say that life doesn’t necessarily get easier, but you get stronger. Trust yourself, trust that you are enough, trust that you are beautiful just the way you are, trust that good exists and you will find it when you stay true to who you are. It’s ok not to know how to be yourself or want you want out of life. We all try, we all fall but what makes life so beautiful is that we can get up and do everything different tomorrow.
NEO: Lets us know where to find you on social media
ZANILLYA: @zanillya