Shaquille Links: Entering a global market and the emergence of Swank powered by Redbat.
The second installment of Swank was hosted on the 3rd of September 2022. The hip-hop and amapiano event which is powered by Redbat has become one of Cape Town’s most anticipated events with performances from the likes of Tembi Powers, Spiroh, K.Keed and Shaquille Links himself.
Shaquille who studied at Cape Audio College is a qualified sound engineer and makes his music as well. The 2nd of September 2021 saw the release of Shaquille’s debut project “If I hurt you I’m sorry” which saw him get rave reviews in South Africa and overseas with a majority of his fans coming outside of his home city of Cape Town. His debut project which was released independently gained over 80k streams across all platforms.
Outside of music, Shaquille has become a brand ambassador for the streetwear brand Redbat which allowed him to become a founding member of Swank alongside Matthew Geland, Asher John Geland, Matthew Lavox, Abby Kriel and Ngqondi Mfini (Redbat marketing co-ordinator). He has also done brand deals with TFG store Sportscence.
One of the leading singles off his debut project titled falling has an accompanying music video which was directed by Shaan Bester and in association with Sportscene and Redbat. The music video has gained over 600 views and features Lisa Abrahams as Shaquille’s love interest.
His next project will be more hip-hop and trap-focused with Icelandic producer btowliding which will be coming out in the latter stages of 2022. The project is set to expand on the Sky Trap universe which was created with his debut project
This interview has been lightly edited for the purpose of clarity and context.
Daniel Young: Who is Shaquille Links?
Shaquille Links: I am a 22-year-old artist from Cape Town South Africa. Who has experienced life. I already had my phase of being that courageous person going out a lot and parting. Over the last year or so I have become true to myself. I want people to experience me through my music. Right now, Shaquille Links is someone that is focusing on himself and is someone that appreciates the love around him.
Daniel: What are some of the fears that you had to overcome on your journey this far?
Shaquille: The biggest one is comparison. I always drew comparisons with other artists and people in general like to compare others. I remember that a lot of people would compare myself and Kashcpt when we both started out because our sound of music was very similar.
Daniel: Since we are here, congratulations on the 80k streams! How do you feel about that?
Shaquille: Being an emerging artist, I didn’t really know what to feel in that moment if I’m being honest. The reach of the album is crazy, I have steams in Germany and Sweden. Things that I didn’t even know was possible at one point. I do have a few thousand streams which have come locally. But the global reach is much higher than I anticipated. There weren’t any expectations from my side, I just wanted people to hear my story and my perspective of life from where I come from. When I saw the response that it received, I had more faith and belief in myself as an artist. I am extremely grateful for the outcome of the project. My next goal is to get 200k streams by the end of the year.
Daniel: Do you plan on dropping more music this year?
Shaquille: Yes, I plan to drop a RNB song titled “Cry for you” and then after that I will continue releasing more hip-hop centered tracks which most of my fans are used to. But I think that being versatile as an artist is very important, I do have a follow up to my debut project which will be releasing sometime towards the end of the year, there isn’t an exact date yet. The project will be called “Incase you missed me”.
Daniel: Do you think that it’s necessary for you to show people that you are versatile as an artist and that you are able to rap and sing?
Shaquille: I don’t need to show them because I know that I can rap. I wouldn’t call myself the hardest rapper out there but it’s something that I do. The reason why I want to rap more is because certain people think that all I do is sing. They don’t know me as someone that can be very “lyrical”. Even though my lyrics are very true to my emotions.
Daniel: In terms of Falling’s music video was there any difficulty with the shooting schedule?
Shaquille: The person who was staring my love interest in the video her name is Lisa Abrahams her schedule was very hectic. She is a flight attendant, so we had to plan around when she was available. The video took about two days to shoot the whole production process went very well. I think it’s because of the chemistry that Shaan Bester and I have. Falling is a love story and I think that through the video we brought that across very well.
Daniel: The music video for falling is very innocent, was that your intention?
Shaquille: Yes, that was now a days people know what to expect when they see a music video. Its very over sexualized there is a lot of money being thrown around and things like that. I’m sure you get the picture. I wanted the music video for falling to be different.
Daniel: What has changed for you since the last time the two of us spoke?
Shaquille: My mindset has changed. As I have become more involved in the industry my view on certain things have changed drastically. Previously I was always someone that would chase others and want them to listen to my music essentially begging them. This year however I decided that I would rather put myself on a pedestal and tell people this is my product. I honestly don’t want to beg people anymore to listen to my music. Either you are a fan of it or you’re not. The industry itself is very shady. You have people that say they are your friends but aren’t really in your corner. I won’t mention any names but there are certain artists who would show love on WhatsApp but don’t support you on Instagram and expect you to show them full support.
Daniel: Have you ever entertained the idea of getting signed to a label yet?
Shaquille: The concept of getting signed is a great idea. But it’s very tricky. I have been approached by labels, but I kept it to myself I still need to evaluate my options. Labels are known to do very sketchy business especially with young independent artists like myself. One moment you’re signed and the next you’re on the shelf.
Daniel: Can you talk to me about how the brand deal with Sportscene and Redbat came to be?
Shaquille: In short it was my consistency that got me the deal. But the longer story is that I got a direct message form them to come and do a campaign sometime last year. Since then, we had a solid budding relationship. Redbat could see that I wasn’t just releasing music and then falling off, but I was putting effort into my music. Honestly speaking they believed in me more than I believed in myself that’s the crazy part. That’s how the partnership came to be.