Zarif
Encyclopedia
Zarif Davidson, known professionally as Zarif, is a British singer-songwriter of Scottish-Iran
ian-Jewish descent whose music ranges from soul
to funk
to pop. She performs with a nine piece band and sometimes plays keyboard and guitar.
with her Scottish father and her Jewish-Iranian mother. As a child, Zarif loved listening to music and some of her favourite artists are Michael Jackson
, Stevie Wonder
, Prince
, and Aretha Franklin
. She wrote her first song as an entry to a Blue Peter
Competition and formed a girl band with her friends called Girls of Tomorrow. Zarif was educated at North London Collegiate and then went on to University College London
where she graduated with a Human Sciences degree.
. As a solo artist, she performed in a series of venues in London in the city's soul singer-songwriter open mic circuit. The Nextmen
saw her at one of these gigs and asked her to perform on three tracks on their critically acclaimed album, This Was Supposed To Be The Future
as well as tour with them over the summer of 2007.
It was also at one of the open mic gigs that Zarif was spotted by a talent scout from Sony BMG and as a result she was signed to RCA Records
in 2007. After being signed Zarif performed with John Legend
and supported Taio Cruz
and Chris Brown. She has performed live on BBC Radio 2
, BBC London
and GMTV
.
In December 2008 Zarif's song, "Box of Secrets
", was featured in an advert for Sky1 and was released as a download. Her debut single, "Let Me Back
", was released in April 2009 and her second single, "Over", will be released on August 2009. In March 2009 Zarif started recording some new songs with The Nextmen
.
It was announced in April 2009 that she had been chosen to support Beyoncé on her I Am... UK Tour throughout Spring 2009. She will also be performing at the Glastonbury Festival
, O2 Wireless Festival. and V Festival
in summer 2009.
The Guardian
named Zarif "the next big thing in British soul" and Billboard Magazine said she was like "Amy Winehouse
with Madonna
's pop flair."
Also theguardian.co.uk described Zarif as a "chirpy, sassy cross between Lily Allen
and Corinne Bailey Rae
, or a lighter, frothier, poppier Amy Winehouse
".
Touch Magazine said Zarif "exudes the kind of delicious, chocolaty tones and gut-wrenching melodies that Scott
, Stone
and even Wonder
would applaud" and Hot Press said she has "a voice like a 21st century Diana Ross
."
She is often compared to Amy Winehouse
, however Zarif has said, "People are always going to try and find a comparison. I think our music's actually very different," to Digital Spy
, "Obviously we're both kind of retro, but [my music is] a lot more upbeat and eclectic whereas [Amy Winehouses'] is more influenced by Motown. I can definitely see the similarities but I think at the same time that we do different things."
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian-Jewish descent whose music ranges from soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
to funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
to pop. She performs with a nine piece band and sometimes plays keyboard and guitar.
Biography
Zarif grew up in Harrow, LondonHarrow, London
Harrow is an area in the London Borough of Harrow, northwest London, United Kingdom. It is a suburban area and is situated 12.2 miles northwest of Charing Cross...
with her Scottish father and her Jewish-Iranian mother. As a child, Zarif loved listening to music and some of her favourite artists are Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
. She wrote her first song as an entry to a Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
Competition and formed a girl band with her friends called Girls of Tomorrow. Zarif was educated at North London Collegiate and then went on to University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
where she graduated with a Human Sciences degree.
Musical career
Before starting her solo career, Zarif was a backing singer in the funk and soul band Retrogression as well as working as a nanny, secretary, shop assistant and an occasional member of Scarlet's WellScarlet's Well
Scarlet's Well are a British pop band formed in 1998 by Bid of The Monochrome Set, after the latter band amicably split for the second time.They originally started as a studio project, the first four albums featuring a total of ten lead vocalists, including Bid , Zarif and Alice Healey, the latter...
. As a solo artist, she performed in a series of venues in London in the city's soul singer-songwriter open mic circuit. The Nextmen
The Nextmen
The Nextmen are a UK production/songwriting group consisting of Dom Search and Brad Baloo . Often incorporating hip hop drum sets and electronic basslines into their sound, they have worked with many artists from the UK, US and Jamaica...
saw her at one of these gigs and asked her to perform on three tracks on their critically acclaimed album, This Was Supposed To Be The Future
This Was Supposed To Be The Future
This Was Supposed to Be the Future is the third studio album by The Nextmen. It was released in June 2007 on Antidote Records. It was a change in their sound; a prevalence of songs over rap tracks. Ten different vocalists appear on the album. Zarif appears the most, with three tracks, and LSK and...
as well as tour with them over the summer of 2007.
It was also at one of the open mic gigs that Zarif was spotted by a talent scout from Sony BMG and as a result she was signed to RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
in 2007. After being signed Zarif performed with John Legend
John Legend
John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...
and supported Taio Cruz
Taio Cruz
Taio Cruz is a British singer-songwriter, record producer, occasional rapper, and entrepreneur. In 2008, he released his debut album Departure, which Cruz wrote, arranged and produced himself. It achieved initial success in the UK and earned him a MOBO Award nomination...
and Chris Brown. She has performed live on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, BBC London
BBC London
BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily BBC London News and the weekly Politics Show on television, the BBC London 94.9 radio station and local coverage of the...
and GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
.
In December 2008 Zarif's song, "Box of Secrets
Box of Secrets (song)
"Box of Secrets" is the second single by singer/songwriter Zarif and the second single taken from her debut album Box of Secrets. The song contains samples from the song "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Louis Prima and the commercial single version contains a rap from Mz Bratt.-Background:"Box of Secrets"...
", was featured in an advert for Sky1 and was released as a download. Her debut single, "Let Me Back
Let Me Back
"Let Me Back" is the debut single by UK singer-songwriter Zarif. It was released on 5 April 2009. It is the first single taken from her debut album Box of Secrets.-Background:...
", was released in April 2009 and her second single, "Over", will be released on August 2009. In March 2009 Zarif started recording some new songs with The Nextmen
The Nextmen
The Nextmen are a UK production/songwriting group consisting of Dom Search and Brad Baloo . Often incorporating hip hop drum sets and electronic basslines into their sound, they have worked with many artists from the UK, US and Jamaica...
.
It was announced in April 2009 that she had been chosen to support Beyoncé on her I Am... UK Tour throughout Spring 2009. She will also be performing at the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
, O2 Wireless Festival. and V Festival
V Festival
The V Festival is an annual music festival held in England during the penultimate weekend in August. The event is held at two parks simultaneously which share the same bill; artists perform at one location on Saturday and then swap on Sunday. The sites are located at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and...
in summer 2009.
Musical style
Zarif has described her sound as "soulful and summery" and "upbeat and eclectic".The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
named Zarif "the next big thing in British soul" and Billboard Magazine said she was like "Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
with Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's pop flair."
Also theguardian.co.uk described Zarif as a "chirpy, sassy cross between Lily Allen
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...
and Corinne Bailey Rae
Corinne Bailey Rae
Corinne Bailey Rae is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leeds, who released her debut album Corinne Bailey Rae in February 2006....
, or a lighter, frothier, poppier Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
".
Touch Magazine said Zarif "exudes the kind of delicious, chocolaty tones and gut-wrenching melodies that Scott
Jill Scott
Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...
, Stone
Joss Stone
Jocelyn Eve Stoker , better known by her stage name Joss Stone, is an English soul singer-songwriter and actress. Stone rose to fame in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, The Soul Sessions, which made the 2004 Mercury Prize shortlist...
and even Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
would applaud" and Hot Press said she has "a voice like a 21st century Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
."
She is often compared to Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
, however Zarif has said, "People are always going to try and find a comparison. I think our music's actually very different," to Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
, "Obviously we're both kind of retro, but [my music is] a lot more upbeat and eclectic whereas [Amy Winehouses'] is more influenced by Motown. I can definitely see the similarities but I think at the same time that we do different things."
Singles
- "Let Me BackLet Me Back"Let Me Back" is the debut single by UK singer-songwriter Zarif. It was released on 5 April 2009. It is the first single taken from her debut album Box of Secrets.-Background:...
" (2009) - "Box of SecretsBox of Secrets (song)"Box of Secrets" is the second single by singer/songwriter Zarif and the second single taken from her debut album Box of Secrets. The song contains samples from the song "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Louis Prima and the commercial single version contains a rap from Mz Bratt.-Background:"Box of Secrets"...
" (2010) - "Over" (2011)
Other recordings
- Zarif sang on three songs for The NextmenThe NextmenThe Nextmen are a UK production/songwriting group consisting of Dom Search and Brad Baloo . Often incorporating hip hop drum sets and electronic basslines into their sound, they have worked with many artists from the UK, US and Jamaica...
's 2007 album, This Was Supposed to Be the FutureThis Was Supposed To Be The FutureThis Was Supposed to Be the Future is the third studio album by The Nextmen. It was released in June 2007 on Antidote Records. It was a change in their sound; a prevalence of songs over rap tracks. Ten different vocalists appear on the album. Zarif appears the most, with three tracks, and LSK and...
. Zarif performs on the second single from the album, "Something Got YouSomething Got You"Something Got You" is the second single from the album, This Was Supposed to Be the Future by The Nextmen. The song features singer/songwriter Zarif....
", as well as on the songs "Move" and "This Was Supposed to Be the Future". - In 2009 Zarif recorded "Beautiful Thing" with The Plastic Buzz and was released as a download in the same year.
- Drum and Bass artist Danny Byrd remixed Zarif's song California and was released in 2009.
- In 2010 Zarif recorded vocals for drum and bass artist Danny ByrdDanny ByrdDanny Byrd is a drum and bass DJ, producer and musician from Bath in the South West of England. He is influenced by house, UK garage, R&B and the Old Skool Rave / Jungle Techno sound and releases his music primarily on Hospital Records, the UK based, independent dance music label.-History:Danny...
's track 'Wait For Me' for his album Rave Digger.
Videography
- "Something Got You" (July 2007, directed by Ricky Tart)
- "Let Me Back" (March 2009, directed by Rebel Alliance)
- "Over" (May 2009, directed by Kinga BurzaKinga BurzaKinga Burza is a Polish-Australian music video director.-Biography:Kinga Burza was born in Poland and raised in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia before moving to London in 2005 and signing with respected film production company Partizan of Michel Gondry fame in 2006.She completed a BA at the...
) - "Box of Secrets" featuring Ms. Bratt (June 2010, directed by Andy Hylton)