Eye See

Isaac Aesili's debut solo album 'Eye See' is a rich tapestry of sound with RnB at its heart, and lashings of soul, reggae and funk woven within. Experimental and futuristic in some parts, warm and soulful in others, the album, an extension of its author, is a tribute to diversity.

Adopted as a baby and raised in Christchurch, with a cultural and ethnic heritage comprising Guyanese, Pakeha, and Maori, Isaac has always known what it is like to look and feel different. These experiences would later form the inspiration behind Eye See as he was drawn to make an album that celebrated people's differences and explored the universality of music in an increasingly diverse world. Fittingly, the album features collaborations with a variety of gifted kiwis; Aaradhna, Rosita Vai, Rachel Fraser, Mara TK and Deva Mahal.

Music has always been a big part of Isaac's life. Classically trained in trumpet and music theory, his talent was recognised early on when he won a music scholarship to St Andrew's College. Later, after graduating from Auckland University with a Masters in Political Science, he was faced with a decision; pursue a career in academia or music. Music triumphed.

Over the last decade Isaac has been an integral member of Solaa, Opensouls and Recloose Live, and has toured to Europe, the US, Australia and Japan. A prolific collaborator, he has co-written songs with Ladi6 and Tyra Hammond and done recording session work playing trumpet on Hollie Smith's 'Long Player', Shapeshifter's 'Soulstice', House of Shem's 'Keep Rising' and Crowded House's 'Time on Earth'.

The concept behind Eye See was born of Isaac's desire to offer today's youth a counter voice to the glorification and idealisation of gangster culture, so often promoted by commercial RnB. Destructive lyrics endorsing kids to fail school and encouraging promiscuity, drugs, violence and degradation of women, saw Isaac grow increasingly disillusioned with the genre of music he had loved since he was a teenager. He resolved to record an RnB album that used contemporary production styles, with references to commercial RnB so that it would still appeal to youth, but he would transpose the negative messages with hopeful, positive themes.

'Eye See' is an inspired album of intelligent, conscious music, an investigation of our world from the perspective of the youth. The opening eponymous track, a song that explores the state of the world today, features Isaac's nephews and nieces each reciting a line. It is for them and their generation that Isaac created 'Eye See'.