As the Los Angeles stop of Kota the Friend’s Flight Night Hip Hop Festival approaches, it is essential to remember the true purpose of the tour, and of the fltbys brand. In a video posted last week to the fltbys’ Instagram page, that mission was clearly restated:
“Ever since 2008 we’ve been giving people the opportunity to get on stage, when no one else was giving the opportunity,” said Kota. “Fltbys has always been a young company of people who just want to do something but have no platform.”
Embracing the concept to connect up-and-coming talent with their community, we will highlight a stacked lineup of opening acts in LA, who will bless the mic prior to Kota taking the stage at The Vermont Hollywood on Friday, February 25th. Joining Kota and friends will be melodic and inventive recording artist Heaven Shamba.
“The power of the mind is not a joke, everything that you imagine has the possibility to become reality. Don’t allow anyone to tell you different. Believe in yourself.”
Born in Harare, Zimbabwe Heaven Shamba spent his formative years in Dallas, Texas. The culture and sounds of both vastly different environments directly influence his music. In addition to location, Heaven’s early musical influences directly impact his sound. Heaven saw Michael Jackson perform on TV at the age of five, and knew from that day on, he wanted to be a musician. He also mentions Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator and Kid Cudi as notable influences.
Heaven’s true musical exploits began in 2016 under the moniker “Nevaeh”, where he began creating trap music, with friends, still in Dallas. In 2019, he moved to Los Angeles where he began to experiment with different sounds, and under a new name, “Heavanaboveall”. Soon after, Heaven finally decided on his given name, Heaven Shamba, which was symbolic of a coming to self – he had experimented with different identities and musical styles for years; Shamba embraced the sounds that were etched upon his heart.
Heaven’s music is varied and eclectic, yet incredibly cohesive. He does his best work over melodic instrumentals, that encourage movement, but also leave plenty of space for vibrant vocals. Opening for Kota must mean all the more to Heaven, as one of his most popular tracks, Link Up uses a very similar instrumental to Kota the Friend’s hit song Pomegranate. Link Up is a great showcase of Heaven Shamba’s vocal variety, catchy song writing, and ability to weave layering with dubs and adlibs into each track.
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