Soundtrack to my life: Ladi6.
Each week we invite music lovers to share the songs that have soundtracked their lives. This week it’s Kiwi R&B star Ladi6, who makes her reality TV debut on Celebrity Treasure Island next week.
1 EUROPA Santana
My dad was always a huge fan of prog-rock and Santana was one of his favourites. He would have us all out in the garden all day weeding, raking and gardening, and this is a song that reminds me of those long days in the sun. Needless to say, I have a real dislike for gardening now.
2Aretha Freeway of Love Franklin
Aretha, The Supremes and Natalie Cole were some of Mum’s classic favourites. My mum worked a lot during my childhood so when she was in the cleaning mood it was always a full-day, super spring clean. This song reminds me of chairs being on the table and my sister and I building huts out of the leftover chairs on the side as Mum danced and cleaned away.
3OMC How Bizarre
This song reminds me of New Year’s Eve in Tanzania. We were all homesick, it was our first Christmas and New Year’s away from our other four brothers and sisters and we turned on the radio in the heart of Tanzania and this song was playing. We were so excited, we jumped around with excitement and Dad did the haka outside with his makeshift taiaha, which is actually a traditional African war weapon.
4
Love’s in Need of Love Today Stevie Wonder
This record was the album my husband, Parks, and I would put our son Philli to sleep to every night when he was an infant. He would calm right down and drift off to sleep on his own, wrapped tightly in his own crib within just weeks of being born. He was an angel baby.
5 GreenStone Emma Paki
When I first dated my now-husband, we would take these long drives out of Christchurch to so many places; Kaikoura, Hanmer, Oamaru, Caroline Bay. We would play music the whole way and at the time I was discovering Emma Paki and I remember being on those drives, falling in love and daydreaming out the window to her beautiful music.
6 Dancing Machine MC Hammer
My brother Francis was a huge musical influence in our household growing up; what he was obsessed about, we all were obsessed about. He went through an MC Hammer phase (as did the whole of New Zealand) and we were all obsessed; we would record every song from RTR Countdown, copy all the moves, and my sister Sara would obsess over the dancers. We all coveted a videotape we had showing where MC Hammer’s dancers came from because at the time we all were taking dance classes after school too. So this song reminds me of me and my siblings watching and rewatching MC Hammer videos and learning his dance routines at our after-school dance classes. So much fun!
7Something Beatles
Now as a family of three, our teen son, Philli, Parks and I often take long drives up and down the country listening to whole albums, and we often get obsessed with artists and go through hours of one particular artist and all their work. We were obsessed with the Beatles for a good year or so, just replaying with every drive our favourite tunes, this song is a family favourite.
As told to Siena Yates