Young star finds healing in music after tragic loss

Desmond John hopes to tour SA and build his fan base, writes Liam Karabo Joyce

GERMAN-BORN South African singer Desmond John has just released his debut EP, and although the body of work comes from a place of tragedy, he is happy Not Angry, Just Disappointed has helped him heal.

The 19-year-old lost his manager last year unexpectedly.

“Tip Green was my manager who I stayed with in America. He was amazing, he was a real mentor to me and taught me everything I know,” said John.

Born in Frankfurt to a South African mother and British father, John grew up in Johannesburg, and when he was 13, his family moved to Cape Town.

Music was never really on his radar until he was 15-years-old and an American comedian visiting South Africa heard him rap. “I used to rap for fun. It was not something serious at all. My friend and I were in a studio in Johannesburg, and Arlen Griffin was in studio too, and he was impressed and gave me his details and invited me to America,” he said.

John thought it was a joke. “Imagine a pasty white boy rapping: who would take that seriously? Turns out he did,” John quipped. Six months after meeting Griffin, he dropped out of school and jetted off to Atlanta with his father and so began his music career.

John was then introduced to Tip Green, who introduced him to producer DJ Toomp, who has worked with people like T.I and Mariah Carey.

“I lived with Tip, but I travelled between Atlanta and Cape Town a lot. Tip really was the best mentor to me, he was a great musician and helped me not just with music, but other things in my life.

“He really developed me as an artist and I will always be thankful for that because I had absolutely no music experience and he took me in and I lived with him for two years,” he said.

Tip died in January last year, and John said it was the first time he experienced such a huge loss. “I fell into a dark place after Tip died, a really dark place. His death really made me independent actually and showed me the importance of appreciating and having good mental health,” John said.

John decided to put pen to paper and started putting Not Angry, Just

Disappointed together. “I wrote all of the songs last year, and I used the writing process as a journal, and that’s when the healing process started. I recorded most of the songs in my room and just mixed them in studio,” he said.

He added that the sound of EP was a fusion of genres but lent itself more to RnB. “It is a fusion album with hiphop, RnB and even some jazz influences. There is some rap as well, but I love RnB and soul music.”

John also said that the EP is a representation of his current state of mind. “I am in a better place, a much more positive place, and I am taking one day at a time, and I am extremely happy that I get to make music,” he said.

John, who recently did a 20 show tour in the UK, said he plans on touring South Africa and building a fan base. “This EP is the start of a new journey for me and I am very excited. I will be dropping another EP in November this year and I really want to tour South Africa and create timeless music,” he said.