American rapper, Songwriter and Producer Eric Giles alias SS Collab has released new song dubbed “Holding on” in honor of his two deceased brothers Shawn and Derrick who succumbed to cancer a few years ago.
According to SS Collab, the first 2 verses of the song are a dedication to his youngest brother Shawn and that he started writing the song soon after he passed away of cancer.
It took him a year without finalizing with it, but then his other young brother Derrick also passed away of cancer as well and so he decided to show it as the right time to complete by dedicating the last 3rd verse to him. It is the feeling and spirit one can hear as he expresses the song verse by verse.
He adds that treatments didn’t help to recover from the terrible disease that took his two brothers to their transcendence and so he came up with a tribute song that they’ll always be remembered and with a storyline anyone could relate to that has lost anyone, but still pushing on for them .
Listen to the audio here;
Below is what is needed to know more about SS Collab’s music background, inspirations and Ugandan artists he hope to work with in future time:
As a black American we all grew up in hip hop environments via TV, radio, award shows, music festivals or just family members rapping. For me…; it kept me out of the streets of trouble and running with mischievous gangs of the bad boy crowds. I would play beat machine and keyboard sampler for hours on end from sun up to sun down making beats and writing rhymes. For me its life and I’ll always make and write music, cause now I use it too diary my life, but no note book, cause I put it on beat tracks! It’s nothing I wanted to be, but it just stuck to me and became a part of my better half.
I chose the name SS Collab because it was my transition from only being a rapper to also being a rapper/producer seeking young talent that I could offer a small boost by providing readymade songs only needing their gifted vocal skills or unique delivery styles to bring them to life with more depth and contrast. It also helps to stay fresh and with a new sound to offer various audiences.
My inspirations came from all the media outlets and tv music video programming shows. I had no one pushing me to do music; it was always just my own love of creating life stories. Turning regular beats into nice songs. I’ve always challenged myself that no matter how bad the beat, that I could make a great song out of it!!
Creating imaginative true too life storylines, but mainly actual confessions from past relationships, experiences & regrets (expressing my heart through music) makes the best content listeners can relate and vibe too.
Creativity comes easy when you’re dealing with real life… It makes everything flow effortlessly and yet refreshing to lay it all out there, no more baggage; just let it go and not allow any more emotional anchors to hold you down or from moving forward.
Well I’ve had offers from many big names in the music industry; they have a way of seeing your talents before you even blossom them into frutations. For instance “Republic Records” full deal offer & also an offer from tour manager of “Machine Gun Kelly” to be amongst opeining acts. For me it’s keeping control of my self-expression & the love that music brings me creating it. In 10 years I can’t say…, but I know that I’ll still be releasing some of the doppest songs with a much larger fan base. May even manage my own group or two as I phase over into CEO of my own music shop.
I was actually in Uganda on and off from 2008-2010 and I really wanted to write a song for or with Juliana; yet I only saw her perform once and never actually met her ever. Now here in 2023 Uganda acts have really sprouted everywhere and the younger fresh talent is very promising, but who wouldn’t want to Collaborate with UG legend Jose Chameleon himself lol!
