Dominic Heslop, aka The1Devotion, dropped a new track last week in collaboration with Naomi Cowen and Toddla T.
Dominic is also the founder of Slambarz, a community group consisting of young black artists in Sheffield. He spoke to the Sheffield Wire:
SW: What inspired the song and how did it come about?
DH: The song was produced by Toddla T and Naomi Cowen. She is a global renowned reggae artist from Jamaica who also just filmed Bob Marley: One Love. How this came about was when me and Toddla T were trying to work out who was going to be a part of All Stars Riddim for the MOBOS. I sent him a voice note saying gratitude is attitude and he just put that into a bit. It has become a mantra, he really brought it life. It happened quite organically.
SW: Is that your own personal mantra?
DH: Yes. Gratitude is Attitude was just best out of the appreciation of being a part of the MOBOS, being able to make the All Stars Riddim, there was this moment when we were like ‘gratitude is attitude’. It was nice to bring that to life.
SW: How do you feel about the collaboration?
DH: The collaboration is huge; I feel like its organic and Jamaican artists feel the vibrations of gratitude. Obviously, it’s got the sound of the trumpets, of Jamaica, and it is a really nice vibration. To have her there was massive, especially with her being a global artist. It gives it that weight so to speak.
SW: Do you have any other projects coming up?
DH: At the moment myself and Toddla’s team are finding a few things regarding different versions coming out of that song. Expect different artists to put their version of it. We might also do a podcast about gratitude and what that means to people. Just keep the vibration high.
SW: What does gratitude mean to you?
DH: Gratitude is a state of being, I think its very easy to be distracted with how many things we don’t have. Being in a state of gratitude is a state that feels natural.
