Candice Pillay, who featured on Dr. Dre’s Compton album, spoke to MySpace about her music influences and how she met Dr. Dre.
The 34-year-old recently released a five track EP, The High, which is sure to get attention thanks to a Dr. Dre endorsement.
She told MySpace, that contrary to popular belief, Dr. Dre did not reach out to her on Instagram, and she actually bumped into him in a studio hallway.
She described the meeting as “true destiny, I believe. it was fate!”.
Read: Reason gushes over Candice Pillay
Pillay, who is based in Los Angeles, added that hip hop was not huge when she was growing up in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
“We didn’t get as much hip hop music as people in the States did…I was always obsessed with rap though! I secretly wanted to be a rapper! I learned more about hip-hop when I moved to America,” she said.
The Party 4 Da Low singer says some of her musical influences include African and Indian artists, though she did not name any names.
She did, however, mention her dad.
“I was definitely influenced in my early days by my father, who played guitar. I started piano lessons at 10 and guitar at 13. Sang since I was 7 in Church. Gospel was my first taste of music as well as my dad’s diverse music collection,” she told MySpace.
Pillay says it is difficult to describe her music, but says reviews have labelled her sound: “melancholic, dark and industrial. Cloudy, fiery, chilled, dangerously addictive and contagious.”
Image credit: Instagram/ Candice Pillay
