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Rhythm and blues singer, Hassan Abdulaziz Bin Shams, hopes his EP release will attract even more fans to his music and help him secure a Gulf-wide tour.
The 23-year-old Bahraini-Seychellois, known to his followers as Tiny, will be releasing his heartfelt tracks shortly after Ramadan on his SoundCloud and Facebook accounts, to be downloaded for free.
Tiny said: “Being the first musician to represent both Bahrain and Seychelles in the region is brilliant. My aim is to perform in as many shows as possible, starting with my home country Bahrain. It’s been ages since I hit a stage here and I must say there is no crowd better than the one in Bahrain.
“I want to make it through the GCC and I’m willing to test the waters for as long as it takes. There is a lot of talent here, it’s just a case that we often don’t have the right resources to move forward. It is up to us musicians to support each other and push harder.
“My ultimate dream is to one day wake up and say ‘let my album tour commence’ and I’ll take it from there.”
Tiny is currently based in the UAE and works for the Emirates General Petroleum Corporation. He returns to the kingdom regularly to visit his parents, Bahraini businessman Abdulaziz and mum, Rose, who comes from the Seychelles and runs a salon in Juffair.
“My EP entitled Eyes reflects my life experiences and tells my story,” he said. “It will bring a different flavour to the listening crowd because it goes out of the norm of mainstream rhythm and blues music with a diversity found in every track.”
Tiny, for example, introduces his Seychellois side in a song called Pretty Eyes where he sings part of it in Creole.
Tiny, a former Naseem School pupil, only ignited his passion for singing in Grade 5 when he took part in a school play staged at the Gulf Air Club. But it wasn’t until he left Bahrain to attend a US university in Arlington, Virginia, that he took his talents further by enrolling in the college choir.
Since then, the spotlight has started to shine on him. He has performed at the Canadian and American University of Dubai as well as at the Dubai Men and Women College.
He sang his heart out in 2012 and 2013 at the Yasalam Beats on the Beach F1 Festival in Abu Dhabi and also performed as an opening act alongside UAE rapping brothers Desert Heat for artists such as Missy Elliot, Cee Lo Green, former Spice Girls Mel C and others.
His EP is being produced by Spots Multimedia, a team of students from Zayed University and the mastermind producer behind it is Malik Al Hammadi, aka MalikMaximum.
The EP will be launched on August 8 and fans can follow its progress by visiting TinyDXBMusic on Facebook and TinyDXB and on audio platforms SoundCloud and Reverbernation.
