Twenty-four-year-old aircraft maintenance engineer Kristoff Azariel Sauns, who goes by the stage name Lawless Boss, recently dropped his first studio album ‘Lwlss’ consisting of 14 Dancehall and Soca songs.
Kristoff, who lives in the Turks and Caicos Islands, grew up at Crane, West Coast Demerara. Though on the other side of the Demerara River which separated his side of the region from the capital, all the schools he attended were situated in Georgetown, St Peter’s Nursery, Green Acres Primary and St Joseph High. Commuting to school daily exposed him to different genres of songs and soon enough music became his passion.
The artiste reminisced that he made ‘guitars’ from cereal boxes which he stuck a piece of stick into and drums from cans. Those instruments coupled with him singing at the top of his lungs in his living room in front of his pretend audience found him being considered a noisy child by his late grandmother. He also took his music to school, where he was joined in his singing and drumming by a group of his peers, which often found them in trouble with teachers.
“For as long as I could remember, I’ve always had the love for and the desire to make music,” he told The Scene. “Growing up I was more drawn to Soca because of influence from local artists such as Jumo and Adrian [X2], Big Red [and others]. But when I got into high school I was drawn more to Dancehall and as a result, though I identify as a Dancehall artist, I have done both Soca and Dancehall music. Vybz Kartel is one of my biggest musical influences. He’s King of the Dancehall in my book. I still listen to the other Dancehall artists and artists from other genres because I get inspiration from them all. I believe my style is unique based on the fact that I’ve learned how to mix Jamaican Dancehall Music with Guyanese Creole, something that isn’t commonly practiced by other artists.”
Although he has not yet released any, the singer/songwriter has some Reggae music underway. And though it was never released, the singer shared that he penned a Soca song called “Bumpa Wine”, through the inspiration of X2 which was trending at the time; he was still in secondary school.
Kristoff said he had gone to his mother’s friend, Big Red, and asked what it would cost to have his song recorded. It was more than he could have afforded. His mother encouraged him to focus on his academics, which he did. He went on to pursue engineering studies at the Art Williams and Harry Wendt Aeronautical Engineering School at Ogle in 2012. Some years later he returned to music, writing numerous songs though he was not recording at the time as he was still studying and not making any money. During this time, he said, he wrote some 30 songs.
In June 2017, Kristoff released his first single “Gym Body”. Since then, he noted, being in the entertainment industry has had its ups and downs. And because music does not pay well when you are not popular, it is better to have another career going. However, because he loves music so much, the journey thus far was more for fun than profit yielding. Being an engineer has made it easier for him to do music.
Asked how he continued recording after leaving Guyana, the singer said he had purchased a microphone before travelling, which he later hooked up to his computer. He recorded his voice and sent his songs to AJ Records (owned by Producer Adrian Johnson) at Meten-Meer-Zorg. Prior to the release of his album on April 12, the artiste also recorded a single that same month. The single, “Empress” was released to mark an anniversary with his girlfriend. He added that while it has not been easy with her living in Guyana and him abroad, he is grateful for her. The song details his love for her, what she means to him and how supportive she has been. Aside from her, Kristoff said, he is also supported by his parents and his ‘Lwlss’ team.
He related that when he just started out, he struggled to have his music played on air. The man noted that songs recorded outside of Guyana or done by foreign artistes are played more on the radio here than music done by local artistes. He believes this may be one of the reasons why Guyanese artistes prefer to sing with other accents, with the Jamaican accent being a popular one.
He has surmounted the copyright challenge by putting his music on Spotify, iTunes and other social platforms that provide copyright for his songs. “Let’s say Drake [famous singer/rapper] steals your content. Nobody is going to believe that Drake stole your content if you have no proof of it, which is why it is important that your music is copyrighted,” he said. “Guyana has a platform called GT Riddim where singers upload their songs but because Guyana doesn’t have copyright laws anybody can download it and call it their own. I have also uploaded some of my music here for persons who want to have the free version of my songs but because my music is licensed, uploading my songs here won’t be a problem for me. Although they download my stuff, it has been copyrighted under my name.”
Kristoff and his team here called themselves Pride Lawless spelt Lwlss, as they believe they can have their own rules and not conform to what society expects, in other words they basically represent a form of rebellion without actually getting into trouble with the law. After several show performances, he was deemed by the crowd ‘Lawless Boss’. He performed at the Redemption Show where he opened for Jamaican singer, Tommy Lee Sparta.
The artiste does not know yet where he will be in another five years, whether he will be one of the preferred engineers or an iconic singer. It depends on whether he gets the music break he desires. Nonetheless, he is working towards creating a name for himself.
For someone who is passionate about music even while he was in secondary school but chose to put that on hold to pursue his academics, he admonishes youths to do the same. “You need some form of education in whatever you’re going to do. If it’s music you want to do alone, then at least learn the business side of the music, so you don’t have to depend on someone else to do that for you. My English education helped with me writing music. Let’s say you’re about to sign a record deal, a simple thing as reading contracts is important, especially when you’re now starting out. You won’t be able to afford a lawyer and would need to have a basic understanding of what is being put before you,” the Dancehall artiste said.
With the airline industry shuttered at the moment, Kristoff has been laid off temporarily. Most of his time now is spent writing more songs, playing football, playing video games, and browsing the internet.
Currently he lives with his aunt and her husband. His aunt is Guyanese, the singer noted, so he always has Guyanese cuisine to look forward to, though there are some things he misses like pepperpot and chicken curry with roti. He said that although curry is cooked on the island, no masala is available, so the taste is not the same as it is when cooked in Guyana.
The songs on his album are “Real Guyanese” (featuring AJ), “Do Fi Do”, “Choice” (featuring Addi), “Hennything”, “Queen”, “Bestfriend”, “Wild Boy”, “Self Praise”, “Caution”, “Lwlss Girl”, “Thugs”, “Soldier”, “Lwlss” and “Parental Guidance”. Outside of ‘Lwlss’, he has approximately 20 singles, among them are some of his best known, including “Ambition”, “Done Great” and “Malfunction”.
‘Lwlss’ is distributed in all musical stores. Kristoff can be reached at “Azariel Official” on all social media platforms, “Azariel” on all streaming platforms or by email at azarielofficial@gmail.com
