A passage on love island It might not be in every emerging musician’s plans, but it seems to have paid off for north London singer Antigoni. The 26-year-old released her latest single You can have it earlier this month, and the inspiration actually came from the hit reality show.
“They approached me and I was having this Zoom conversation with the producers,” Antigoni says. “One of them said to me, ‘What would you do if you were in a relationship with a man and someone came in and attacked your man? “
“And I was like, ‘Well, if you can take it, you can have it.’ Something my dad always said is that even if you love someone and you want to be with them , he has to want to be there – you can’t force him. If you try to hold on to someone, it will never work.
It’s a series that has never been far from controversy, but Antigoni has nothing but positive things to say about it. love island and the platform it provided him. “I never thought reality TV would be something I would do, but when they approached me, I was like, ‘I’m single, I’ve got nothing to lose. Why not ?”
“Love Island has just opened doors and really made me a little more visible. That’s all I can ask for.
“And since I’ve been on the show, a producer called Waypoint heard one of my old songs, I will never love, and created a TikTok about a drum ‘n’ bass remix he made. It started blowing up, then we put it on SoundCloud and it’s been number one for two weeks. SO, (love island‘s) just opened doors for me and made me a little more visible, that’s all I can ask for.’
Before going to Love Island, Antigoni says she considered the possibility that her music might not be taken seriously as a result of her appearance on the show. TThe idea of authenticity in music is something that comes up often, particularly in a post-X factor world, and reality TV’s dominance was pushed back for years – remember the (successful) campaign to get the Rage Against the Machine title. Kill the name number one at Christmas 2009?
“I signed a publishing contract at 14; I participated in this game; I was signed to Island Records; I made. It just helped me get my name out there a little more.
But she quickly put aside any fears surrounding her legitimacy as an artist. She tells me, ‘At the end of the day, no one really cares when you’re up – if you’re doing well, if your music is good and if you can perform.’
“Cardi B came from reality TV; Wes Nelson just love island. Cardi won Grammys, Wes just did a track with French Montana – the music should speak for itself. If you give me a microphone, I can sing. I knew some people might be judgmental. But I thought you know what, I’m going to take this and I’ll prove that I’m really good at what I do.
A number of love island alumni released music. Nelson is probably the biggest success story, while others have also had good results. Sam Bird, who competed in the fourth season, reached four million Spotify streams with his 2020 single Run towards you. And yes, it’s easy to forget that Cardi B appeared in Love & Hip Hop: New York before becoming one of the biggest rappers in the world. But there are also the various reality TV contestants who broadcast music only to quickly disappear from the public consciousness, seen in retrospect as novelty acts. It’s a fine line.
It helps that music has been Antigoni’s focus for so long and that she has prior experience in the industry. She comes across as someone who knows what she’s doing, and most importantly, she has real talent – it’s not something she decided on a whim. head.
“I knew a lot of people in the industry before and they knew that I was already making music – that I was already in that world,” she explains. “I signed a publishing contract at 14; I participated in this game; I was signed to Island Records; I made. It just helped me get my name out there a little more.
