Review Fix Exclusive: Tafari Anthony Talks ‘Centerfold’

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Safari Anthony, who discusses his new single, “Centerfold.”

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Tafari Anthony: I grew up in a house where both my parents were involved in music. So, music was always around and working on music was encouraged. But I often say it wasn’t until I left home and went to college that I really had to find the love for music on my own terms.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Anthony: It varies to be honest. Depending on my mood and space the process can be very different. Sometimes it starts with going through some voice notes and then building an idea off something random I had in there. Other times, I may start with a lyrical idea or concept and build from that. I think it’s important to be free and open with how you start things because it leaves room for exploration. If there’s too much of a formula I find that can be stifling.

Review Fix: What inspires you?

Anthony: I’m inspired by people. I’m that friend that everyone comes to talk to about their problems, and often those stories end up being starting points for different songs.

Review Fix: What does music mean to you?

Anthony: I really can’t imagine my life without music. There’s not a moment of the day that I’m not listening to music or thinking about it. No matter what happens I think I will always be involved in music in some shape or form.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Anthony: This would be the elevator pitch; Pop music with a soulful edge. Think if Sam Smith and Adam Lambert got in a session together and had Brandy as their vocal producer.

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

Anthony: Live shows are just a different energy automatically. In studio, it’s really all about me, and what I can put into the songs in that moment. There’s usually maybe only an engineer in the room and that’s about it. But in front of an audience the whole thing is an energy exchange. Different audiences will bring out different things from me live, and that’s the exciting part about live shows. 

Most of my live performance work right now has been more acoustic based / stripped down as well. So that also makes a big difference in the experience from studio to live.

Review Fix: What inspired your latest single?

Anthony: “Centerfold” was inspired by someone I was casually seeing for a little while. Things started off very quickly and ended almost as fast. Even to this day I don’t really know if I got the real story. He felt it would be appropriate to start posting things about me online, not that my name was used directly but it was really fucking obvious.

The bigger problem though was that he couldn’t understand the loss of trust. After I explained numerous times and ways why posting something about me online and then directing me to go look for the reason why he was upset instead of talking to me directly would hurt me, I could see he still didn’t understand the gravity of his actions was the demise.

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2020?

Anthony: Well… given what’s going on in the world right now, my only true goal is to get through this pandemic safely and help to contribute to the well being of everyone else. 

Review Fix: What’s next?

Anthony: We shall see how things turn out. I may still drop another single or two before the year is up. But all the plans I had are definitely being re-evaluated at this point.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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