Five Fits With: Nigeria-Born, London-Based Singer Obongjayar
Obongjayar, born Steven Umoh in Lagos, was raised in southern Nigeria, by the coast, in a town called Calabar. He’s since gone global, living in London and releasing music that's making its way all around the world. You might know him from the brilliant collaborative track with producer Fred Again, “Adore U”. Or maybe you hard his single “Gasoline” in F1: The Movie. There’s a lot more where that came from. The singer-songwriter has just released his newest album, Paradise Now, which is an unpredictable, infectious mélange of tracks and influences, not unlike the person I came to know over the course of the morning we spent together.
At 17, OB—as he’s called by those around him—moved to the UK to attend Kingston College. After that, he went to Norwich University of the Arts to study graphic design. “I didn’t finish,” he shrugs. “I dropped out my second year to pursue music. And the rest is history.”
During our time together, OB and I discussed writing music without knowing how to play any instruments, why he doesn’t believe in writer’s block, his thoughts on personal style, and more. Keep scrolling to hear it all from the man himself.
Fit One
When did you first discover you had a passion for music?
Always. I've always been a musician. There's no memory I've had that wasn't musical, and that's really interesting to me because I didn't grow up with a musical family. Apparently, my dad wanted to pursue music at one point. But I didn't know my dad, so that had nothing to do with me. It's just always been a part of my thing.
Do you play anything?
I feel most things. I wouldn't say I play things. I just know how to find things. My friends always say, “You can't play, but no one can play like you.” So, I play in a very distinct way, but it does the job. I can write on a guitar. I can write on a piano. I tend to write a lot more on the guitar, find it quite easy when I write on the guitar. I'm very percussive. I play a lot of percussion.
Fit Two
Do you ever experience writer's block?
I don't think there's any such thing as writer's block.
Elaborate.
I think you could write about anything. Writer's block is when you think you should be writing about a thing. You could write about not writing and that's still writing. So, you have written, and I think that's the important thing—just stretching that muscle wherever you are. If you've got a subject in mind and you can't find what you're trying to talk about on the subject, just try something else.
Your new album is obviously a hodgepodge of sounds. What lessons have you learned from earlier albums that affected this one? Did you do anything differently?
Yes, big time. With this record, I collaborated with quite a lot of people. It's in the name, Paradise Now, so being present and being expressive in the present and allowing that present to guide where you go, rather than carve out a path that you're unsure of. What I wanted to do with this record was focus more on the groove of it, and not get in the way of the music. It was important to be a part of the music rather than be on top of it. Rather than try to reinvent the wheel, I try to embellish the wheel. Add to the wheel, because the wheel’s the wheel for a reason. Storytelling, be it musical, orally, or written down, there are certain markers that have made those stories stay through time. Those things are super important. And paying attention to those things and adding yourself to those things is how you create something new. Nothing comes from nothing. It has to come from something. That was the precedent going into this record, using those markers that have existed throughout time—which is groove, music—to place yourself into it, rather than overshadow it.
Fit Three
You did Tiny Desk. What was that experience like? What was it like getting that call?
It was fun. It's one of those things, the excitement of things that you grow up with. You watch those things for so long and they become massive culturally. So, walking into that space was a dream come true in a sense. But I approached it, like, "Hey, it's me. I'm just going do my thing." Because you can't become something else every single time you do something big. You play a stadium show the same way you play a hundred-person venue. It's still you. You're still doing the same thing, just for a lot more people. Regardless of what the opportunity is, just do your thing.
Fit Four
When did you first become interested in clothing and style?
Always. And beauty. As an artist—that's a pretty heavy word—but as an artist, it's just expression. Expression in any sense has always intrigued me. At the end of the day it's got to be me. So, I'm not looking at new trends or new styles. I don't care, man. I just wear what I have. When I packed for this trip, I just threw all this stuff in a bag. Everything here I've worn. You've probably seen it before. Anyone who knows me knows I wear it all the time. I'm not seeking out some new designers and people who work in that field. I just pick things I like and I put them on, and they feel good on me and they represent who I am, represent how I think, how I see and what I think looks cool. People are ashamed of what other people might think. “Am I doing too much?” There's no such thing as doing too much if you're being yourself, because there's no other way you can be. That’s why the queer community and the LGBTQ+ community is so inspiring to me, because these motherfuckers don't give a fuck. To be that brave and know who you are, that's something that we can all learn, rather than put down.
Fit Five
What role does style play in your music?
It doesn't. It just is. My style is my style and I guess my style kind of seeps into my music because it's an extension of me. I'm not Kanye West. I don't mood board shit. It's rubbish. Just be, just exist. With music videos and stuff like that, I guess you kind of have to mood board. Mood boarding life is fucked. Because you don't know who you are. You're living against something else that has already been, of what you're trying to be.
Can you give me three non-negotiable albums that you think everybody should listen to?
Aṣa by Aṣa. Changed my life completely. To Pimp a Butterfly. Off the top of my head right now, I just have Frank Ocean's Blonde, easy. The motherfucker could do no wrong in my eyes, man. He's the fucking GOAT and he's flipped it, man—a new beauty, new way of seeing, new way of expressing.
If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it consist of?
It would be like a two-piece denim thing or a track suit. Or a suit. Anything like a uniform. You can't go wrong with that. On the feet, probably some sexy ass leather boots.
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