Obongjayar on the release of ‘Paradise Now’, musical influences, and why music was always the only path

Obongjayar. Photo credit: Eleonora Muraglia

We recently sat down with Obongjayar to talk ‘Paradise Now’, his unique musical roots, and how everything from rap icons to rom-com soundtracks played a role in his creative journey. Born in Nigeria and raised on a mix of American hip-hop and pop culture, Obongjayar reflects on early memories and why music wasn’t a career choice, it was the only thing that made sense.

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Lee: Right off the bat, I just wanted to say thank you so much for attending this interview, man. I also wanted to say shout out - I think the first song I ever listened to that you featured in was the song Elixir with Wiki, so shout out Wiki. Loved it. Loved that track.

Obongjayar: Thank you bro.

Lee: I think one of the other earliest tracks I heard from you, I think it was a 2018 one, Never Change.

Obongjayar: Yeah, do you know what, that's one of my favourite songs, man. Thank you.

Lee: Yeah, bro. I love it. I think from Elixir, I had a little dig through your discography and Never Change and Still Run were the ones that really stood out to me.

Obongjayar: Yeah man, absolutely. Thank you. Thank you.

Lee: Nah, appreciate it, appreciate your time. I wanted to ask—how did the whole story come about, the whole Obongjayar narrative, I guess? How did the humble beginnings come across and come into fruition?

Obongjayar: I mean, man, I think it's always been. There hasn't been a point where it wasn't. And I know that sounds naff to say, but I think from a very young age, ever since I can remember, there's never been a planned beat. There was never anything else for me. It was just, you know, I think how and when was always the thing. I mean, how it was going to happen, like how things were going to get to this point - when I was doing this. And I guess when eventually it did happen, those are the only things that were the questions. You know, there was never, as far as being a musician and making music or being musical, it was always that. Do you know what I mean? And everything else kind of came along the way, like the name and all that kind of stuff, everything kind of found me along the way. But yeah, the music.

Lee: It's almost like predetermined, like it's like a destiny.

Obongjayar: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I guess so. Destiny, yes, absolutely. But it was, I think, I’m lucky, super lucky to be of that cloth of people, of a lineage of that, man, of music or like things in that sense, I guess.

Lee: I love that, love that. Great response, honestly. And I wanted to ask, what were the like sounds and I guess, you know, certain art that inspired you throughout this journey, especially during your early, early days of your childhood and such?

Obongjayar: I mean, my taste has always been quite, quite wide ranging. I think when I was younger, obviously growing up, growing up in Nigeria, the influence of American music, like hip hop and rap and that kind of stuff, like Kanye West, Lil Wayne, all that kind of shit. That whole, the whole thing, there was a time when that was a massive thing. So that was really big for me. But also like outside of that, watching movies, like rom-coms, and like the soundtracks to rom-coms, like I heard Don McLean for the first time watching American Pie, do you know what I mean? And like hearing it, I didn't really watch the movie. I just kind of, I kind of came in at the end of it and, and the credits were playing and it was playing American Pie by Don McLean. And I couldn't, not that I didn't hear all of the song and I just, just clung to the, “this will be the day that I die”, but like for the longest time and I use that, that portion of the song to make up my own songs and like, make up what I thought the song was about. Do you know what I mean? Like, so, and then listening to like, acapella music, there's been like, my whole thing has been so wide ranging, you know, and that, that, that stuff has completely affected how I make music or what my, my musical taste is, you know?

Lee: Yeah, I really noticed within also your older and your just released album, congratulations on that, by the way, a great range of sounds, man, a great range of sounds. Like I was really hearing this crazy industrial synth heavy, you know, influence to, the whole Afro beat, Afro rock stuff, which I really appreciated. You had like the classical riffs all throughout it. It was amazing. It was really good. So I could really, that's what I wanted to ask because, you know, you had this great range, nothing was, not one thing was the same in your album, which is what I really enjoyed.

Obongjayar: Absolutely. I think sonically, but I think, yeah, absolutely. Lots of different ranging sounds and ideas, but the through line, I feel like the through line is me. At the end of the day, like my, my take on these things, so they can be industrial, rock, Afro, whatever, but they're my take on industrial, Afro. It doesn't feel like anything. It's not like I've taken that, that sound, come here, bang. It's my take on these things and how I perceived them and how I would make a rock song, how I would make an industrial song, how I would make an Afro beat song, how I would make a, you know, like a, I guess a Bossanova-ish kind of, like, you know, all of these takes are my take on it. So the through line ends up being me, do you know what I mean? And, and, and that's why I think it works, man. For me it's all cohesive. It feels like one thing, I completely understand that sonic, the world sonically could be like, oh wow, “this, this, this, this, this and this” but you don't, but the thing about that, it doesn't distract you from the cohesiveness.

Lee: Exactly Yeah. How I saw it was kind of like different refractions of your personality, still very you, but like the refractions of these different kinds of blending fusions. Yeah, man.

Obongjayar: Yeah absolutely. Thank you.

Lee: I also wanted to asked what was like the creative process in a simplified manner? How do you get around to making this music? And also, you know, what's like the method to the madness?

Obongjayar: There's no method, man, just madness [laughs].

Lee: I love that.

Obongjayar: Yeah man. There's no method. Just chaos [laughs].

Lee: That’s the right answer.

Obongjayar: I think being receptive, man, I think there's, you know, there's lots of different ways and different processes. You know, when I was writing the record, I had a process - I’d wake up, I'd get a up at a certain time, have a coffee. I’d sit down on my couch and just write for like a certain amount of time. And then I wouldn't watch TV. I'd turn my phone off, put my phone on like, on DND, wouldn't watch TV. Just spend my days listening to music or writing music. I wasn't really texting. I wasn't on Instagram. I didn't have any of that stuff. So that, in a sense, was a process. But outside of that, the process is living life, everyday life, walking to the shops, going to see your friends, going to parties, coming back. You know, all of these things are moments in which you draw from and we just pick things up. But I think the process is when you're ready to kind of fine tune it. It's like, okay, cool. I've got all this, I've collected all this information. It's time to put it down. And I need to make time to do that and put myself in a position where I am making the best decisions for the music in terms of like choices. Like, where do sounds go? What sounds have been used? You know, what am I trying to achieve with this? And that's where the process, I guess, quote unquote, begins is when it's time to sit down. But the journey is just always going. It's always moving. The train's always moving. And you have to be super observant to make sure that you capture what's in front of you, you know?

Lee: Yeah, no, 100%. I love that. And I think I'm a very similar minded person. Like David Lynch, he always talks about fishing for ideas and how some of his greatest ideas came out of the most like mundane of things, just, you know, walking out and seeing just whatever. So that’s absolutely great to hear, man. With saying that, though. How is life? How have things been?

Obongjayar: I mean, the record has just come out. So navigating that and, you know, it's an interesting thing, man. Like the build up, it's such, the thing I always say, the record, when no one has it and it's just you, it can be anything. It's like anything is possible. You exist in this world where it's just anything is, it could be anything. The record could be, it's like, it's the best and - it could be anything. And then it comes out and it's like, okay, we're here. And it's like, it's such a, it's such a, what's the word?

Lee: Like surreal?

Obongjayar: No, no, it's not surreal [laughs]. It's just like, it's very real. It's actually very - that's the word. It's not surreal. It's real. It's real as fuck. It's just like, it's here, you know, and you're, and you're face to face with it. So that's what, that's what life is right now, right? Life is just being face to face with the thing that you made, man. And being proud of it. I'm very, I'm very proud of it. And having to do the things you need to do that are required for it, for it to reach people and to reach the people that you want it to reach, I guess. So it's like, that's the thing. And it's a beautiful thing because I love it. So it's not, it isn't a stress on me. It doesn't feel, it doesn't feel like a daunting experience. It's actually quite exciting. It's very exciting. So life is really exciting to answer your question. This is a very, very exciting time. Yeah. And I'm, I'm looking forward to, I'm looking forward to it.

Lee: I'm glad, man. Music is the key to the soul. I think it would be a great feeling knowing that you've made something that not only people enjoy, but it impact them, you know, it makes them feel a certain type of way. Good stuff. I'm glad to hear that bro. What will be the next chapter? If there's something that you can tease for us.

Obongjayar: Nah, I mean, I guess it's just music, man. I'm still doing the same thing. I'm just making music. There's no, there's nothing, there's no surprises. It's just the same thing. It's like, it's going to be new music. It's going to be me making new music, playing shows, go to a tour coming up, a few festivals here and there. Yeah, man, that's just, that's the thing. I'm just going to be sat here writing songs, you know.

Lee: Love that, love that. Back to the movie thing, because I'm a bit of a movie buff, I was wondering what are some of your favourite films? You did have some bangers.

Obongjayar: I mean, I, like, that's a, that's a heavy question, but I, right now, currently, I watched, what's that Nicolas Cage, what's it called? The, the latest Nicolas Cage film. The Weight Of—

Lee: Oh, Unbearable Talent?

Obongjayar: Unbearable Talent. I fucking, I love the beginning, like my favourite, like it's probably, I mean, I watched it a couple of days ago, so it's still in my brain. So that's probably one of my, I just love Nicolas Cage, man. His whole story is so wild. He reminds me of myself so much.

Lee: He is, he is such a perfectionist.

Obongjayar: He's a true one, man. There's nothing else he can do—that’s just him. He's a fucking, he's a fucking actor [laughs]. Well, I mean, that's, that's, that's pretty much it for me right now. I mean, like my favourite, my favourite director is Charlie Kaufman. So like anything by Charlie Kaufman is like goated.

Lee: Great choice.

Obongjayar: What have I watched recently? I watched, I watched, what's David, that David Lynch film, Lost, Lost, what's it called?

Lee: Lost Highway.

Obongjayar: Lost Highway, a couple of weeks ago.

Lee: How good? Excellent man.

Obongjayar: Fucking excellent. So like that's kind of, I mean, I think my, like my favourite movies is like, it's a very, it's like asking me what my favourite record is. Like there's so many, I can't. No Country for Old Man or something like that. I mean, my brain is trying to find them. But yeah, those ones, I'll keep those ones. I'll save those ones for now, for sure.

Lee: No, they're great. Great answers, bro. No Country for Old Man is like literally my number one.

Obongjayar: Fucking Javier Bardem with the, with the little.

Lee: Oh yeah. With the cattle product, yeah.

Obongjayar: Nuts, man. Fuck me, bro [laughs]. Nuts

Lee: And I just wanted to ask since, your Nigerian background, and I'm a big fan of a lot of Nigerian artists, like Skepta, Little Simz, shout out Little Simz being on your album, vice versa as well, you being on hers. Who would you like to feature with?

Obongjayar: No one. I don't care. I like, I don't really care about that. Like the idea of like, wanting to — I can appreciate someone's music and love someone's music, you know, like respect people as a fan. But I think the making process is a lot more spiritual to me than like let's make a track, bro. Like I think it needs to be, it needs to come in a way that feels, that's right, when the time's right, when everything kind of lines up. And if both of you are, or however many of you are in the same kind of like, mental or musical space, it makes sense. Cause then you can make the best music that way. Do you know what I'm saying? I think the best music is made that way. Music that means anything anyway, is made that way. So I don't, I don't think I have anyone that I'm like, oh my God, I'd love to work with that person. Cause I don't know the person, I don't know them. I don't know you, bro. I don't know if I'm going to like you. I don't know if you're going to like me. I don't know if we can like, we can be vulnerable with each other in a space and like, and completely bare ourselves and not try to pretend or one up each other. Like, cause I don't think it's not a competition thing. I'm not trying to — I don't make music for a sport, you know, I make it to connect with something that's bigger than myself, I guess. So I don't have, I don't have that. And I've been asked that question a lot. There's people I really admire, I guess, but also that's even saying those things. I can't really, I don't really know you just never really know. So yeah, I wouldn't, no one, no one. I like a lot, but yeah no one.

Lee: That's awesome. Honestly, I like that. It's a very like, honestly, that was one of my cliché interview questions that I was just thinking of, but that's the kind of answer I need, man, honestly.

Obongjayar: Because it allows me to say this thing that is my, my way of viewing it, you know? So yeah, I think it's a bit, it's definitely a valid question. I think a lot of people have those names and have those people, you know, but I just don't care. I really don't care [laughs].

Lee: Yeah, do it for you. That's what I think is what's so important. I think, and I agree, I think a lot of artists kind of have that intention of just being like, '“Oh, I need to do this”.

Obongjayar: Yeah You need to just make make the work, man. Just make the thing, you know what I mean.

Lee: That's it. Music's magic, bro. You can’t just industrially punch it out.

Obongjayar: Yeah, exactly, exactly. I mean you can, you definitely can, it’s just not what I’m about.

Lee: Yeah exactly, that ain’t it. Honestly I think that’s most of my questions.

Obongjayar: Thank you, man. Thank you.

Lee: Yeah thank you and I appreciate it, man. This is my first time.

Obongjayar: Thank you, I really enjoyed talking to you. So nice to meet you.

Lee: Nice to meet you too, OB. Have a good one, my bro.

Obongjayar: Nice one, family.

Lee: Thank you.

Obongjayar: Thank you so much. I really enjoyed that.

Listen to ‘Paradise Now’ below.