From making covers to becoming an internet sensation, this fast-rising artiste from PH has no doubt caught the attention of the Nigerian audience with her soulful voice. Known for gracing her melodious yet outstanding vocals on one of Afrobeats finest tunes ‘In The Garden’ by Davido, Morravey knows her time has come, and she’s willing to make the best of it as she takes us through her journey in this interview.
If you could introduce yourself to someone who doesn’t know anything about you, how would you do that?
Morravey: I am Daniella Daniel Ibinabo. also known as Morravey, a singer, songwriter, and creator. I am from Rivers State, Port Harcourt, Calabari. The first child of my parents and the first daughter out of five children. I am signed to DMW, and I just started my music career officially.
What does music mean to you?
Morravey: Music is spiritual to me. It is a way of expressing myself, it gives me peace and comfort. It helps me escape from everything I am going through. It pushes me to do more.
When did you discover you could sing and how long have you been officially doing music?
Morravey: Like every other person, I have been singing since I was a child, and I know that there was one time when I was 8 years old, I was joking around, and I asked my mother, ‘Mommy why do I sound so good?’, I think I had pride that time, but it was crazy. So I have been singing since I was a child. I started taking music seriously in 2018 and I started writing, but before then I had been singing.
What was that encounter you had that made you certain that you were on the right track as an artiste?
Morravey: I didn’t really have any mind-blowing or special moment that made me realize that music is my thing. I have loved music since I was a child, I loved singing and I always tried creating new things musically. Medicine and surgery is not an easy course to study, and music helped me escape some crazy things that I was going through. Every time since I started creating, I had to drop something because I used to perform in church, and every time I sang, I always got compliments. Music has been opening a lot of doors for me. When I drop covers, people get to discover me. Every time I drop something musically, it changes my life in one way or the other. So I just knew that music was my thing. It was always increasing in me one way or the other.
The world is asking, when are we getting a Morravey project? Would you grace us with any specific response?
Morravey: So today, I am going to be making an announcement by 12pm, my debut EP is going to be dropping tomorrow by 12am.
Tell us what people should expect from this Morravey tape.
Morravey: It’s an EP of five songs. I tried to be as creative as possible. I put different genres of music. I talked about luck, talked about my story. It’s a wonderful body of work.
Talk to us about the event, the experience of being signed to DMW, and the role Davido plays in your career.
Morravey: Being signed to DMW is one big dream come through. Davido has really been supportive. Being signed to DMW has changed my life, it is a miracle. I have met different people, and I have worked with different people. I know that there are great things ahead of me. It is a very very supportive family and I know that I am going to do really really great.
So, in January, I and a friend planned to drop covers of different songs. So we dropped covers to the ones that we could record but there was this one practiced but we couldn’t record because it was a bit shaky, we had some kind of errors. So a few weeks later, without my permission, the guy posted the video and I wasn’t in the video, just my voice. A few days later, Yabaleft reposted the same video. I wasn’t tagged on the video, I wasn’t in the video. After Yabaleft posted the video, Davido saw the video and according to him, he searched the comment for the person who was singing and that was how he texted me ‘your voice is amazing’ Then we talked, exchanged contacts and he was like he was going to send me to a camp and we were going to have recording sessions. So I moved to Lagos, we recorded and after recording took a while, I got signed. It was actually a miracle. This is a miraculous career.
Your song “In the Garden ” with Davido has been gaining a lot more attention recently ever since the news of his twins arrived, because of the lyrics. Tell us the creation process of this special song.
Morravey: Like I said, this is my career, in fact, this year has been a miraculous year for me. So when I came to Lagos, we were having different recording sessions. I made “In the Garden” the first week of my stay in Lagos. Davido heard the song and was like, it is going to be on his album and he recorded his own verse and dropped it on the song.
I don’t know if he knew that he was going to have twins at that time, it is just a miracle. God is really really really good.
Davido himself endorsed your pen game. As your career advances, do you see yourself creating more for others or more for yourself?
Morravey: I feel I will write for others. Creating is a wonderful experience. It is wonderful to create out of nothing. I will write for myself and I will write for others. The family is going to get bigger and better and I am not going to be selfish with it.
There are a lot of conversations on social media about the advantages and whatnot of being signed to a label. Do you have any takes on this topic?
Morravey: Being signed is like having a support system. Normally if you are not signed, you know that it is you who is working hard for your career, making moves and everything. But being signed, you have a team, they are like bodies and everything pushing forward for you to be out there. Your hard work is going to be there. They support you financially, emotionally, and otherwise. It’s just having a wonderful support system aside from your family and friends. It’s official. Sometimes your family might not really be there for you, even your friends. But being signed to a label means you have a go-to support system. Then aside from that, there is a reason why they signed you, which might not be just money basically, they have seen something better in you and they really want your personal growth. Being signed helps out a lot.
If you had the unlimited opportunity to, which artistes are most likely to feature on a Morravey tape?
Morravey: In the future, I would like to have a song with Nicki Minaj and Sia, and I would love to have a song with Billie Eilish. I have other people, but these are three major ones. I would also like to have a song with Tiwa Savage, Peruzzi, and Rema. I already have a song with Davido, I would have called him also. I listen to almost everybody, so creating, I am not just in one box, I can have a song with anybody. Like we would vibe really, really well.
If you weren’t into music, where do you think you’d have ended up? Still, something music-related?
Morravey: I was in school already, studying medicine and surgery. So if I wasn’t doing music, I would be in school writing exams. I also have a thing for the arts, I love drawing. So I would have also been doing that, for funds. But I would have still been in school, reading to save lives.
Music saved my life, and I am going to be using it to save people’s lives.
If you were to send a message to your 10-year-old self, what would it be?
Morravey: Dear Daniella Daniel, you are doing great. Things are only going to get better from here. You are right on time; you are in the right place. Be happy, don’t overthink anything. You are doing great.
Any last words for your fans?
Morravey: I would like to say a big thank you to everybody who has been supporting me, to everybody who has been patient with me, I am really grateful for your support, right from when I was not signed to when I got signed. I am really, really grateful and I am going to make us proud. It is only going to get bigger and better.