Moss, Mosadoluwa Akinjobi, is a rapper from Ibadan, whose primary genres are Hip-Hop, fusions of R&B, pop and afro-beats. Currently, he is a student of the University of Ibadan. Moss also has his tentacles spread into videography, video directing and photography.
49th Street: So, do tell. Just how did you get into music? Was it something you planned all along or you just stumbled upon it?
Moss: It was not particularly something I planned doing. I started around 2009, was just hanging around the studio with my brother who was already showing interest in it and the first song we worked on was a cover of Chris Brown’s Look at me. (laughs) Looking back, it was pretty terrible but it was pretty lit then. It’s pretty much something I just stumbled on.
49th Street: Chris Brown…interesting. What was growing up like for you? Do you think it has influenced your music?
Moss: Growing up, actually no one in my family was music inclined. My brother and I are like the first generation of music head in the family. My mother had always had a great taste in music because she will buy some of the CDs we liked but majorly it was my uncle that put us on contemporary stuff like Hip-Hop and R&B. My life experiences influenced my music more.
49th Street: Who are your musical influences? Do they have a major or minor imprint in your music today?
Moss: I would not say I have a lot of them, I just have a lot of artists that I love and appreciate over the years. Eminem was like a big part of my growing up, all the albums on check, I still think he’s like the greatest guy to hold a pen in terms of his rhyme scheme and just his ability to use words but I won’t say he has a major influence on my music because I don’t rap the same way as such. In terms of newer guys, I have studied J Cole’s storytelling, Drake for his versatility and Kendrick but I don’t think anyone will see it as a major influence in my music, it still stands out as my own thing, they are just people I have appreciated over the years and I liked their philosophies and the things they rolled with.
49th Street: Great; very elite and skilled personalities on your list. What’s music for you, how do you relate to it?
Moss: Music for me is like a full expression of everything that I am. Err, I know a lot of people will describe it like that but they don’t live by that. People are never really one person at a time, it varies between hard-core guy or romatic guy, that right here is your ability of expression, your ability to take it back in recollection to tell the stories of your life in a direct way or in the artistic way, I feel that’s music, just a full expression of self.
49th Street: “Ability of expression is your ability to take it back in, a recollection to tell the stories of your life in a direct way or in the artistic way.” These, right here, are thoughtfully strung words, that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. What kind of music do you make? Who’re your target audience?
Moss: I make Hip-Hop Fusion. Its always something centered around Hip-Hop, even when I deviate the farthest, it all still comes back to the Hip-Hop influence to some level. My music is not targeted to trends, new challenges, or anything. My target audience will be people who approach soul, the whole storytelling vibe and deep expression of self. I will like my target audience to be one that sticks around. I will like them to be people that will be able to relate to the topics I am talking about.
49th Street: SFTLR Vol. 1 will be 3 years by October, how has the journey been so far? What impact did the project have on you?
Moss: I have not thought about it like that, yeah 3 years. Even though I took a long break around 2018 because of school and everything going on at the time, the journey has been good so far. The journey has been one of growth most definitely because my ability to execute records, pen them down properly and execute them with full accuracy and clean cut delivery has really grown.
Although my new project is 4 times shorter than the former but I have been able to say my story better over 3 tracks as compared to 12 tracks, your ability to execute over a short amount of time is something I really wanted to develop, I am just happy I was able to grow that much within the short amount of time and just be able to be better. The impact, I feel like that was the first project myself and a whole team of people came together to create. The feeling was beautiful, the experience too, because the original team that created it is not tightknit as before, everyone is in a different spot right now. I feel like we made a project that was ahead of its time, even for me as an artist, my delivery is much better, our production skills are much better. It was really a project that I needed for my growth, that was my green-light that I needed to do music because I could handle a 12 tracks album neatly and execute properly.
49th Street: How did you feel with the Empawa Co-Sign, how did you feel when you were picked? What did you learn with working with a powerhouse like that?
Moss; Looking back at it, I was pretty excited because I never really believed in challenges so I did not really plan on going for it. We had recorded just me putting a cover of forbidden fruit together, I do that for lyrical exercise, like just throw away record and put it together. So we had it down even before the Empawa thing and it was just like close to the end and I just thought ‘I will just go for it’, even if it does not go through, just to get the exposure. At that point in time, I was not surprised really when I got picked because I know my content and I knew it was not based off likes. Well, working with them errrm, we did not work together past the Boom project. I did not get to meet with Eazi or any of the exec, basically they just acted like a financing body if you will for young artistes and their songs and projects. I don’t know if I got the full work experience with them but it was really a great thing to have a video directed by Adasa Cookey and try my hand out on a mainstream output, we did like 25000 streams. I think we put out a good video, I think that’s cool.
49th Street: That’s really amazing. Good to know it was worthwhile, another reason for other artistes out there aspiring for this opportunity, to keep their heads up and keep pushing. Moving on, Boom was a different vibe to your sound, did you achieve what you wanted to with the song?
Moss: (laughs) Ah bro, the different vibe. No matter how I explain it, most people will say it’s a different vibe and that’s mainly because of the music I put out, people really don’t know what I make. Ultimately, I will make say, yeah my greatest strength will be rapping, making Hip-Hop records, my ability to make killer hooks and just work on records that slap pretty silly. Talking on Boom, when we got Empawa, we had some actual rap songs down but for some reason we just did not believe in them, it had nothing to do with the quality of the song, it was more about the market. I wanted to come out as the rap guy but I did not know how they will respond you know, this is not SA or Zimbabwe. So it was going to be something fit for radio so people have to listen, something more like their style anyways, we wanted it to keep it true to the Hip-Hop and Alternative root, we went for something upbeat but also having a dark tune to it, just the vibes, the Caribbean sound. I think I achieved what I wanted to with that song because the amount of people that responded to boom positively was pretty wild. People started coming out to say ‘oh you sing too, that’s crazy?’ which is weird ‘cause I have a lot of joints that are unreleased that I do a lot of this. It’s just the ability to make commercial records that could be dancehall inspired and the likes, I think that was pretty cool. Most people don’t know by the way (laughs) but shout-out to Jola Bello, she was the voice for the hook, the sample part of it.
49th Street: Blood Eyez looks like everyone’s favorite off the project, what inspired the song?
Moss: Blood Eyez was actually like, when I got the beat err, I was just going through couple things you know, I normally write on the spot if I am feeling something and I was just like ‘I was on the grind with the blood eyez’ which is the struggle of a young Ibadan rapper which is me, that’s why when I threw the hook, I was talking about my relations with women, like ‘oh I can’t be your saviour girl not I but I can hit your spots like dead eye. The whole idea of it was just this is me going through my daily struggles as a rapper, I am always going to be doing the hustling thing but sadly I am still going to have some sad relations with women that sort of inspire some of these projects and stuff like that and I am tired of saving romantic interests I have had in my life but you know, it’s still part of my ‘struggles’ so I just felt to make something to just express all that I was feeling, so it was to make something that mixes both inside it, so that’s the whole inspiration behind the song.
49th Street: The depth―amazing. What do you want this EP to do for you? What are you trying to achieve?
Moss: Well, what I would want for Take2 is for people to see how it goes from different genres from trap to Hip-Hop to Afrobeat mid-tempo to slow R&B, I would like people to see my versatility because it’s a pretty short project that people can quickly run through. I want it to be evident of my ability to go across multiple genres and still be able to tell a cohesive story across just even 3 and this is something I can repeat for more than 1 project, this is something I can do, like if I am putting out another one, it’s going to be that great, they are going to be able to see what I can bring to the table.
49th Street: The diversity card, interesting. This is definitely something to look forward to, it already sounds like a well put together delicacy. Has the Corona virus pandemic affected marketing plans? How have you been coping?
Moss: Err I feel like this might as well be the time for streaming and such to go up in Nigeria because basically it was not much of a powerhouse before but now everyone is indoors, a lot of people are doing more streaming. Marketing wise, there is a lot of stuff that we could not do, we were meant to have the video of blood eyez done to come out with the project. We had to improverise with a lot of stuff that we make on the spot, so definitely it always affects but we are making do, finding new ways and evolving. We made an entire change to the videos we were meant to do before, just new ways of promoting the project like the take2 challenge.
49th Street: Great. The pandemic has definitely forced enterprises and everyone at large, to open their minds to a vast array of possibilities, almost seeming like a gift and a curse. You made a reference ‘being reckless in a city that’s hectic’ on Deathwish, how will you describe your relationship with Ibadan?
Moss: (laughs) err my relationship with Ibadan, it’s a very cool place, I love the peace that comes with this place, it gives me inspiration because there is not too much noise around here. My problem is, it does not have a great music history unlike lagos whether its music from time or contemporary music history, Ibadan is just really not the place right now. The audience is untapped and it’s a goldmine. It’s something we (new artistes) are all working towards. We just haven’t gone out there to get it, we have not brought all the crowds together, put the proper festivals together, we have not gotten the people involved in our music and our journeys yet, but it’s stuff we are working on and I will really love to see Ibadan grow.
49th Street: Retour Entertainment is run by you and your friends, what’s the vision?
Moss: Yeah err, basically comprises of music and visuals for now. In terms of like the music bit, its myself, Mockingbird (my brother), Judo, Dedo, Deji Alaka for graphics and other affiliations like AudioMonkey. I think the vision is just really to create something as independent artistes but maybe later on in the future when things kick off more, we will be able to put out more artistes on with our ability to make videos. We are still working with some Ibadan artistes making more budget friendly videos for them. Right now, it’s just to have a cohesive unit of people that can create things like graphics, videography, branding and couple of promoters.
49th Street: Do you think you need to leave your current location to be able to do more musically?
Moss: Yes and No. I feel if more of us keep leaving, nothing will change in terms of the music scene in Ibadan because if we move, it’s really only Lagos anyone will go to and its pretty saturated right now. It’s the internet age, there is a lot of ways you can promote music without being in a particular place, for example, the Alte Kids. So I feel we don’t really need to relocate but we need to be shuttling between both places trying to reach out to more musically inclined places and that’s what I will do because the scene in Ibadan is really not great yet but my presence will still be felt here working with artistes and all that.
49th Street: Talking about your creative process, how do you feel when you write and create new sounds?
Moss: My creative process really deals with having an idea of what I am trying to create before-hand, or I could be served a beat, I usually go with the first couple things that come to my mind, I tend to write like the first day. I start from the hook, from there I move to the verses and go around it. The first line is always the hardest to get. Creating new sounds is always amazing for me, especially if it’s a song that sounds good when raw, you just know people will like it too.
49th Street: If you had a chance to work with any artiste of your choice right now, who will it be?
Moss: Locally, I will say Burna Boy for sure, I actually have a record I have been trying to get him on. I like the likes of Rema and Omah Lay, I think they are pretty cool, those are couple of the people I could look into collaborating with, I like their sound and what they bring to the table. Past that, if its international, it will be dependent on what the song is basically for, if it’s something like a commercial hit, I will definitely call Drake. If it’s something more soul and meaningful, I will definitely think a Kendrick Lamar/J Cole collab will be really neat.
49th Street: What other interests do you have apart from making music?
Moss: Apart from music, I am a video director and photographer. I create music videos for other artistes, weddings, documentaries and the likes. I used to be in sports a lot but not much these days.
49th Street: You have a lot of versatility going on, in and out of the music. That’s awesome. Looking into the future, what do you hope to achieve?
Moss; I just want to carve out space for myself, as hopeful as I am, I am still a realist. I know where Hip-Hop is at, it’s not a great spot. I don’t think trying to become the number 1 genre in the country is going to be something to manage but carving out a space for artistes like myself will be a great step forward towards achieving the goal which is to make my music very dominant in this space. I don’t really know about owning the whole space, just need people that will ride for me, people that listen to the music very intensely, a steady fanbase and the likes. That’s all I hope to achieve for now, at least short term goals.
49th Street: What’s a controversial opinion you have?
Moss; I don’t think I am a controversial person but if there’s anything I feel is an unpopular opinion I have is regarding the state of Hip-Hop in Nigeria, I don’t think anyone has done anything tangible for the up and coming generation of Hip-Hop artistes. Everyone who made it say they have done the most but in actuality they just really don’t do anything and everyone is just up for self-preservation, I don’t have a problem with it.
I don’t think it’s correct people preaching they did this for the game, it’s not very correct, it’s not about saying it, it’s about the actions, how many upcoming acts did you put on? How many people did they put on? If I were to have a controversial opinion, that will be it.
49th Street: Interesting—and very truthful too. Lastly, what do you have to say to your fans?
Moss: I don’t know if I have fans but I know I have people that are very intense followers of my music and people that check them out a lot, so I will just say just keep doing what you are doing and just keep pushing the music, so far you like what we do, we will keep doing it. Let’s just try to get it as far as possible.
