Nigerian singer, Urban in a recent interview with Opera News NG talked about a lot of things, his musical career, possible collaborations, the inspiration behind his cover of Davido’s hit song among others.
Urban captured the mind of many after jumping on Davido’s hit song ‘Blow My Mind’ where he dropped his rap skills to the beat.
Watch the video below:
Who is Urban and how did you come about the name?
Urban is a rapper, singer and songwriter. A big lover of sound and arts in general.
The name Urban basically interprets who I am as a person, I am very unique and I bring a positive Aura anywhere I go. It was a name given to me by my lecturer back in school, he felt I was very Hippie so he would call me the Urban kid, I liked the name and I stuck with it.
What drew you into the music industry?
Basically, my love for music drew me into making music, it was a long battle for me, I had to think if my family would approve of my choice to do music. I have always loved music as a child, my father loved to play music from his old cassette player, also my late mother. So at an early age I was exposed to sounds of great music makers like, sir Shina Peter, the late Fela, Bongos Ikwue and other great music makers which really drew my attention to want to do this.
I picked up more interest when I got exposed to foreign sounds from the likes of notorious BIG, R.kelly, Nas, Jay-z, and some other foreign influences. I made up my mind in 2009 to start recording music while I was studying Mining engineering in school. Through the guidance of my then producer Emly, I started to record songs and that was how my journey started.
Who are you inspired by?
Literally, I am inspired by everything and everybody, I like to pick out the positives from every sound or artist I listen to and inculcate that into my music. I am a huge lover and promoter of the African sound and vibe, so rhythm, beats, sounds, joy, happiness, and energy gets me all inspired. I can basically say the pure love of the arts.
Please explain your creative process?
My creative process is pretty unique, I love to create up melodies in my head and then think of a storyline and then I start to write. I am an artist who is so passionate about expressing himself with well thought out lyrics and love to say something people can relate with both here and outside the country as well, basically I am very concerned about what I say in my music. I also love to listen to good beats and write on them as well. When I feel the connection to a beat I am definitely going to vibe and create something out of it.
What’s your music genre?
I’ll like to say my genre is Afro-fusion. I like to infuse my African culture and roots into songs, whether I am rapping or singing. I basically like to explore with my sound, so you can hear me doing some funk song, or real hip-hop songs with of course my Afro influence on them.
How long have you been in the industry?
I have been making music since 2009, but technically I would say I started professionally in 2011 when I joined HCOMUSIC. 8 years now, been a while.
You recently jumped on Davido’s hit song ‘Blow My Mind’ What inspired your decision to that?
Huh Blow My Mind is a huge record, and of course, Davido is a huge music figure in the country and putting such a huge collaboration with Chris brown was massive. I listened to the song the first time it dropped and I like the tune, I felt I could switch it up a little bit with the rap flows, and so far everybody has had positives to say about the song.
Do you have any recent work of your own?
Yes, I have a lot of songs recorded and set to drop, I am definitely coming out with a new single titled Miami Nights produced by stevjazz, I will also drop visuals to that as well. There is definitely a lot of work in the pipeline and we are set to go.
Which musician would you love to collaborate with?
In terms of collaboration, I definitely look forward to working with a lot of artists both locally and internationally, it would be an honor to be on a track with arts like Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Wizkid of course, I am a huge admirer of Jesse Jagz, Davido as well. Out of the shores of this country, it would be a dream to be on the same record as Jay-Z, Pharell Williams, and Jhene Aiko.
If you had one message to give to your fans, what would it be?
To everybody supporting the music and brand, I would love to say a big thank you to them, and I definitely hope the support keeps getting better. I would love to say to everybody out there to keep the positive energy up, love and support Nigerian music and sound and we definitely can achieve a lot through the entertainment industry for sure.
