{"id":117449,"date":"2022-12-20T17:14:30","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T15:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=117449"},"modified":"2022-12-20T17:14:39","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T15:14:39","slug":"somadina-heavenly-undeniable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/somadina-heavenly-undeniable\/","title":{"rendered":"Somadina and the sweet danger of the heavenly undeniable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201c<\/strong>That title is just constant reassurance to myself. You are heavenly, undeniable\u2026 Remain in your purpose and know where you’re heading,<\/em>\u201d Somadina recounts from her Lagos residence, \u201cand now the vision is just so clear.<\/em>\u201d Looking into the neon haze of Somadina\u2019s cover, half of the emergent pop star’s face evaporating into an electric-mist, the clarity of vision in non-obvious. Pressing play, you\u2019ll find yourself at one moment in an ambient bop, the next at a hyper-pop pitstop, before closing in on indie-rock or minimalist r&b. But, as we\u2019ll come to learn, Somadina is genre-fluid, a geographical juxta-person, a cool-kid outsider… Initially intrigued by the single, \u201cY I Want U\u201d, that felt somewhere close to maryyx2’s Silent Noise<\/a><\/em>, it was the barrage of blue checkmarks and alt\u00e9 insiders that populated the comment section of her Instagram posts that was totally unignorable. Either the radar machine was broken or there was a story still untold. Ockham’s razor quickly cut the mystery in half, but not before an album drop, an interview and a little research into the person and muses that shaped the young Nigerian artist\u2019s debut, Heart Of the Heavenly Undeniable (HOTHU).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI grew up a lot with r&b, listening to the legends like John Legend, Brandy, Beyonce\u2026 and gospel as well. That’s what my dad played in the house growing up in the Netherlands<\/em>,\u201d Somadina explains of her early childhood. \u201cI always say that’s where my music roots come from.<\/em>\u201d Musical roots often finding topsoil in the discography of our parents, Somadina\u2019s beginnins are a reflection of this domestic soundscape. Listening to her early work, like 2018\u2019s \u201cIhy\u201d, it\u2019s full of throwback r&b influences. The single, which stands for, \u201cI Hate You\u201d nonetheless captures some of the thematic foundation that Somadina will carry throughout her music. A little touch of sugar. A shameless pinch of spice. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely that sweetness with the danger. I always liked the juxtaposition of two very opposite things like being sweet or being dangerous cause that really is me,<\/em>\u201d Somadina confirms. Continue on to \u201cLay Low\u201d in 2019 there\u2019s as much love as there is disdain. And though these tracks are dated by release, the songwriting can sometimes be anachronistic. For example, Somadina mentions the 2022 album closer \u201cCitrus Tears\u201d was written when she was still 19. Dripping with the same seductive nectar of a Kehlani\u2019s \u201cHoney<\/a>\u201d, the wide-open productions reveal a musical comfort zone that leans heavily on Somadina\u2019s vocal chops.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chukwuka Nwobi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Somadina didn\u2019t choose to make an r&b album. In fact, Somadina didn\u2019t set out to make any \u201ckind\u201d of album at all. \u201cWhen it comes to the basic pre-production, like writing and creating the music, I do what comes to my heart almost all the time.<\/em>\u201d Intuition can be like a hammer; useful in one hand, a liability in the other. But it\u2019s safe to say Soma \u201cnailed\u201d it. The indie rock on \u201cEverybody Bleeds\u201d or the pop-rock Avril Lavigne(y) \u201cWDYWFM (feat. L0la)\u201d don\u2019t fall flat. \u201cI had never experimented with rock music. I just did that last year,<\/em>\u201d Somadina admits. And maybe that\u2019s why it has an adolescent innocence that lets us forgive the appropriative qualities. Or maybe it\u2019s the thoughtful compositions with surprising detours that leave us smiling. \u201cImagine Giving A Fvck (feat. Virgo)\u201d and \u201cWDYWFM (feat. L0la)\u201d both have sinking refrains, while \u201cEverybody Bleeds\u201d stands out with the lyrics alone. The newfound rock input can be chalked up to Somadina\u2019s recent trip to L.A. where serendipity plays its frequent hand; like when she stumbled into a writing camp with Amaarea as she was putting together HOTHU<\/em>. \u201cThat wasn’t even planned. We were there at the same time, and that just happened,<\/em>\u201d Soma brushes off with nonchalance. This wasn\u2019t the first time Somadina linked up with her tribe while abroad. In rockstar style, Somadina also snuck on tour with Odunsi while studying in the UK, frustrated with school and feeling isolated. \u201cHe had a UK tour and I remember that was my first year in uni,<\/em>\u201d she laughs, \u201cI would just skip school. They were sending me emails like, \u2018You need to come back\u2019 and \u2018you’ve been away from school for so long,\u2019 but I didn’t care.<\/em>\u201d No fvcks given. Finally, between the Southern Cal sunshine and the punk rock truancy there\u2019s plenty in Somadina\u2019s bio to explain the electric guitar attitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what of this alt\u00e9 inner circle that pops up around the world? Apparently Somadina wasn\u2019t \u201cin\u201d overnight. \u201cI came in as an outsider because I didn’t grow up in Nigeria.<\/em>\u201d she says of her first run-ins with Nigeria\u2019s unofficial cool-kids. \u201cBut I was always alternative. I was a tomboy when I grew up. I used to skate and shit. Then when I came in and there were just these people with colorful hair, always doing their thing and always doing it independently. That was massive.<\/em>\u201d Nonetheless it\u2019s hard to imagine it taking too long before the young artist was on the inside. It\u2019s a scene that isn\u2019t as exclusive as it is exceptional. \u201cPeople are their own creative directors, their own videographers, their own producers. Everyone kind of plays their own instruments. Everyone can do almost everything, right? So, I don’t wanna say it makes it competitive, but it makes you really wanna put your work in,<\/em>\u201d Somadina explains. A meritocratic mecca for those praying in the direction of their own passions. Despite the high standards, there\u2019s a social fiber that keeps the scene together. \u201cIt’s very supportive because we’re like, I don’t wanna say the outcasts in Nigeria, but obviously there are certain principles that average Nigerians have. So when you are so outspoken and you’re so alternative and different and embracing different variations of yourself and sexualities, it can be hard. But then at the same time, you find pockets within yourselves. So everyone who understands each other really understands each other.<\/em>\u201d Somadina says, throwing in, \u201cand<\/em> as much as afrobeats is gonna be here to stay, alternative culture is one of those breeding cultures that have taken so long to grow, you set a foundation so rock solid, it doesn’t shake. It might take a long time to get where it needs to get to, but it’s not gonna shake.<\/em>\u201d A small paradise? Sounds like it. As much in description as on the ethereal song produced by Odunsi (The Engine) and featuring The Cavemen.<\/a> drummer Benjamin James.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chukwuka Nwobi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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But there\u2019s also parallels to Nigeria\u2019s not so distant past, and Somadina has drawn the lines. A major inspiration for Somadina creatively was discovering the treasure chest of psychedelic Nigerian rock. \u201cI found it at a point in my life when I needed new music, when I needed fresh ideas,<\/em>\u201d she explains. \u201cI found the Ladju Sisters, William Onyeabor<\/a>\u2026 William Onyeabor is a genius in his own right. I’ve never seen anyone make art like that, make sounds like that! So someone making that in the seventies is so crazy to me. Especially because people don’t know about that outside and even inside Nigeria. It was just a thing I’d never heard. Ebenezer Obey\u2026 There’s so many! And when I found it, I really liked the sound. I liked the fact that the sound felt nostalgic and it felt futuristic. It felt like the collision of two worlds when you listen to it. You can hear the past, but it also feels like the future. And that’s what I really, really wanted to bring into my music. Not in the exact same way cause I just can’t do it the way they do it. But in my way.<\/em>\u201d Dusting the album for nostalgic future gems, \u201cDreams\u201d is a clear stand out. The choice of synths that spit with electric lips and the saturated echoes place the track in its own time and space. The same goes for \u201cSmall Paradise\u201d, the closest the project comes to a masterpiece. Put that one on repeat and sit in a dark room and it\u2019ll take you somewhere special. The club oriented \u201cDirty Line\u201d featuring Zamir also has an experimental touch with a retro-future soundspace. Onyeabor would (or may) be proud.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so despite the blue mist, there\u2019s clarity in the haze. A project born from globetrotting and grinding. A modern fire lit with the flint of experimental classics. A feat not easily packaged or punched. It would, however, be a lie to say it was all some deliberate gathering of the many elements from the get-go. \u201cThe project sounded very different before I mixed it. A lot of the intentionality was actually in post-production. That’s when I was really like, okay, I wanna push this and break the boundaries of this,<\/em>\u201d Somadina admits. Still the wax has been pressed on what is one of the more surprising albums of 2022. A feeling and purpose better left said by Somadina herself. \u201cHonestly, it just came from me really finding my faith and finding my purpose. As much as I’ve always made music for myself and I always try to make music authentic to myself, I also realize I’m not making music only for myself. I have a role too. I have a responsibility as an artist, as a creator that God has instilled in me, which I believe not everybody might understand or even relate or think that’s true, but that’s what I feel my purpose is. And I wanna make sure that my art is meaningful and it’s impactful to not just Nigerians, but everyone across the world, across the globe.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen to Heart Of the Heavenly Undeniable (HOTHU)<\/a> <\/em>out now\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nigerian artist Somadina builds on her panoply of experience for a debut that includes Nollywood punk, afro-psychedelic future nostalgia, indie rock and an alternative spirit that\u2019s both wild and weird, sweet and dangerous.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":117456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7833,7835],"tags":[10639,4096,41312,23807],"location":[8172],"yst_prominent_words":[8403,9259,8414,8447,8618,8402,8435,9006,14736,8543,8619,10078],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117449"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117449"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=117449"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=117449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}