Tomi Owó doesn't need to be heartbroken to write about heartbreak

Music In Africa: How did you start recording music?

TOMI OWÓ: I’ve always loved music and songwriting, so in 2015 I began making songs with my producer/brother, and then put out my first song, 'Pieces'.

You are generally considered to be out of the mainstream. Would you say it is incredibly difficult to remain true to your sound considering pop music's dominance? Have you been tempted to record some shaku shaku song, for example?

No, it isn’t difficult for me. I’m quite in my happy place. My musical output is largely innate, and is generally soulful, infused with sounds that evolve as I grow as an artist.

Are love songs your forte?

Not really. I’d write five songs about other things before I write one love song. However, most of the songs from my EP, Pieces, are love-angled, exploring pain and hope in love, not particularly the romantic side of things.

Your Nostalgia Sessions feature some wonderful songs stretched out across countries and decades—what inspired the idea? And if you were to pick one of your performances which would it be?

Nostalgia Sessions was inspired by every single artist I enjoyed listening to while growing up, and their amazing repertoire. Think Sade, Angelique Kidjo, Corinne Bailey Rae. We made acoustic covers of a few of these songs. If I could at the time, I’d have made more, because there were so many amazing songs to choose from. The sessions are my way of saying thank you to them for their music. My favourite from the sessions is 'You Gotta Be', by Des’ree.

Your song ‘Versus’ is a fan favourite. When do we get a video for it?

Thank you! Soon. It’s a special song and I and the team want to make sure the video is even more special.

You are a singer-songwriter. Could you walk us through the process of writing a Tomi Owó song?

Most times, I decide on the subject matter either by inspiration or conscious effort, identify my angle, and create from there, with the aid of my guitar or keyboard. Some I’ve written within an hour, some within weeks. Other times, my producer and I sit down and build the music, (with him at the computer doing most of the work while I talk away, of course) which I then write to.

Could you talk about how your new song 'Linger' came together and what were the influences?

I wrote 'Linger' for an audiovisual campaign for Samsung Nigeria, put together by HelaBase, creators of Afrocentric popular culture entertainment. I was given a few ideas to explore. After reviewing everything, I began writing. There were hardly any personal influences. I believe that one doesn’t need to be going through heartbreak to write about heartbreak. I drew from the emotion of heartbreak and not letting go to write 'Linger'.

The video is described as the product of Samsung and Helabase. Is this an ongoing collaboration?

The video for 'Linger' is audiovisual content that creates a cultural connect between the tech giant’s product and the Nigerian market. Music connects people, and with 'Linger', and other visuals created for this campaign, creators HelaBase are pushing the boundaries of what music can do. It’s an ongoing collaboration, and we have some more music in the works.

The video for the song was just released. Where you insistent on having a video that stayed true to the song’s lyrics in terms of mood and subject? How were you able to pull this off?

It was a very collaborative effort. The creative team for the project and mine worked with the same vision, ensuring that we got the best results possible.

What next for Tomi Owó?

I’ve been working on my debut LP, and I’m pretty psyched about it. It’s out this year.

Listen to more songs by Tomi Owó on Soundcloud.