Obaro Ejimiwe’s music is a celebration of modern life, a concoction of impressive, genre-defying beats. Personal yet relatable, he takes the listener down a sonic path inspired by the UK grime scene, delivering outlandish electronica with moody rhymes. Just over 18 months ago, Ejimiwe caught the attention of BBC Radio 1 host, DJ and record label owner Gilles Peterson and signed to his imprint Brownswood Recordings before releasing The Sound Of Strangers EP last year to glowing praise from critics, media and industry folk. It’s been a “rollercoaster” ride since then according to the British MC. Releasing his debut album Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam back in February; Ejimiwe is pushing boundaries with his original, inventive beats and the UK is loving it and salivating for more.
Nominated for the 2011 Mercury Prize alongside the likes of James Blake, Adele and PJ Harvey, Ejimiwe says he was quite nervous before performing Cash And Carry Me Home at the famous UK awards night. “It was lovely to be part of such a thing and seeing so many amazing artists all in one space was just amazing,” he says down the line from his home in London, talking of the evening. It’s definitely a memory that will stay long in the brain bank.”
Over the last 18 months, Ejimiwe has become at ease with the idea of performing live but the live show is something he says is continually evolving. “It was really difficult in the beginning because I wasn’t performing much and it was really [about] trying to perfect things and sometimes when you perfect things, things go wrong and you have to roll with the punches so to speak,” he says. “It helps that I play with a live band and we’re all in it together… when you do something so many times, you start to get used to it. I really enjoy it now.”
Rewind roughly two years ago and Ejimiwe was working a nine to five job – having graduated from university in media production – and was experimenting with sound and rudimentary beats in his spare time. “Subconsciously I wanted to get in as many different sounds from as many different genres as possible but still make it natural, not these ‘lego’ kind of beats,” he says of his bedroom beat-making. “I wanted it to be a natural blend of different sounds and I developed that over time and the results were what came on the album.”
Placing Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam in a genre box has proven difficult to do and Ejimiwe embraces it. “I think it’s a great time to be making music because genres are becoming less and less important and people are now – well I can only really talk of the UK – but people are definitely happy to blend different genres together and that’s not only in underground music, you can see that reflected in music in charts as well,” he says. “I’m happy to be making music now when people are more accepting of the stuff that I’m doing, it could’ve been a completely different scenario five or 10 years ago.”
Although Ejimiwe dabbled with the clarinet, cello and trumpet back in his school days, he doesn’t come from a musically inclined family and so most music making was done in the dead of the night in his bedroom. “It was very covert because I didn’t want to get in trouble [for] not sleeping and not doing my homework so it was very underground and secretive,” he says. It was at Coventry University that he first got into grime and joined a grime collective. “We were going out and DJing and MCing over these instrumentals and popular stuff at the time, it was a great time – that period in my life where it made sense to [do that] until I decided I wanted to create my own thing.”
Inspired by the likes of Sampha, Kwes and Micachu whom he believes are breaking the rules so to speak, there are a few artists who are pushing boundaries musically who have caught his attention recently. “People like James Blake, he’s got quite a lot of interesting things,” he says. “A guy called Fantastic Mr Fox, people like Hudson Mohawke. Electronic music – even though I wouldn’t say I like one particular genre more than anything else – electronic music I always seem to go back to more than anything else and I love the idea of manipulating sound and adding into music stuff that shouldn’t be there like every day life sounds. Electronic music is definitely developing into something amazing right now.”
Making his Australian tour debut shortly, Ejimiwe says he just wants fans to have a good time at his gigs. “If you haven’t seen me live before you may be surprised by what you may hear,” he says. “I use a guitarist and a drummer for my live shows and there’s elements on the record that it’s not the same as the live experience and that can be surprising. I just hope people enjoy it really, come out with an open mind and get involved and that’s what I’m looking for more than anything else.” Aside from being on a mission to sort some DJ gigs while on tour down under, there’s one more thing Ejimiwe is keen to achieve – “I really want to have a traditional Aussie barbie, that’s important.”
