Meet rapper Obi, talking all things 'Swear Down', musically differences, and his three goal phases.

Today we are joined with Obi, East London's finest rapper, producer and singer to talk about his new single 'Swear Down' and how he came up with the track, touching on his dreams through different phases, a story on how he got into making music, and of course, some beautiful advice for anyone who may currently need it. A huge thank you to Obi for his time and efforts in speaking with us, be sure to head over to Instagram and drop him a follow on @hashtagobi to be able to keep up with all new music and all things Obi.

Hey Obi, please can you give a short introduction just on who you are and what you do for anyone that isn't currently aware?

Hi, my name's Obi, I'm a rapper, producer, singer, based in East London. Making fun, pop-rap music, blending afrobeats, punk rock, grime, hip-hip, pop music, cinematic styles of film scores, but mainly under the umbrella of pop-rap.

And how does music make you feel on a personal level?

It makes me feel connected to the people around me, the people who receive the art, I think every time I sit down to make something or perform something, I learn more about myself on a deeper level, learn more about my fears, thing's I'm good at and things I could lean into more, specific emotions and feelings.

Who inspires you to continue to do what you do?

Musically, I'd say JME, Tyler the Creator, Hans Zimmer, Childish Gambino, the founder of Pokemon Satoshi Tajiri, and future versions of myself, I think every day I'm striving to be better and do different things.

How did you get into music?

Funny, not so funny story, I didn't used to listen to a lot of rap music growing up 'cause my mum didn't let me but then I started listening to it when I got into Sixth Form, I listened to a lot of Eminem, Jay-Z, Kendrick and then someone in my school said that they were dropping a song and they dropped it, I thought it was horrendous but all of his friends around him were hyping him up, and I was like 'I can do better than this', so I went to the school media room and recorded a song with my friend. It was like a disstrack to his song, the whole school loved it, his friends loved it, my teachers loved it, I was really interested in what the alphabet and the music could do to some people.

Do you remember any of the first artists you had listened to?

Michael Jackson or Britney Spears.

For sure, has the music you listen to changed since then?

Yeah, I'd say so, I try and listen to as many genres as possible. I just try and keep my ears open and not just consume the music I create.

Could you pick a top five artists as of right now?

Bree Runway, Tyler the Creator, Labrinth, Tai Verdes, and Len.

Absolutely, in your opinion, is there a difference between American rap and UK rap?

It depends where you're looking but I would say, the UK tends to have more creative and more daring pieces of rap music when it comes to blending genres or reaching back into the past, 'cause obviously grime is a heavy inspiration to the way a lot of people rap, so I think we have more to pull from, it allows a deeper layer to the way we make rap music.

100%, I've seen you've worked with Spit Game, what's that like for you?

Pretty sick, there's such a wide variety of talent from everyone that stepped up, it's very inspiring to be among all of them, I think they all liked what I had to rap as well, a fun experience.

They're all great guys over there for sure, have you got any dream platforms you would love to work on and be a part of?

I wanna do freestyles for SBTV, warm-up sessions, GRM Daily Duppy, JDZ Media, PacmanTV, I wanna do freestyles for them. I also want to do Live Lounge sessions, and I'd love to have a Tiny Desk performance as well.

All of the classics! Off the top of your head, who's someone that's always on top of their game when it comes to freestyles?

I like Keeya Keys, I remember 2020, 2021, and some of 2022, he was just dropping freestyle videos like every couple of months, and they were just like really funny, he can bar really well and is just good at his job.

He's very cold, what's the goal for you musically?

I try and think of it in phases, the first phase is to create a income, to live off of music, normally anyone creative is working 1, 2, 3 jobs to pay for creative needs, so the goal this year is to make music something I'm living off of and not just living as in pay the bills but living and having a normal life.

The second phase for me is just the goal everyone has, to create my own lane and to carve a niche for myself. Stormzy, Central Cee, Dave, they've all created lanes for themselves and have their own fan base, bringing something niche to the market. I feel like I have that as well, not just how I rap but my production style, the things I do when it comes to video marketing, promotion and making the skits, the way I perform on stage. All of that is there I just need to push a bit more. I just need to create an income to do these things more consistently in order for that to happen. Clothing as well, I've dropped t-shirts before at a show in January and all of my t-shirts sold out. I want to create worlds for people through physically items and experiences, to motivate people.

Phase three is to tour with that fan base, to have things that are publicly recognisable, I'd like to have awards, have songs on the charts. I'd really like an Ivor Novello award, it's a song writing award and I put a lot of time into writing, producing and everything. I really want to be recognised for that on a bigger scale.

We have got to respect it! Let's talk a little bit about your single 'Swear Down', how did that track come about?

So I had a job and tried to balance it. I used to leave like five thirty but they just wanted me to stay longer and do more hours and I got fired. I went home and was annoyed but I wrote the song that day, the day I got fired I was up until like one in the morning and I was listening to some old school Estelle, looking at the way she raps and stuff, I got fired from work and wrote a song, promising myself I was going to blow.

It really does go hard, do you have any advice for anyone trying to get into music?

I want to echo want Esa Rae said about people often climbing a ladder and wanting to work with people bigger than you but just work with the people around you, there's so much talent, there's always someone next door, metaphorically and physically, trying to do the same thing or trying to help. You could be an artist wanting to rap or sing, you could know someone that could help you.

Before we ask you our final question, do you have anything you would like to add or promote?

I'd like to thank SCOOP for giving me a platform and whoever's behind this account. I'd like everyone to go stream 'Swear Down' before it hits a million streams so that you can say you were there before that happens, and I'd like everyone to have a great day, go and have a fucking great day.

We appreciate that a lot, do you have anyone you would like to shout out?

Bianca Baz (@biancabaz12). She dropped a new single called 'Better' which featured in newly released BFI film 'Spin'

For sure, thank you for your time Obi, we appreciate it a lot!