Unorthodox Reviews caught up with Black Avenue Muzik vocal sensation Kobla Jnr. The promising young star details his journey thus far, his musical influences and other intriguing details. Enjoy!
1. What is your musical background and how did your musical journey begin?
I’ve been singing since I was a kid. I’m from a musical family. We even had a family choir headed by my Dad ‘The Celestial Choir’ named after my Grandma. I am the only one who has however taken up music professionally. And I have been doing this for 6 years now.
It started off after I met Skonti (now signed to Madtime Ent). We pushed as a team and dropped a song with YFMs DjGang called ‘Hakuna Matata’ ft Yaw Nanna, Myself & Kwaw Kesse which was produced by Skonti. Then He got signed and I had to do my own thing. I released my 1st Single ‘Kwenam’ in 2016, and then later featured on Paqwan’s AfroBeat Mixtape with a song called ‘Ga Tsidzi O’, following that up with ‘Slap Am’ with Stylin that same year. I then released my first mixtape ‘The Kobla Affair’ in Feb 2017 which featured songs like Smooth & Kwenam. Then finally that year in June I met D-Black.
2. How do you stand out from other artists and how would you describe your own style?
I’m versatile with the music. I can jump on any beat and do my thing. I’m also very good at live band music. Performing live is one of my strongholds. I’m more of an Afro Pop / Afro Beats artist with a western touch & my voice is really commanding and stands out.
3. What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your music career?
The stress you go through as an Independent Artist. I had to put in any money I made off work at the time into the music and my brand just because of the passion & belief I had in myself. Also, studio time, shooting videos, and getting my songs and videos playing on radio and TV was a very big problem for me because my finances couldn’t match up – until recently when I got signed.
4. BLACK AVENUE MUZIK – walk us through how it happened. How has it helped you develop as an artist?
Like I said I met D-Black in 2017, but I had been trying to get his attention since 2015. You know he’s a very busy man and so you need to impress him enough to get his attention. Also, my road manager is his cousin and that’s how he got to hear my music for the first time and believed with the right push I’ll be one of the greats in the industry.
I’m surrounded now with 2 of the best producers in Africa (Dj Breezy & RonyTurnMeUp) so yes, of course, I’ve developed not just as an artist but as a person under Black Avenue Muzik’s supervision
5. What are your thoughts on the current state of music in Ghana? What can be done differently?
Ghana music is the future of African music to the world. Our drums are very forceful, you can’t sit in one place when you hear the kind of music we make. What can be done differently is for our top corporate institutions to help and invest because we can impact the world with our sound, but without the right push it can never happen. Also, there’s a lot of money to be made with the art.
6. What do you hope to achieve with your music?
I’m eager to let the world know Kobla Jnr has a new sound that would rule for eternity and will also impact a lot of lives in a positive way.
7. Do you have interests outside music?
Yes, I do. My first love is music. I’m however also a freelance design consultant and also into agro-processing.
8. Walk us through your creative process.
Making music for me depends on my mood. I used to write to beats. Like, prepare very well before going to the studio cause you have limited time to record [laughs] but now I move with how I feel when I get to the studio. When the beat is dope, the fire in me to record something spectacular is on another level. Also, I always think of a very catchy hook before thinking of my verses cause that’s what will make people fall in love with the song.
9. What would make you want to collaborate with another artist?
When the chemistry between me & the other artist is on point. But hey! I’m down for the challenge so I don’t really mind. I bb ‘Beat Gbee’ so I’ll work with any dope artist on a dope beat when they ready to work with me.
10. Are you currently working on any project? What should we expect from you in the short and distance future?
Yes of course. I’m always working on new music. I’ll be dropping a new single in June which is a follow up to the single I dropped in February, ‘Only You’ featuring Efya, so let’s all look forward to that fire. I also have songs out with my label mates ‘Kokorkor’ and recently ‘Wat A Bam Bum’ and both are doing great!
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