Emmanuel Bamidele released an intriguing tape this year. The tape, Conflicted EP. He played with a series of hip-hop sounds from different eras. The tape is a cocktail of the West and East Coast styles of hip-hop with a variety of flows and delivery. One would be convinced the young emcee decided to flex his range and ability on the tape.
Asides from his sonic side, he also shows off his cadence and lyrical ability as he drops subtle bars and punchlines up and around each song. This makes it difficult for one to have a favourite song or a favourite part, as he continues to demand your attention with every passing line in his verses. His chemistry with the featured acts was also uniform and spectacular.
I digress. This isn’t a review of his project, rather, it is the JJC of the 22-year-old emcee, Emmanuel B, a University of Manitoba Economics and Business Management graduate.
Background
I grew up exposed to a variety of different genres of music. My dad loves music and most of my childhood memories of him were made jamming to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Not just pop music though, my dad also introduced us to Afro-Beats with great musicians like Fela, KSA, Yinka Ayefele. Over time, we got into Afro-Pop with 2Face and P-Square.
It was always a pleasure to get into the car with my dad and just vibe till we got to our destination. Music became more than just a sensation or feeling to us, it became an avenue for us to bond. We could talk for hours about our favourite artists and how their styles of music differed. Our shared love and taste in music kept us close even when I left home for boarding school.
Those were truly my best days! It was equally amazing when I found people in school who shared this love as well.
First encounter with Hip-hop
The first hip-hop track I ever listened to was Candy Shop by 50 Cent. Although I heard it in passing, I remember thinking it sounded really good. However, A Milli by Lil Wayne got me hooked on Hip-hop; his flow and lyrics hit me even as young as I was, in 2009. It was very unlike the kind of music I was used to. This was aggressive, more vulgar and it caught my attention instantly.
I can still rap a lot of the lyrics on the record! It wasn’t just the music though, it was the style of dressing, the confidence it seemed to come with, and the swag. It was just something else.
Writing Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop Head To Emcee
I started writing my own lyrics as far back as 2010 when I was in JSS 2. Looking back, it was definitely sub-par, but my guys felt I had potential, so they kept encouraging me. In my senior years, I became more serious and began performing in the school chapel where even my seniors began to take interest and were anticipating my next performance.
Although I garnered a reputation as a musical talent I wasn’t fully convinced until I got introduced to To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar in 2015. I fell in love and knew this was exactly what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to write on that level. I spent about 3 hours every day on genius deciphering each line of every song. It took me about 2 months to get through the entire album.
I wanted to write like Kendrick, so I began putting hours into practising. In hindsight, a lot of it was trash (lol), but it set the foundations to be the rapper I am now.
Most underrated song
I’ve generally received great reactions from my records so I wouldn’t say anyone is particularly underrated. However, I do wish Clown Szn was more appreciated. Although it has a great bounce to it, a lot of lyrical depth wasn’t uncovered by most listeners.
Worst song/verse
Asides from the funny lines I wrote in high school, I don’t think I have a song where my pen wasn’t flexed. I’m very particular about my art, so I take my time to work on the quality of the music. The more I grow as an artist, the more I look back on my old tracks and see areas of improvement. Though I’m much better, I’m still very satisfied with those tracks as they reflected my level of skill at the time. I do think I didn’t give enough care to the production quality of Clown Szn.
Plans
I’m already building the foundational thoughts for my debut album.
Honestly, I don’t know where music is going to take me but I’m very excited to see what the future holds for me. I promised my younger self not to give up without releasing an album and that’s what I’m gunning for. It’s my job to record, release and promote as much as possible.
Everything else is in God’s hands.
