SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
And finally today, the singer Obongjayar has a new album out. It's called "Paradise Now." The Nigerian-born singer, who moved to the U.K. when he was a teenager, says he draws inspiration from all over the world, and that was on full display in this album. We caught up with him to learn more about the process of making the album and to hear about a few standout tracks.
(SOUNDBITE OF OBONGJAYAR SONG, "MOON EYES")
OBONGJAYAR: The funny thing about "Moon Eyes" is that it's about another LA love of mine, but someone I've known for a very long time.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MOON EYES")
OBONGJAYAR: (Singing) Moon eyes, you look so sweet. Hanging here right next to me. Moon eyes, my baby, ooh, sunlight hits you perfectly.
I just watched the sun hit her face, and it was one of those beautiful mornings where you look at someone and you just realizing all the things that she'd done for me and how good a friend she'd been to me and maybe how horrible I might have been to her - not horrible, but not as good a friend to her as she was to me - just appreciating her in that moment.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MOON EYES")
OBONGJAYAR: (Singing) What'd I do to deserve you? What'd I do to deserve you? What'd I do to deserve you? What'd I do to deserve you?
I wanted to write something to let her know that I actually really did appreciate her as a person, as a friend and someone in my life.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MOON EYES")
OBONGJAYAR: (Singing) Out of nowhere, you swept me. My flaws are many. My scars are heavy. Took down my armor so delicately.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JELLYFISH")
OBONGJAYAR: (Rapping) How you sell your soul for numeral. No backbone, you jellyfish. Oui, oui, oui. Ooh, la-la. Sir, you're a yes man.
"Jellyfish," I think I wrote it at a time when Rishi Sunak was prime minister in the U.K., and this is just in the early stages of the war in Palestine.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JELLYFISH")
OBONGJAYAR: (Rapping) Too real for this world. Too real for this world. Too real for this world. Too real for this world.
This is something I could not respect, especially with the situation that was going on and how brutal the whole thing has been. I was really, really mad at the whole situation, and I just wrote a song about it, calling out the British government for their stance on the war in Palestine.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JELLYFISH")
OBONGJAYAR: (Rapping) How you sell your soul for numeral. No backbone, you jellyfish. Oui, oui, oui. Ooh, la-la. Sir, you're a yes man. How you sell your soul for numeral. No backbone, you jellyfish. Oui, oui, oui. Ooh, la-la. Sir, you're a yes man.
Lyrically, you don't have to write in a particular type of way to get your point across or to say something. You just say need to say - be how you are and speak how you speak and say what you would say, rather than try to twist and turn and go around in circles. I think it's just - it was a very important for me to be very direct and straight to the point. So I think that's what I learned making this record.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JUST MY LUCK")
OBONGJAYAR: (Singing) I want to be part of the band.
"Just My Luck," I mean, I guess I've been writing "Just My Luck" for a long time, just through different stages of my life and trying to come to terms with missing out on things and not getting the things that I want - I thought I wanted at certain times in my life.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JUST MY LUCK")
OBONGJAYAR: (Singing) Just my luck. I didn't get what I wanted. It was just what I needed to keep me going. Just my luck. I'm in the wrong place, making a good time, making a good time.
The melody of it and the music of it is quite nice, fun, happy-go-lucky song. But deep within it, it's almost like a realization of not necessarily getting what you want. And it's sad to - it's sad when you don't get the things that you want. It's not a nice feeling, recognizing that those things might not necessarily be things that you need in life, you know? So it's like that kind of, like, contrast.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JUST MY LUCK")
OBONGJAYAR: (Vocalizing). (Singing) Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky. (Vocalizing). (Singing) Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky. Just my luck.
I think I learned that room for magic, man. Make room for magic. Let it. You can't control every single aspect of it. It was more about having fun and just being in the moment, creating music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWEET DANGER")
OBONGJAYAR: (Singing) Saving me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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