Nigerian singer/songwriter/fashion designer Marenikae’s unique blend of African and western musical and clothing styles sets her apart from a vast majority of today’s artists, offering something new and refreshing for both your eyes and ears.
You grew up in Nigeria, Africa, how did it influence your music?
Growing up in Nigeria definitely influenced my music. I was priviledge to grow up in a creative and artistic family. Being exposed to different kinds of Nigerian music… There are over 369 ethnic groups in Nigeria. Every one of them sounds different. People have different music, different cultures. Being around that in itself made me appreciate different kinds of music and being exposed to western music as well.
My dad started one the first record labels in Nigeria, creating a specific kind of sound. Just seeing that process helped inform me and helped me create my own sound.
With that said, how would you describe your sound?
My sound is described as Afro-Merge, that what I call it. I decided to name it because every single time we would play the music for people or perform, people would always say that it sounded it little like this and a little like that. They would ask “What is it?” I would try to give other names, saying it was just pop or contemporary music, but it was never really enough for people. I decided to dive into all my influences and came up with the name because it explains the mixture… It’s interesting.
A lot of cultures from around the globe are often taken aback at the rapid speed westerner’s consume music, what are your thoughts on that?
I feel it’s just how the world is now. We have shorter attention spans. I do know in Nigeria as well as other African countries, between albums people are dropping single after single. I guess it’s just something that the whole world is experiencing right now because our attentions spans are just shorter.
You play a major role in the fashion style you display in your performances and music videos, are you looking to expand into fashion?
I already have a clothing line called Makan Gid’n. It came about pretty much from me designing stuff for myself and my dancers. People would always stop us asking where they could buy it so I launched my clothing line in 2016. We had a really huge show featuring Jessica White. It was really amazing.
As far as your album, tell us the impression you hope to make with your listeners around the world.
The strongest message is pretty much be proud of who are and where you come from. That’s the impression that I want to make. We live in a time where people are constantly trying to keep up with the Joneses and present different versions of themselves to all of the different people they come across. It may just be my view but no matter who you are or where you come from, just continue to stay true to who you are.
With everything that is currently going on here in America on the political landscape, how has it affected your perception of our country?
My opinion may ne very unpopular but there are different levels of struggle, different levels of problems. As bad as Americans may think America is, it is a whole lot better than most places around the globe. The fact that you can get up and protest your government… The fact that you can make jokes about Trump on social media and not get disappeared in the night is a huge priviledge in itself.
For the past two years, there has been a genocide in Cameroon and they have banned public protest. For the past three years, anyone caught protesting, students and such, have been disappearing from their homes. Having lived on both sides of the situation, it has given me more of a world view.
My opinion may ne very unpopular but there are different levels of struggle, different levels of problems. As bad as Americans may think America is, it is a whole lot better than most places around the globe. The fact that you can get up and protest your government… The fact that you can make jokes about Trump on social media and not get disappeared in the night is a huge priviledge in itself.
For the past two years, there has been a genocide in Cameroon and they have banned public protest. For the past three years, anyone caught protesting, students and such, have been disappearing from their homes. Having lived on both sides of the situation, it has given me more of a world view.
Writing your own music is very important to you at this stage of your career, would you consider writing for others?
Right now, writing music for myself is still very important me because I am in the early stages of my career. This album is the first time that I ever co-wrote with another person. We wrote four out the eleven songs together. Even during that process, I still ended up creating ninety percent of each song. I feel like music is so personal, even the idea of writing for others is something I recently had to mature to do, leaving the idea of not writing for others behind. You have to be willing to make money. For me, giving away a song was like giving away a child. It was something I couldn’t imagine ever doing. It was just a weird idea to me, having someone else sing a song based your life experiences.
