Jidenna
Mar 29, 2015
Lets start with his looks because, obviously, Jidenna Mobisson has them: a technicolor smile as big as Wisconsin, where he was born after his conception in Nigeria; red hair laid and coiffed to the gods; a certain celluloid charm and fastidious style reminiscent of old Hollywood a la Clark Gable, Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington blended with Richard Roundtree circa 1971.
I have a deep appreciation for being resourceful, living and creating a beautiful life with not a lot. I think a lot of people look at the fashion and the style and think, Oh man, I wish I can afford that suit. And I am like, Bruh, I grew up going to thrift shops. I can get a suit for like, $5 -$10, go to the tailor, give him $20 and by the time my outfit's done I spent like $40-$50 for a brand new suit. It's not too much when you see people paying $50 for a T shirt nowadays. So I'm definitely a fan of being efficient and resourceful.
It was great growing up with no hot showers, where you have to boil your water, where your mother makes syrup for your pancakes by putting Fanta into a frying pan, turning it into corn syrup then adding the food coloring, saying, OK here's your little Log Cabin syrup.
Let's discuss his music: swanky, surprising, smooth, real.
My music, you can feel the people, the tribe, in the music. There are lot of artists right now [who are] all about alienation. 'I'm all by myself, I'm all about me.' I don't make music like that. I'm the total opposite: I live with a lot of people, I make compounds wherever I go. I am a chief of a village so the music feels that way. Wondaland's records feels that way. I believe that alot of our music has that fun, free spirited, funky vibe to it, and I think people need it right now. People are starving for it.
Several weeks after the announcement of Janelle Monae's Wondaland Records alignment with Epic Records, "Classic Man" by Jidenna, featuring label-mate Roman GianArthur, dropped.
"I've definitely been amazed by mothers and fathers hitting me up with their videos of their children in the back of cars jamming to 'Classic Man'," Jidenna, whose name means "embracing the father" in Igbo, a Nigerian language spoken in the southern Nigeria, where he was also raised, told Flavorpill by phone two weeks ago.
The artist, a real chief whose nickname is Chief, spoke to us by phone from Flatbush, Brooklyn where he holds court with his Fear and Fancy crew, an international pleasure club featuring artists, activists and creatives. "That is amazing to me. And yes, I was shocked by that," he said.
When Jidenna says, "Come dry, leave wet," it may sound like a rude come on but it's really his and Fear Fancy's way of saying dance, have a good time and look good while doing so. "We like to think of it as the club before and after the club, or the antidote to the traditional club," Jidenna, who learned to make music through video games as a teenager, explained. "It's a space where you come dry but you leave wet. We have a parlor in Brooklyn and we host soirees in different parts of the country. We used to host masquerade balls in the Bay Area and that's where met Janelle."