Nigerian-born, Dublin-bred artist Monjola – a riser we tipped in our Ones to Watch 2024 list – today shares his first single of the year, ‘OFTEN’.
The release follows last year’s acclaimed mini-EP ‘WHILE YOU WAIT’ and is a crisp, trap-influenced ode to sensory overload and the habitual patterns of modern-day procrastination. Produced by his brother and collaborator MOIO in their family home, Monjola switches up his cadence, offsetting his angst with a rhythmic buoyancy that comes naturally to him.
Of his new single, Monjola shares: “’Often’ is for all the overthinkers out there, stuck in a cycle of feeling overwhelmed by life’s journey. Sometimes, I don’t even know what I’m thinking about often, but my mind finds a way to convince me that I need to overthink some things. I believe there’s more to life than the things we stress about. Recently, I’ve started hiking and trying to take in nature and everything around me. It’s definitely helped me show more gratitude in general. I created this song about a year and a half ago with MOIO. He laid down the chords, and the melody came pretty much straight away. He also added some vocals; I think our voices blend well together.”
Monjola’s music is geared towards the outsiders, informed by formative years spent in Dublin, and his experience with racism in a community that ostracises the Other. Much of his creative impetus comes from fostering a community, and providing a safe space for fellow minority musicians in Dublin, and the wider Irish music scene, to thrive.
“It took me a while to adjust,” he says. “I am only realising now how messed up it is for a young kid to feel so different. My music is a space for people who feel different to process their anxieties. It took me a long time to find myself and my tribe, so I want to spread love, especially to the outsiders who might be feeling the same shit.”
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Photo Credit: Gori Jackson
