Time To Grow with Mafeni.
It was a normal day as normal days go, I was up on twitter thinking about my next move. I felt a bit troubled I can’t recollect why as I write this but I was also happy. I was gonna meet up with a girl today, I got a good email the night before, I felt confident about my identity and it seemed like an average day as the blunt smoke clouded the air. I was sitting on the floor carpet where I discussed about media platforms with Richard, a friend of mine who I was bumming over with. He left for school, I stayed scrolling and scrolling through twitter while my mind laid slave to thoughts. Feni likes a tweet, then another and the stars bring us into the DM, a conversation is about to begin I can feel it, it’s all an open atmosphere.
A step back if you didn’t know Mafeni, a mind who’s very compound in his world, his music at least his tape “enjoy” which he’s taken off his SoundCloud page, actually taken his SoundCloud page off completely was a taste of his views blended through soft melodies, piercing bars crafted around sounds that turn his music into an educational ride through his life, his love, his journey all sprayed across with his metaphors, he loves his metaphors. Feni who’s song with 80Sounds producer Doz titled “4eva”, an aesthetically pleasing twist to Ozzy B’s “Jungle Fever” shows his artistry on a level that puts him in his own circle his music only compared to him, he creates what he creates and keeps the rest locked in.
He took a break as he explained when we began our conversation over the phone, he took a break to find himself, feeling “I wasn’t representing my people enough, I was taking the tools of where I am currently and only helping myself. I didn’t help the people.”
Feelings that come over him a lot, Feni hasn’t been home for years and it makes him cringe. He remembers his freshman year in college when he truly noticed the difference of his skin amongst his white classmates, the reflection dawned and had been dormant in his mind. After the release of “enjoy” he fully understood what he had to do, though the feedback was amazing he couldn’t resonate cause he felt he had more to say, more to give, more to show with his positive circumstances that still doesn’t take away the stories of the tape. Each song had its own call, with “fresh” as he tells me being inspired by his friend, a fashion enthusiast who once tweeted “how did I wake up so fresh” and he was inspired by the positivity in those words he wanted everyone to feel the same way, or “Gold Grillz” which hits with the line “my mama house don’t feel like home no more” a sonic blend of his vocals coursing through telling us about his wanting to visit Nigeria. Feni who stays with his parents in London feels the break between home and his homeland. A general sadness still loomed over “Enjoy” but Feni says he wants to give more to maybe recover the days he’s spent away from Nigeria.
He inspired me with his words, talking about how he saw a New Age too. “I have friends who are programmers and Yaba is becoming the Silicon Valley of Lagos. I see the graphic artist, the music and it’s all happening cause of the internet. I’ve seen the internet change lives.”
I truly believe this as he continues to narrate how he’s never met Ozzy B or Odunsi but he understands them so much by listening to their music. He explains how Odunsi was there for him when no one gave a shit about his music or the perspective he saw and they shared ideas, Feni goes into a vent highlighting how the new age is all one and we’re all somewhat connected together by our dreams. “I had to stay away cause I knew I wasn’t doing the best I could. The things we’re creating now, it’s so great.”
This was a mini light Mafeni gave me, he’s coming. “I want you to know that we have the world where we want”, Mafeni told me this and I promised not to ever lose faith in the new age.
