Whelanslive.com presents
Mercury Music Prise nominee
GHOSTPOET
+ MOTHS
Migrated from the capital city of the West Midlands – Coventry – to the southerlyclimes of London, Ghostpoet looks set to make his mark on 2010. The softlyspoken 24 year-old has already won over BBC Radio 1’s foremost taste makerGilles Peterson and his Brownswood recordings with a handful of off-kilter,loopy electronic ditties blessed with his delightfully rambling musings onmodern life. Born and raised somewhere between London, Coventry, Nigeria andDominica, Obaro admits that his heritage is important to him, but that it hasn’tconsciously affected his musical career: “My parents enjoyed listening to musicaround the house but never really encouraged it as a career. I kind of pursuedlistening to various sounds late into the night when the house was asleep.” Don’tsleep on this young, inventive, British artist – he’s destined for greatness.
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“With lullabies to hypnotise, this somnolent spirit is sleepwalking his way togreatness” The Guardian
“(A voice that is) idiosyncratic. It has a quality of it’s own. Languid, laidback,pensive, wise and broken. Sad but hopeful at the same time.” Nobodydancenomore
Recently migrated from the capital city of the West Midlands – Coventry – to thesoutherly climes of London, Ghostpoet looks set to make his mark on 2011. Thesoftly spoken 24 year-old has already won over BBC Radio 1’s foremost tastemakerGilles Peterson with a handful of off-kilter, loopy electronic ditties blessed with hisdelightfully rambling musings on modern life. Signing to Peterson’s BrownswoodRecordings imprint, a free EP entitled ‘The Sound Of Strangers’ sidled into the publicdomain in June 2010. Comprising four tracks, three original compositions blessedwith playful prose, one remix of A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Electric Relaxation (RelaxYourself Girl)’… and a feature from left-leaning pop mastermind Micachu, it hit ahungry online audience and earned Ghostpoet a coveted spot in The Guardian’sNew Band Of The Day feature as well as glowing recommendations from NME,CMJ, RCRDLBL, URB, Drowned In Sound and The Mercury Prize.
Born and raised somewhere between London, Coventry, Nigeria and Dominica,Obaro admits that his heritage is important to him, but that it hasn’t consciouslyaffected his musical career: “My parents enjoyed listening to music around the housebut never really encouraged it as a career. I kind of pursued listening to varioussounds late into the night when the house was asleep.” And as for attempting topinpoint his tastes… it’s hard to gauge when his palette flips from Badly DrawnBoy’s ‘The Hour Of The Bewilderbeast’ (the first CD he ever bought) to the angulardynamics of the UK grime scene via Iggy Pop, Fela Kuti, Radiohead, MF Doomand Squarepusher. This was the music that captured his imagination at university,where Obaro was part of a grime collective: “One of the guys made the beats withReason, he taught me the basics and I kind of stumbled, bumbled and fumbled myway to the present.”
Dusting himself off, Ghostpoet drops his debut single – ‘Cash & Carry Me Home’– on 24th January 2011, followed by his album on 7th February 2011. ShowcasingGhostpoet’s loveably ramshackle, but hook-laden productions and his lazy baritone,‘Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam’ is a neat summation of the MC’s musicaljourney to date, but also an impressive statement of intent. Don’t sleep on this young,inventive, British MC – he’s destined for greatness.
Whelanslive.com presents
Mercury Music Prise nominee
