a creative (musical) awakening

There is something about creative music that gets to me. 

Personally, I have been disgruntled by the overwhelmed influx of crappy music and sounds in the hip-hop industry over the past couple years. I kept to my guns and listened to tunes from the faithful few artists that continued producing creative music but yet, I need something fresh and dynamic. Something different sonically.

A couple months ago, thanks to a local music instagram page (@shuavibes), I stumbled on a post/video of Jockin, a song by Tobe Nwigwe. That 1 minute clip was enough for me to go fossicking through instagram until I found this guy. 

This is Tobe Nwigwe - an inspirational artist from Alief, Houston whose sound and lyricism is capable of sparking a musical and cultural renaissance. Not just any kind of renaissance but one that is thought-provoking and makes you more appreciative of the creativity of music. 

About a year ago, Tobe started putting out weekly videos and tracks covering other people’s songs in his sitting room. Thanks to his creative and musical consistency, his weekly videos grew from the sitting room to more dynamic locations and his audience more than tripled. 

This past sunday, Tobe released an EP that consists of 13 original tracks (that he had previously released during his series) and right now, the EP represents all that I appreciate about music. 

Music is an art form - one of the most popular kinds of artforms. It shouldn’t be a mundane craft. I believe music should be creative. It should be unique in approach and presentation. Music should be capable of eliciting a certain kind of thought pattern. It should get you thinking in a way that is open minded. Lastly, music should be consistent, sonically. Like a story, music should leave you craving for the next chapter or release.

Tobe Nwigwe’s career and recent EP is an epitome of what a creative musical awakening looks like.