MOKO: "I am a real London"

On April 26, in the Moscow Club "Solyanka" at the Selector Live Beefeater Sessions party, MOKO will perform-the most promising British singer of 2014 according to Time Out London and Amazon. British journalists compare MOKO with Candy Staython, Nina Cherry and Massive Attack , despite the fact that she has only one mini-album with four songs. COLTA . RU phoned MOKO before the concert.

- Moko - your real name?

- MOKO is a stage pseudonym. And my real name is Naada (pulls a vowel) .

- Naadi is the same Russian name.

- Do you joke, or what?

- True - Nadia, Nadezhda. We even have a singer named Naadi .

-Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Cool.

- Tell me about your origin - here you have a Russian name, and your mother comes from Ghana, how did this happen?

-Ha ha! My grandmother is from Ghana - she is from the people of Ashanti, here she has a very interesting origin. My mother moved to London in the 1980s, here she met a father, who, by the way, has Chinese roots-here I was born, a common story. But I am a real London. I think differently-not like a mother. I have been brought up in a different culture and is unlikely to ever find myself in Ghana. But in general, it is great to consider two different worlds, British and African. This distinguishes my music and attitude from others. Awesome.

Chase & Status feat. Moko - "Count on Me"

The song of the successful electronic duet Chase & Status , which introduced the world to MOKO and its pompons

- When did you realize that you want to be a singer?

- At a young age. I often went to church with my mother - they sang there, and I liked this part of the service the most. So I became interested in music. Then my mother gave me to the choir at the same church where I went to rehearse and perform. I liked to speak - to sing loudly, it's great to spend time. I sang in the church every week until 16, when I realized that I had a talent - after that I did not part with the guitar and at home. Everything happened somehow by itself. I also have a very musical family. But the main impetus gave the church.

There are no songs - there is no marketing.

- Your debut EP “Black” liked many journalists, including me; Who produced it?

- I began myself - I recorded the first demo of the songs on my laptop. Then we went to write these demo in the studio with my drummer Lee - he is my music assistant number one. We wrote for a long time while something decent turned out. Everyone changed in the process. Then they joined the Chase & Status , then Quest ... in a word, a team of unique producers worked on it - there were not very many of them, but each of them cost ten.

Moko - "Freeze"

Shock song with a single EP recorded by MOKO

-You had the opportunity to sign a contract with a large record label-for example, Columbia or Island ; Why did you choose the MTA Records label, which belongs to Chase & Status ?

- Because now it is important for me to develop as an artist. MTA is better for this - it is more comfortable with them, I can count on any help, primarily musical, and an understanding of my point of view. Here are more close and personal relationships between people than on large labels - and this inevitably affects music. I still work on my repertoire. For me, the most important thing is music.

-But what about the big money that the Meijors have-they also make pop stars you rush into?

- Yes, but if there are no songs, then there is nothing to sell. There is no marketing. I would be ashamed to sell the void, so I refused the contract with Meigzhor. MTA focuses on music. Now we are just working on it - on my music.

- How do you work on it?

- I play the piano and guitar. I can compose songs on that tool and on the other depends on the mood. I keep all my ideas in Garageband . I am writing a demo in it. Then I show them to the producers - they say, this is what I did. “Oh, this is a cool melody,” they say. And we begin to redo it.

- And where do you get ideas for songs?

- I really like to communicate with people - well, through the computer. I really love my T Umblr . I love these new pictures that are pouring into the tape. This is so inspiring. It is as if you are simultaneously traveling to many countries of the world, turn your head and see all the most amazing at once. I want my music to convey this mood.

- When will your debut album come out?

-In 2015-I decided not to rush. The album will be an accurate reflection of me, which grew up in South London. My music will fully describe what I am - it will be British, and fan, and emotional. And, of course, she will give people a lot of pleasure.

“I can’t help but ask about your wonderful braids - Mom or grandmother taught you to braid you?”

-Ha ha, I call them "my pompons." No, I came up with them myself. Of course, thanks to my mother and grandmother for having such magnificent hair. I have been tormented with them since childhood. Not so long ago, I developed the installation technique - to explain for a long time, many rowers are involved there. It takes me every day for such a hairstyle for an hour to understand. This is cool.