It’s never easy taking the unconventional route while doing anything. Afro-Soul artiste – Oluwatomiwa David Ayeni, who is better known by his stage name – Blackmantayne would tell you what his struggles feel like, but he’d rather let his music do the talking quite literally. He views music as a conduit through which he can tell stories and pass messages directly to the audience. No middlemen, no commercial attention grabbers, just a more undiluted form of what is on his mind and in his heart. According to him, this is what makes the genre noteworthy and personal to him. According to him, Afro-Soul connects with the soul…
“It’s deliberate, genuine, and honest because it has every sort of emotion put into it. The soul is the deepest element of our existence, and if something is said to be soulful, it has to resonate with the soul. That’s what makes it special.”
The aim of the music is clear – to create a bridge between the voice of the artist and the eyes, ears, hearts and most importantly – Souls of every individual that picks up his records to listen or watches his videos. With a well-defined sound, and the right words, Blackmantayne is writing his own separate chapter in the landscape of Nigerian, and even African contemporary music.
The air around the music that Blackmantayne makes is one of both confidence and introspection. As a person with an intimate understanding of the worth or weight of the messages he’s passing and the stories he’s telling, Blackmantayne walks with an air of confidence in his own art. He expresses his pride in what he does in saying:
“Other genres of music are beautiful but Afro-Soul is special and beautiful because it’s more.”
The introspection comes in when you listen to him do something commonly referred to in music circles as “Bleeding on the mic”, which translates to regular language as pouring your heart into what you say into the microphone while recording music. He is armed for the task of introspecting with a lot of of life experiences that would either make or break an individual. These experiences and their relatability value is what charges him to move forward and carry on making his own unique brand of music.
”People will actually go through the realities of life… So it’s a genre that does the work of healing and helps people when they’re distressed and going through the ups and downs of life.”
The elements involved in making this type of music are in some part – metaphysical. You need to be in touch with your feelings, passion, heart and soul to fully apprehend the music thereby setting the scene for an incredible and insightful musical experience.
On August 13th, 2021, Blackmantayne releases his debut album and he promises that it is something really special. In describing his new project Blackmantayne uses two words – “genuine” and “authentic”. Stay With Me is set to be a kaleidoscope of profound emotion, sonic finesse and most importantly… soul.
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