Obongjayar
Nigerian-born, London-based musician/singer/songwriter Steven Umoh creates haunting but intense sounds under the Obongjayar moniker, drawing on inspiration from both his Nigerian upbringing and futuristic hip-hop and electronic influences. After contributing to Richard Russell's Everything Is Recorded project, Umoh readied more solo material, releasing his four-song EP Bassey in 2017 and finally delivering a full-length debut in 2022 with Some Nights I Dream of Doors.
Steven Umoh grew up in Calabar, Nigeria, living with his grandmother until he moved to London at age 17. Active in both the Nigerian music scene and his new home in England, Umoh began posting songs online as Obongjayar around 2014. After releasing several tracks, he completed debut, Home, in 2016, a five-song EP that offered an early look into this mixture of raspy vocals and strange, rhythm-heavy production that melded together organic and synthetic instruments. Shortly after that, he became involved with Everything Is Recorded, offering vocals on the 2017 song "Washed Up on the Shore." With growing visibility, Obongjayar released the Bassey EP and also did some support dates opening for King Krule. Throughout the next year, Umoh contributed to more Everything Is Recorded tracks as he issued several Obongjayar singles. In 2019 he appeared on multiple tracks from Detroit rapper Danny Brown's fifth album Uknowhatimsayin?. 2019 also saw the release of the single "Frens." The song would be featured on his 2020 mini-album Which Way Is Forward? alongside "Still Sun" and "10K." Obongjayar collaborated with Nigerian producer Sarz for the 2021 EP Sweetness and its standout single "Gone Girl." That year he also featured on the track "Point and Kill" with rapper Little Simz and also worked with British rapper Pa Salieu. In 2022, Obongjayar and Jeshi released a series of jointly-created songs that kicked off with bouncy funk track "Protein." Debut album Some Nights I Dream of Doors was released in May of 2022. The album was the boldest representation of Obongjayar's multi-genre sound to date, collecting elements of rap production, electronics, Afrobeat rhythms, spoken word performances, and other disparate sounds.
© Fred Thomas /TiVo
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Some Nights I Dream of Doors
Soul - Released by September Recordings on 13 May 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Just Cool
Soul - Released by September Recordings on 11 May 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Who Let Him In
Soul - Released by September Recordings on 26 Sep 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Which Way is Forward?
Soul - Released by September Recordings on 7 Feb 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Tinko Tinko (Don't Play Me for a Fool)
Soul - Released by September Recordings on 24 Mar 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Elixir
Wiki, jj, Obongjayar
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by XL Recordings on 6 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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I Wish It Was Me (Louke Man Remix)
Chill-out - Released by September Recordings on 25 Aug 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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