Get To Know: Somadina

After participating a natural flowing, enjoyable conversation, New Wave sits down with the rising Nigerian singer-songwriter, Somadina, a woman that firmly stands her ground in the face of metamodernism, feminism and self-expression, as she highlights that in terms of her career, the journey matters more than the destination. Making music for herself whilst underlining the value of patience, Somadina’s unique talent has been able to create an elevated platform of greatness whilst being known as the ‘one to watch’.

Somadina confronts everything in the name of society as she grows up in the Netherlands, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom. Here, we see a musical vocation that emerges as she touches on how she genuinely discovered herself and how society is truly structured; in terms of racism, sexism, and hypersexuality. This significant cultural shift caused her to see the importance of making music for herself. In Nigeria, women have restrictions upon expressing themselves and have many stereotypes placed upon them. This form of social and sexist oppression has motivated Somadina to naturally and comfortably create music in a way that pleases her and also inspires others to be in their own element and fearless of boundaries. An example of this is her latest and liberating single ‘Rolling Loud’, where the “African girl with the energy” embraces herself, her identity, and independence through a melodic, fusionist and upbeat manner. Creating such an anthem such as ‘Rolling Loud’ is one of the main incentives of Somadina expressing feminism.

“We’re living in a world where female power is celebrated and encouraged, while also vilified and constantly redefined - just to make it that little bit more elusive and unattainable!”

Still sticking on the topic of growing up, we asked Somadina on her influences and prominently through her music career. For her, her father was a person who allowed her to do whatever she wished to do through the lens of admiration; as she bears that given love from her father to champion herself through the music industry. Another inspiration is the Ghanaian songstress Amaarae, an artist that organically exudes the embodiment of black femininity. Somadina quickly mentions how she attended her writing camp - “Going to the camp was quite unplanned because I met her before but we never really spent time together. When I went to LA last year, she happened to be there at the same time so coincidentally, someone invited me to dinner. From then on, everything was so organic with her! At the camp, I was somewhere comfortable with producers, songwriters and singers and her. It was so cool and she makes incredible music. Seeing that and also the way she worked, it was so inspiring.”

In 2018, IHY was Somadina’s first studio produced song. Highlighting how much better off you are from that man/woman, we experience first hand from her discography her extraordinary ability to display her voice and her lyrical composition to the world. From then on, songs such as the punk-rock coated ‘SUPERSOMA’ and sensual ‘Kno Me’ have received international appreciation. When making music, being genre restricted contains Somadina within a box. Experimenting with new sounds, feelings and emotions allows her to really showcase her motto of being free and, through her own words, “Always be fearless, throw yourself into the deep end, and never give up.” When I had asked the question of what difficulties she had faced in her career, and what song highlighted that, I heard a response that was refreshing to hear:

“I think patience is one of the difficulties that I have faced. When working by yourself, everything is on you, responsibility is on you etc. When you work with a team, you have to consider different aspects to music and timelines to work on, it is not just situated for you and I'm learning, still learning and getting a lot better at it. Realising that things aren’t just one person. You are working with a train of people, which is the hardest part but nothing in life comes easy so I’m also just understanding that. In terms of defining the song of my career? I don't think that song has come yet! The best thing about taking time is that the songs produced highlight that time, dedication and defining moments in your career.”

Her response demonstrated that Somadina is using her patience to shape herself into a better musician because she is working with it. We get an insight of an icon, and we can't wait to see what she comes up with next. Being versatile includes everything that you do with patience mastered.

Christianity and Somadina go hand in hand as she mentions that “artistry to me is about growing as a person only and growing spiritually, mentally, physically”. Growing up in a predominantly Christian environment and family, she uses her religion to channel her artistry. “Making music and Christianity are both important to me. I make every effort to pray and talk to God on a personal level. It is the root of my foundation of affections, and I feel really blessed by him, so I don't take that relationship for granted, and I believe it keeps me grounded.”

For the future, success will undoubtedly come through Somadina’s path as her dream is to “perform in front of so many people, no matter what the size of the venue is”. Taking literal meaning of the future, Somadina bears the tropes of Metamodernism - The era of the popularity of the Internet. Being a fellow Gen Z individual, Somadina enjoys telling her stories through many art forms, such as her music and her social media. Incorporating the Age of the Internet into the artist that she is allows a connection with fans and future fans to persist.

Check more of Somadina below!