Mamadou. on his Writing Process, Growing up in Harlem, & the Importance of Education

modrNation: Where are you originally from?

Mamadou.: I’m from Harlem, but my family is from West Africa. My Pops came here in 1992 and my Mom in 1998.

modrNation: How do you feel growing up there led to you wanting to make music?

Mamadou.: I’d say Harlem essentially was a canvas where I explored my adolescence, my identity, and molded myself. It wasn’t music first, it was poetry. I see myself as a writer and from there it involves different forms of expression such as the music. Harlem was just the canvas where I explored myself, I explored Harlem and Harlem explored me. 

modrNation: Do you feel the West African roots from your parents shines through in your creative process as well?

Mamadou.: Absolutely, the nuances of it and the things that I do and don’t know about my culture. It’s a quest trying to discover more about my culture, my parents came here from West Africa and their culture imprinted onto me, not only coming from Africa but coming to Harlem as well. There’s a community of folks in Harlem that are still connected to their home, wherever that be, and the beauty of that paints itself into my work.

modrNation: Having gone to Columbia University, what do you feel is the importance of continuous education and how do you feel that’s played a role in your music?

Mamadou.: Yeah I studied creative writing and education studies, I’m trying to go back to grad school too. We’re in a constant state of inquiry and development, and a lot of that journey goes hand and hand with education and learning more while we’re in the roots of inquiry and pursuit. I have to continue to be a student of life in order to continue on my journey and be where I want to be as a writer, and going to a school where I can designate my time to being an artist is what I feel I need to tap into the next phase and be a full time artist. 

modrNation: Who have been some of the biggest influences on your music?

Mamadou.: Toni Morrison, Tupac Shakur, Hanif Abdurraqib, Lauryn Hill, Nikki Giovanni, Terrance Hayes, Zadie Smith, even Frank O’Hara. I think my work ranged between different ranges of authors and artists that played into my style of writing. 

modrNation: What fuels your writing process and how do you stay inspired? 

Mamadou.: I’d say discipline is one thing that fuels the process, just showing up for myself and trusting whatever comes out of my mouth. Being able to express myself on the paper without having the tension of stressing whether or not it’s a good idea has helped my writing process as well as constantly being a historian of my day to day. Taking notes of my thoughts of the day, the people I met and experiences I have, that keeps me fresh because life is art. That’s what consistently keeps me regimented in my writing process. 

modrNation: When approaching writing a song, are songwriting and poetry one in the same in your mind?

Mamadou.: They’re really one in the same, at the start I was separating them but now they’re synonymous. I can’t even differentiate them anymore, a lot of my poems become songs and my signs can serve as poetry, it’s all mixed together.

modrNation: Take me through your creative process, is there a space you like working in or constants you aim to surround yourself with?

Mamadou.: I start a lot of my very vulnerable words at home and in my bedroom, but when it comes to finishing a product I need to step outside of that room to finish it. I can start in the comfort of my bedroom, but in order to fully flesh it out I need to get outside.

modrNation: Have you been writing much lately?

Mamadou.: Everyday man, trying to do it every day. Regardless of what it is, just constantly being reflective and writing something every day.

modrNation: How would you compare that writing to some of the music you’d released previously?

Mamadou.: I think as I continue to evolve as a writer and be more and more in depth in terms of subject matter and research, the writing only gets better. That’s what my writing has been based off lately, a lot more reading and research, observations of my thoughts, and putting that into poetry, song, or anything else.

modrNation: What is the intention behind your writing?

Mamadou.: I always write for myself first, to embrace the odyssey and search for truth, peace and acceptance. To imperfectly and authentically embrace that journey, and god willing however many people stumble across my work, that they can feel something. Regardless of numerical value, just whoever can experience my work, they get whatever out of it that is needed.

modrNation: What would you say is the importance of finding your own identity and individuality as an artist and a person in a time where so many people are making music?

Mamadou.: A good friend of mine said that no matter how oversaturated the market is, if God calls you to it then there’s room for you. There’s billions of people in this world and we’re all here in this park, it’s not congested. I may not see the fruits of my labor while I’m here, but I hope that my work can stand the test of time. I release when I want to, not with hopes to catch up to someone else. As people we should aim to catch up to ourselves, as people we’re running and running and running, but we need to catch up to ourselves. 

modrNation: Do you ever feel like you can “run past” yourself in a way?

Mamadou.: Yeah I feel I’ve always had to recenter and recalibrate myself. Even as I just turned 23, sometimes the feeling of this pressure that can come from anywhere where you feel you must do more, to accomplish something that may not be meant for me in this moment. In that search for something that isn’t for me at this time, I can outrun myself.