Local is Lekker

I came across Siddy Mitzvah while searching for more local hip hop music. Thanks to his “Espere por me” track I can now say I’m addicted to his music. This is a young multi talented Mozambican Rapper, Songwriter, Co-Producer & Photo Model who is also

currently working towards a Degree in his education. He’s pretty busy so there are long gaps between releases of his songs, but they are worth the wait. I had a chance to interview him, and I was able to find out more about this talented rapper, both as a musician and a person. His courtesy made the communication a pleasant experience , plus he is multilingual.

 How long have you been in the music industry and how did you get started?

Well, I’ve been interested in music for almost a decade now. I remember moving with my mom in ’08 when my parents split and that’s how everything started. I was going to do grade 11 and Lil’ Wayne was the fever everywhere, I had 2 guys (Julião aka 3G and Júlio aka Young Bizz) in the neighborhood they were too attached to Hip-Hop and I started hanging out with them. Then I gave them the idea to start writing some raps and 2 years later we started searching for a studio, that’s when we met Lemos Somel – my mentor, in the ends of ’10and we recorded our very first song. After that, I never gave up but the other guys did.

How would you describe your musical style?

Hmmm, it’s not easy question because I’m very influenced by a lot of people around me and they have a different musical style and my goal is to make a fusion off those styles.But I’m way too into Hip-Hop because I love rapping and that’s the first thing I did when I got into music, and by the time I started this, Hip-Hop was dominating in a very strong way.

Where do you find your artistic inspiration?

I could say I pick my phone and dial some numbers and call my inspiration [Laughs]… joking.

Well, I find my artistic inspiration when I’m sad, usually when me and my mom argue or when I’m thoughtful. It’s hard to find my inspiration when I’m too happy but I do find it when I hear a new crazy music by any artist. I be like damn, how couldn’t I have that idea, this is song is dope, let me just compose something better than that right quick.

Do you think your music is mostly enjoyed more for the beats or for the lyrical flow and content?

When I and Daryo Araújo– my producer are working on a project we usually say “let’s go to the high level and be limitless, if they don’t enjoy the lyrics they will love the beat, and if they don’t do both, they’ll love the content”. But we noticed that our music is mostly enjoyed more for the beats and the lyrical flow altogether, every time we work on a new music we try to bring new ingredient always, it may be the kind of beat, the kind of lyrics or content, or even the way I sing or rap.

Which emotion more than any other, currently dominates your music? Joy, sadness, anger or passion etc, and why?

Hmmm joy, passion, sadness, love and deceptions all of these emotions dominates; just because I write depending on what I’m trying to illustrate generally about my views or myself. I can write about how somebody disappointed me, and yeah in real life, not just because is music. What I do is to bring my reality to my music, so I can even rap or sing about how much I want somebody or I can tell stories about me and what I do observe in people around me. So basically it is all based on that I guess. sadness and passion dominates more because I usually bring joy on my lyrics when I get featured.

Do you make your own beats and write your own lyrics? If you don’t do any of this by yourself, how do you get this done?

I don’t make my own beats, for that I got my personal producer DaryoAraújo and I’ve been working with him since we met in ’11 or ’12, I’m not so sure. He’s the guy Ialways call when I need a beat or when I need to work on a project, I can just call him and say “yoh, we got a lot of work to do, put your fingers in the keys”. Although, I come as a co-producer in most of his beats. Ohhhh, I also have this guy called Chriis FonTana a very talented guy and I met him back in ’11, he also delivers some beats for me, or even improvises some hooks.

I always write my own lyrics, I don’t like to have somebody writing for me. What I do is to call someone to help me writing about a specific topic and we discuss the ideas and then organize it to become a lyrics. The only people I ever called to do that are:Almira, Leonélia, Abiete, DimBaZ, Lemos, FonTana and Daryo.

Which ingredient do you think is most essential in making your sound and style the way it is?

My voice [laughs]…I mean, the way I sing, the way I rap, and the way I say the words I want to say its very crucial for my music be the way it is. I remember once I had to go back to studio to record a song 5 times because they were some words I putted there that made the whole song sound so weird such that Daryo ended up saying “I didn’t produce a song for you to piss on it, you rap better than that and organize your melodies, the tune of your voice is not on point, try to change some words or something”, then I realized that the words I chose to say, were not fitting there.

What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

In our generation online music sharing is the best way to promote your music. We living in a world where social media is dominating and the target is there, lot of people today doesn’t have time to sit down and listen to music, they’re always busy doing things, so they carry their smartphones, iPads, tablets and another objects and listen to music while walking.

I always do give away my music for free because I’m still trying to reach a certain point, plus, our society don’t have the culture of buying music and it involves a lot of factors. In addition, I do not have a label support, yet! That’s why I’m STILL ACTING INDIE.

What’s the greatest fear you’ve had to overcome to get where you are today?

To be audacious and be secure of what I really want, because I was a very-very shy guy. Of course, there is my mom too. It’s weird but our parents do not support us 100% on our choices, especially when it comes to music industry. I had to dare my mom and my older sister. Moreover, the promise I made is to get my degree while I do what I love most – music.

In your opinion who is the most influential and successful artist in your genre today and why?

[Smiles] Drake. I’ll tell you why. First, he is my idol I’ve been following him since ’09. There’s no doubt he is been dominating the charts since he came in and he influenced Hip-Hop since then. I remember there were no singing rappers back in ’08 (in exception of Kanye West). And he has been breaking records ever since, he’s been surprising us with new musical style, flows, acts and so on. So in my opinion, Aubrey Drake Graham is the most influential and successful artist in my genre.

If you could choose to work with some of today’s established artists or producers, to up your game, with whom would you like to collaborate?

Wowwww! That’s tough. I know many people would think I’d love to work with Drake [laughs]. But, if I could choose, I’d choose to collaborate with AKA.

In your opinion what is the biggest barrier an artist like yourself, has to face and overcome, to gain any commercial success?

We need promotion and opportunities. Plus a less ignorant society and music professionals who have a very wide vision about music evolution.

Tell us something about any projects and ideas currently available for your fans and where can they be heard or downloaded?

Well, I’ve been quiet for like 2 years; I mean I dropped my last project in ’15 “V Ideias Em XXI”. For now, I’m working on a new project titled “A Verdade Sobre Nós”, it’s an EP that’s is being produced by Daryo Araújo, Chriis FonTana and Lemos Somel and written by me, Leonélia, Sheila Adamo and Daryo. It’ll mark my new era because I’m bringing something very new, from the beats to content and flow. I think it’s going to be my best project ever. It’ll be available in this year’s winter. I just dropped the single for this EP on February called “The Truth”, a song produced by Young Colee and ChriisFonTana. It can be listened on my sound cloud page  and can be downloaded from my blog.