QUABINA
Ghana’s own by way of Northern Virginia, QUABINA has never been complacent. He’s a go-getter and is always pushing the envelope with his music and artistry. We sat down with him and talked about his latest album, the importance of vulnerability, his musical influences, being empowered by his community and much more. Here’s his story.
Sterling Media: You shared with me your mom often asked you “Why don't you do it yourself?” How has it resonated with you over the years?
QUABINA: I didn't realize how important those words were to me until I grew up. When I was little, there was this kid that used to draw for me, but every time he would draw from me, he would take money from me. So I would go to my mom and cry to her and try to get money. At a point, I remember she was cooking and I was like, “I want this guy to draw me Batman.” I was into Batman. And then she was like, “No.” She was annoyed and she was like, “Why don't you do it yourself? Take a pencil. Take paper and start drawing.” So I did. I drew a mad crazy drawing of Batman and I surprised myself. And that's when I noticed that I have this artistic gift in me.
“With African parents, depending on who they are and how hard headed they are, if you tell them that this is what you want to do and you prove to them that you are not giving it up, they will give in. ”
Over time, I noticed that I could manipulate my voice to sound like other musicians—so then I started exploring that too. And little by little, I got better. So I started singing at church, writing songs here and there, mimicking people, and it just grew from there. Then, fast forward to high school, I was in choir, and I would get all the solos and people hated me for that.
Junior year, I decided to go professional with my career. That's when I started to go to studios with my friends and we would record here and there. Over time, I got better with my melodies and eventually, I would start learning how to master my own songs because it went back to do it yourself. Because what my friends were doing for me, I didn’t like it—it didn’t sound right to me. Of course with everything in the beginning, it's very difficult and very frustrating because you can't get it to sound how you want it to sound.
College years came around and I started getting better to the point where I started mixing other people's songs or the artist friends that I had around me. In this stage of my career, you realize that nobody really cares. I really had to understand that and figure out how I'd be able to do it myself. So I would learn as much as I could with the people that I admire, the people that I listen to, and pick up things here and there.
I've learned how to edit my own videos, I've learned how to mix and mash up my songs—I’ve learned how to do so many things by myself. I realized that it's how God made me. It’s what is going to take me to the next level of my career—staying true to that. That's what has brought me to this stage, where I think I have a good handle on my career where I'm going at a steady pace, little by little over time. I know that I'm going to get to where I need to get to.
SM: Well said. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Jack-of-all-trades, master of none.” What are your thoughts on that?
Q: Being a jack-of-all-trades is about passion. The passion helps me master it. So with this passion for music, it helps me focus and master every single aspect of what I'm doing, even if I haven’t mastered it. I know that I have a good and steady handle on it. One thing about me is if it has to do with creativity, creating and bringing a vision to life, I will put my all into it—that's how I am. My mind is like chaos—I go to sleep sometimes, I will stay up in bed just imagining stuff because that's how God made me. It feels uncomfortable keeping all that in me. I really had to push myself and keep going regardless of how much validation people did or didn’t give me. I had to really be in a mind frame to do everything in my power and leave the rest to Jah Almighty.
“Doing secular music is not a bad thing, it’s about how you use your gift and the things that come from your mouth.”
SM: Yeah, that’s real. So being from Ghana and having African parents, as you got older how did they foster your creativity?
Q: When I was little, my dad bought me a piano and a guitar, but I never learned how to play. My mom would invite my teacher who was an artist to come over to teach me how to draw certain things. They really did help me, little by little even though music wasn't really what I was focused on at that time. I was still fueling the creative aspects of me. So when the time came to go to college, I was like “I want to do music and sound engineering.” My dad was like, “No, you can do that on the side. In this economy, that wouldn’t be a really good idea.” And I understood to a point, but it was still something that was on my mind.
They didn't know that I had put myself into this music scene. I was kinda hiding it. But God has a way of showing you that this is what is meant for you and showing them that this was meant for you and they cannot take it away. They didn't take it away from me, but it was just uncomfortable having that conversation with them. My mom always supported me with everything, but the reality is you’ve got to have something to back it. When the time comes, you will know when the time has come. So I kind of understood that I had to be able to feed myself in the early stages and not depend on them so much. But I still pursued it in secret.
But one day, my uncle had posted a video I did in WhatsApp and my dad had seen it. I was like, “Damn!” But to my surprise, he was like, “This is what you're doing? It's great! It's so cool.” So he went on YouTube to search my music and he started getting more interested—he started asking more questions. Over time, I got more comfortable sharing that aspect of my life. Now, every time I drop something he calls me and says, “This is great!” My parents will even share my music—they're like my personal marketing team now. It's great, they support it 100 percent. But it was just the fact of breaking that barrier. With African parents, depending on who they are and how hard headed they are, if you tell them that this is what you want to do and you prove to them that you are not giving it up, they will give in. No matter what it is, they will support you. I had to show them that this is what I really, really, really want to do with my life and I'm not going to let this gift die. So over time, they really took that in and respected that. I even performed at my sister's wedding. That was the first time they saw me perform. It's a blessing to have really supportive African parents.
SM: That’s awesome. To jump around a bit here, how do you feel about American culture finally embracing Afrobeats and African music in general? Is it bittersweet?
Q: There is a bittersweetness because I remember when I first came here people would listen to my music and be like, “What is this booty scratcher music?” It's weird but it's just amazing to see how much it's grown and how American culture is embracing African culture—it's opened doors to so many other things. People are building businesses in Africa. But the bitter part of it is they take it, dilute it, and kind of ruin some aspects of it. It gets to a point where it's not true to African culture. We don’t have to gate keep it, but protect it so we’re at the forefront of the conversation.
With me, half of my life I lived in Ghana and half of my life I’ve lived in Northern Virginia, and I’ve learned so much from African-American and African culture. So in my music you hear so many different sounds. I believe, as an artist, you should not limit yourself to one genre, even though some say you should focus on one. I personally don't believe that because if you are a true creative, you cannot live with yourself doing one thing—it gets boring. One thing I made sure to do in the early stages of my music career is to introduce different aspects of myself. So when you go to my catalog, you see so much versatility. You can’t really pinpoint what I am as an artist. And I like it that way because it gives me room to explore. I can tap into Afrobeats, I can tap into funk—I can tap into so many things. And right now I am introducing rock. I just internalize it and whatever my spirit tells me, I bring it out and every single time I do that, it comes out great.
SM: Why is vulnerability so important in your music?
Q: Because vulnerability is strength. Even though we've been told that you have to put on this macho front, vulnerability is strength spiritually, mentally, and physically. A weak minded person hides behind a wall and at some point that wall is going to cave in and when it does, so much darkness is gonna come. My music comes from a very emotional and spiritual place. It is very, very important that every listener is connecting with the music emotionally. So I have to make sure to be able to give people that side of me and let them in to be able to connect with them. Maybe someone went through or is going through something and it makes them feel like, “Man, I'm not the only person going through this.”
SM: Another question for you, how has your faith grounded you in this secular industry?
Q: My faith has helped me understand and navigate in the entertainment industry. It’s helped me discern the things that are of God and things that are not. Many misuse their artistic gifts after they get a taste of fame. But my faith is what will keep me humble no matter how much God blesses me. Doing secular music is not a bad thing, it’s about how you use your gift and the things that come from your mouth.
SM: Amen to that. Now, let’s talk about your latest album, Scorpion Boy: Born From Ashe. I can hear the heartbreak, but it feels like there's like a retribution at the end of the album—like a phoenix rising from the ashes. It’s beautifully done and mixed and mastered very well.
Q: The last few years of my life have been incredible and life-changing. The beginning of the album is stages of vulnerability and the rest is everything that was going through my mind within this relationship that I was in. When I'm with someone, I make sure that they have all the aspects of me. I gave my all in the relationship. It was very different for me because I introduced them to my family and everything—I was really deep in there. So it was a very dark few years for me when it ended. But when I went through all of this, it still taught me to forgive regardless of whatever transpired within the relationship.
I felt this album was due because I hadn't dropped a project in a while—everything was pointing toward this. It’s basically letting go of the emotional baggage that I had and saying whatever was on my chest and just being free. It felt good to be able to let this project go. And I remember I was speaking to a friend and he was like, “17 songs, man that’s a lot of songs.” There's a lot of songs, but I was like, “You will understand when you hear it. There’s a lot of emotional baggage and there's a lot of things that I had to speak on.” It helped me grow spiritually and get more connected to God because it made me understand who I really was as a person and my trajectory in life as a person. And it made me love the music even more.
I was thinking I was going to be with this person forever. We were childhood friends—childhood lovers. You go back to this childhood love thinking that there's going to be something there and then it turns out to be doo-doo and a very deep deep, deep, deep betrayal—something that I can’t really speak on right now. But I can make people understand that these things happen. But at the end of the day, you have to learn to forgive and just move on with your life because it's going to be heavy on your shoulders for the rest of your life holding that bitterness inside of you.
“A weak minded person hides behind a wall and at some point that wall is going to cave in and when it does, so much darkness is gonna come. ”
SM: So you mentioned earlier when you were younger you mimicked artists’ styles. Who were the artists you studied?
Q: Michael Jackson was the first one I started with. Then I went to Bruno Mars. Ironically, it didn’t really start with Afrobeats. I didn’t really get connected with it until recently. Then it went to Chris Brown. Then I really started getting into blues and because of choir I started to get into older music. Another person who really helped me develop my vocal ability is Jamie Foxx. I started watching videos of him playing the piano and his vocal ability and range was so crazy. So I started mimicking what he would do with his voice, learning falsetto, learning to belt, learning your chest voice and head voice and all of that.
SM: This final question is gonna hurt your spirit. But if you were to make a five-track EP of your own music that best represents you as an artist, what would you pick?
Q: First, we’re going to start with “Music In Heaven.” “Lightning In A Bottle,” “Cupid’s Arrow,” “She Will Kill Me,” and “Beautiful Girl In White.”