Featuring: R&B Singer-Songwriter Magana
Issue # 006 (the A/B-Side): Interview with Magana + Let Me Put You On Playlist and more
A-Side
R&B and Neo-Soul singer-songwriter Magana started singing when she was three years old. Just two or three years later, she began writing songs. She’s half-Tanzanian, half-Ugandan, and was born in Virginia, but later moved and grew up in Kenya; she explains this with the preface, “where I’m from is kind of a mixed bag of a few different places haha.” Right before she moved to Kenya, her church was giving away a piano. “...Thankfully, my parents were able to get it and bring it with us to our new home,” she shares in retrospect.
From then on I just started writing songs everyday to the same simple chord progressions and performing them during school concerts and other small events.
Based in New York, but currently living in Ghana throughout the pandemic, she hopes to be back in the city at the start of 2021 to finish her last semester at NYU. Her voice is smooth and grounded, and whether I’m listening to her singles “Drifting” and “Keep It Going” or the covers she shares on social media, I’m always in awe of her sheer, effortless talent. The other girls just aren’t giving IT the way Magana is.
Moving forward I’m definitely going to keep experimenting with incorporating elements of different genres and not restricting myself to a specific sound… I make music that feels and sounds good to me, and whoever can connect with it does. I just trust that when I make music I love and that means something to me, it’ll mean something to someone else.
Our conversation is below.
When did you start singing? More importantly, why? (who or what inspired you to express yourself through music?)
I come from a very musical family - my dad is an amazing singer, so were my grandfather and grandmother, and like I said, I started singing when I was about 3 years old. So it was less of something inspiring me to start singing and more of me adopting my surroundings.
What music did you listen to growing up? How does it impact the music you make or want to make in the future?
My introduction to music was definitely my dad - he would play everything from Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles to Osibisa, Manu Dibango and Fela Kuti. I listened to a lot of R&B, Hip-Hop and Neo-Soul as well. Soul music inspires how I want to communicate my music emotionally, while Afrobeats influences me rhythmically – I naturally tend to take elements from all the genres I listen to and incorporate them into my music.
Walk us through your process of making “Drifting,” songwriting, recording, releasing, and everything in between. What did you learn about yourself or making music during this time?
When I write music, I typically start with the melody first, then the concept and then the lyrics. “Drifting” really started with me just sifting through beats on BeatStars and I ended up finding a “Chance The Rapper Type Beat” (it didn’t really sound like Chance to me but I loved it). I recorded the first melodies that came to mind, saved the recordings in my phone, and basically forgot about them for a while. Maybe a month later, I was listening to “Say Goodbye” by Chris Brown and I felt inspired by the concept of the song - growing apart and having to end things with someone you once loved. So I revisited my old Chance Type Beat recordings and started writing the lyrics from that space.
After figuring out what I wanted the song to sound like, I recorded a rough draft of “Drifting” on my laptop with Garageband to figure out the harmonies and then connected with a local artist, Richie Mensah, and recorded with him here in Ghana. After finishing up the song, I luckily had a chance to visit my hometown - Nairobi, Kenya - and got to link with an amazing photographer, who luckily also happens to be my God-brother, Mucyo Gasana (IG: @dailyinteractions), and do a photo shoot on his roof.
Once I had a song and the album art, I started on promotion. With help from all of my supportive friends and family, I was able to do a big social media release and get the track out there. Since this was my first time releasing a song on streaming platforms I learned a lot about music distribution and how to leverage these platforms to promote my music. It really helped that I ended up on a few Spotify Release Radar playlists - my brother’s girlfriend even heard my song playing in a Michael Kors [store] in New Jersey!
Recording and releasing “Drifting” was a really great experience from start to finish and helped me figure out more about my work style and what it takes to create and distribute a track. I’m definitely planning to build on that for my next track so be on the lookout for that!
It seems like we’re in the age of independence in music, with emerging artists prioritizing their independence at the start of their careers and established artists, who were previously signed, finding their way back. What are you afforded as an independent artist? What challenges do you face?
Being an independent artist gives me a lot of freedom, especially in terms of what type of music I want to put out and when/ how frequently I want to release. I can’t really say I’ve faced many challenges as an independent artist so far - I’ve released two singles and up until now, music has been more of a hobby than a career for me. Being a student has taken priority for the most part up until this point but I graduate in the Fall, so I’m excited to get the chance to really start my music career.
The two-year anniversary of “Drifting” (September 2018) and “Keep It Going” (October 2018) are approaching. How have you grown as a singer and songwriter since then? What can we look forward to (hearing) in the future?
Funny enough, I actually released “Keep It Going” in March of 2017 on Soundcloud - but yeah the Spotify anniversary is coming up haha. And honestly, I can’t believe that it’s been two years since I released my last song. I've definitely improved lyrically and have learned a lot more about vocal production and layering. I’m planning on releasing music a lot more frequently, starting with some new music before the end of the year. I can’t wait to share everything I'm working on!
Two of your favorite artists surprise you in the studio. Who are they and what kind of song do you make together?
I’m a huge Andre 3000 fan and if we made a song together (and hopefully we will) I think it would sound like something out of Class of 3000. I don’t know every detail but it would definitely have horns. I’m also a huge Stevie Wonder fan and I know we would make some sort of beautiful ballad with a whole lot of harmonies and live instruments. No 808s or anything - just some strings, piano and probably a harmonica during the bridge.
Listen to “Drifting” on Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Music, Tidal, and other platforms here.
Listen to “Keep It Going” on Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Music, Tidal, and other platforms.
Flip over to the B-Side to listen to a playlist curated by Magana for A-Side/B-Side.
B-Side
What’s the 411?
Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled in favor of Nicki Minaj in the copyright dispute with Tracy Chapman, finding that Minaj's 2017 song "Sorry" did not infringe upon Chapman's 1988 "Baby Can I Hold You." The case is fascinating, and its ruling impacts the entire music industry, so I'll break the whole thing down in a future issue (maybe next week🤔??).
Mariah Carey released her sixth studio album, Butterfly, this week (September 16th) in 1997! Mariah celebrated the 23rd anniversary of the masterpiece on Twitter, writing, "An unforgettable, defining and transformative moment in my life and career. And yes... ‘It's in the memoir!’ 😘🦋❤️ Happy anniversary #Butterfly and thank you lambily for supporting it from day one ❤️."
Rico Nasty drops "Own It" and gives the new single the video treatment. Watch/listen below. To celebrate the release, she created and dropped her new card game Would You Leave Him?
Bad Bunny will perform in a free, virtual concert this Sunday, September 20th at 6 pm EST. The show takes place during Hispanic Heritage Month, and "also commemorate[s] the Puerto Rico community's resilience on the third anniversary of Hurricane Maria," Jesus Lara, president of Univision Radio, shared. You can watch the concert on UforiaMusic.com, Bad Bunny's YouTube channel, and @UforiaMusic on Twitch and Twitter.
Issa Rae tests SZA on her knowledge of Insecure in Billboard's QUIZZED. At 04:44, SZA tells the real-life story behind her song “Supermodel.”
PLUS, new music from Brent Faiyaz, T-Pain, Baby Keem, Saba, Busta Rhymes & Anderson .Paak, Sevyn Streeter, Shy Glizzy, and Rapsody.
Let Me Put You On (Curated by Magana)
Listen to Magana’s A-Side/B-Side playlist here.
Pass the Mic
🎤 “The song [Shook Ones, Pt. II] transformed Mobb Deep’s career by doing what New York rap has done so grippingly since “The Message”: It throws floodlights into the city’s darkest corners, rendering them with unnerving detail and inimitable style.” — Paul Thompson for Vulture’s The 100 Songs That Define New York Rap, Ranked
🎤 “What happened with [Trinidad] James is what can happen to anyone during the viral age. With so much emphasis on data and fast-rising social media hits, it seems to be all about the numbers, especially for major labels. That can turn into a problem if early success can’t be replicated.” — Trey Alston, How to Survive a Viral Hit
🎤 “Rap music and hip-hop culture had been coming of age in New York for well over a decade before Yo! MTV Raps arrived. Even though the music channel and arbiter of youth culture was headquartered in New York City, it was slow to incorporate rap into its programming...Yo! MTV Raps was what finally flung the doors to the genre wide open, expanding upon the mainstream success that hip-hop had already started to achieve elsewhere.” — Jen Chaney, An Oral History of the Very First Episode of Yo! MTV Raps
From the Archives
Since Jen Chaney conducted an oral history of the pilot episode of Yo! MTV Raps, I’m back with another card from my collection. Card No. 27: Eric B. & Rakim
The Credits
Thank you, Magana! ❤️💜 See y’all next week.