Words by Lucy Young
We’re lost in his dreams and melodies: here’s a quick look at Montreal’s very own genre-bending prodigy, ODIE.
Odunayo Ekunboyejo, better known as ODIE, is the grassroots musician and recording artist that broke through onto mainstream platforms in 2017, making waves with soothing, mollifying vocals, alongside synthesised strums and dubs. Born in Montreal, Odunayo found resonance in a fusion of afrobeat, contemporary hip-hop, and R&B, taking inspiration from artists like Jimi Hendrix, Amine and Kid Cudi.
The Capricorn musician has discussed internal conflict and difficulty throughout his career, most importantly with finding a sound that works for his style of artistry, all whilst also accommodating to listener expectations. In a now-deleted Instagram caption, he shared that, “For the longest time, I did not realize that I fell out of love with myself & my art. To remedy this, I found myself lost in experiences. When I started working again it was for the wrong reasons”.
ODIE took a hiatus from social media following the immense success of his single ‘Miss Summer’, making a quiet return through a subtle announcement on Instagram and the release of ‘Go Boy’. The lyrics and dreamy fingerstyle-plucking provide us with a comfortable introduction to the upbeat bass and distorted vocals. When all of these elements come to fruition, they evoke a similar feeling of frisson I personally have when listening to Temper Trap’s ‘Sweet Disposition’. At the forefront, this piece is clearly an ode to his younger self – someone who he sees as understanding the art that he can’t quite grapple with today.
It’s a song that I interpret as being devoted to unpacking his fears of failure. This is something that ‘Slowly’ also tried to do, but while he opens the first verse in self-reflection, he later goes on to reject his own thoughts as weakness [“Don’t talk like this, bow your head, keep your heart’] in the interest of making money and finding love. It’s something that nearly every male artist makes music about in today’s industry, and while this isn’t a criticism (we are all victims of the patriarchy), it certainly limits ODIE’s potential to connect.
‘Go Boy’ demonstrates his courage to push past the comfort of being ‘lost in experiences’ with others; this song feels like one of the first instances where we see ODIE at his core, without the requirement of an unrequited love, an object of pure adoration or a comfortable crush as lyrical stimulus. This is the story about himself and his pain, without any kind of lyrical cushioning to romanticise his feelings.
I listened to this song and added it to my rotation for the months of April and June, and it’s making a return this December. As a fan, I’m proud that he released a song that enables him to connect with his audience in an unfiltered way. Don’t get me wrong, the love songs are what got me hooked, but having a glimpse into his creative process and understanding the raw emotion in his own music is what keeps me listening.