Snazzy the Optimist won’t be Nigeria’s best-kept secret for long. The young spitter and storyteller carries himself with an attractive humility that permeates his music and makes him one of the most endearing rising acts of 2022. He started showing his love for music when he was still young, his earliest contact with music started when his dad who is an instrumentalist and was a member of a choir in South Africa had a music lesson with him. Snazzy the Optimist promises to never give up on his dream.
“It was just one of those things I never really saw as a talent, even still,” Snazzy says of his knack for music. “It was always just something like… It was life to me. I live it and breathe it. I just do it how somebody might do something every day. I just do it; it feels good to me.”
Yet, for as empathic and cheery as Snazzy the Optimist sounds, his music has a heavy tone. His single, Seluna, is laced with tales of relatability and pain. Though Snazzy strews optimism, the weight of Seluna is immense. There is anguish all over the single, the song is relatable and pitiful. Snazzy the Optimist reveals himself to be adept at telling the truth of a place and time without editorializing it into the ground. He’s a natural storyteller in that regard.
Talented as they come, Snazzy the Optimist is not without his hardships, admitting to me that just last 2 years, he wanted to give up on music. Of course, he didn’t.
“One of the mistakes I made was paying attention [to other people] instead of just looking at my situation,” he says. “I just come back to knowing that whatever they’re doing has nothing to do with what’s going on over here, on my side. I need to remember that at all times.”
“A lot of things are gonna try and stop you, on a journey like this. You have to know how to navigate around it, and you have to know to never give up,” see obstacles and know the way you ought to go. Snazzy concludes with some pep in his voice.
Interview
Who was responsible for forming your early music tastes?
I gotta give it to my parents, especially my dad because my earliest contact with music started when my dad who is an instrumentalist and was a member of a choir in Cape Town, South Africa had a music lesson with me.
What were your first demos like?
My first song, it’s funny… When I first started, when i was young, I produced it myself. It was a freestyle. My dad saw I’m trying to rap because i started off a rapper, so my dad went and bought me a mic and a little beat pad. Soon as I figured out how to use it a little bit, I made my first beat. I wrote lyrics to it and I recorded my first song, using the video on the phone. I got a video of myself rapping the song, and I showed it to my dad. He recorded me on the software, and that was that.
What did it feel like when you realized you had a knack for music?
It was just one of those things I never really saw as a talent, even still. It was always just something like… It was life to me. I live it and breathe it. I just do it how somebody might do something every day. I just do it; it feels good to me.
You tread very serious topics, but the music is very sonically pleasing. How do you strike that balance?
I’ve always been the one where whenever I would make songs, I would let the beat speak to me first. I have the lyrics down, I have what I want to say in me. Like in a little safe. When it meets the beat, it’s always beautiful. It’s like forming a little relationship. I’m forming eharmony relationships with the lyrics and the beats. I just always had a thing for beats that had words before you put words on ‘em. Talking to each other to form a beautiful conversation.
You lace a lot of optimism into this project. How do you keep your head above water?
It’s very hard to do, sometimes. I definitely do get in moods and moments where it’s like, “Man, what’s going on? Is it worth it? Does it matter?” As soon as I think about that, I flip the switch like, “Of course it matters!” A lot of things have happened in my life that remind me I have to keep going. Really, those periods are a reminder that it’s happening on purpose. Like, it’s okay to question things sometimes, because you navigate to the answer within your questioning.
When’s the last time you wanted to give up? Why didn’t you?
The last time I wanted to give up, it was probably 3 years ago. I wanted to give up because, again, some things on the outside change your mind. Things were getting to me, man. I know what I have, and I know the gift that I have. But certain things, man, I get discouraged. Things might not come out the way I want them to come out, and I look around like “You got people who don’t care, really, that it seems like they’re thriving and flourishing.” One of the mistakes I made was paying attention [to other people] instead of just looking at my situation. I just come back to knowing that whatever they’re doing has nothing to do with what’s going on over here, on my side. I need to remember that at all times.
Things are never easy when you look like you’re trying to accomplish the impossible. A lot of things are gonna try and stop you, on a journey like this. You have to know how to navigate around it, and you have to know to never give up. See obstacles and know the way you ought to go, patience and persistence are key, I’ve been so patient.
How do you keep yourself so creative and poetic?
I pray, That’s it.
What do you want to say to fans who have been patiently waiting for the album?
First off, I would say, “Thank you so much for rocking with me and waiting this extended amount of time.” We live in a climate where music gets pushed out so quick, and I don’t do that. With this project, I ask that you sit with it for a while. Don’t hit shuffle. Let it play from top to bottom, and see if you like it. Maybe you’ll like it on the fourth listen, you never really know. I want people to sit with it and listen.
Photos credit: Jeremy Visuals