The revolution has already been in progress
Life is simple but sometimes we complicate it. The Black Opera is here to simplify the music for you. They started with random singles and videos that were released on the internet without much information or even a face to associate with. Now they have members across the world, are signed to Mello Music Group, and promoting the message of oneness with their music and other forms of “demonstrations.” Their project, EnterMission is what really convinced me that the talent couldn’t be dismissed.
Their last full project, 80z Babiez To The 2Gz (The ExperiMix) shows that all Hip-Hop, no matter from what year, can exist in harmony. They showed that artists should not only respect those who came before them, but they should also collaborate with them in some capacity. We had the opportunity to speak with two of the representatives from The Black Opera to discuss the growing gap in Hip-Hop, the unique character of their live shows, and the right way to do a collaboration.
Just to start off could you please just introduce yourselves? And where you’re from?
N: Nokbai.
S: Sensu.
Both: And we’re The Black Opera.
N: We’re from all over the place. Mainly in Michigan right now but we are from LA, France, Africa. We’re from everywhere. We have people everywhere.
I feel like at least within the U.S. on blogs, you guys are fairly new. How have you already obtained that global reach?
S: That’s very true. We’re still evolving on the blog sites as far as the social age is concerned. But basicaly we’re connected with the fellow creators we create with. One of our main producers is from France (Astronote). We’re pulling in new people. We just obtained a new MC: Obie Iyoha aka Naija BLACK. He’s from Nigeria. One of our main members Kensah BLACK is from L.A. She grew up in Compton. She knows Kendrick’s people. Nokbai is originally from Atlanta. It just kinda happened that way.
N: Yeah the music didn’t happen first. It wasn’t like 2 main voices. It’s not like we got together and said let’s make music and start spreading it, so we can go from here to there and become global. It really started as connecting people first. Then the music came later. So, you are correct about our kind of newness to the whole blogsphere or whatever with the internet. That is true.
Got it. I realized your movement, which is bigger than the music, definitely has a global angle to it from checking out your website to listening to the music. But once you guys get to that point where you have that global reach and platform, what do you want to do with that? What’s the ultimate goal?
S: We stand for a couple things. Our message, even though it seems complex is very simple. Basically our point to get across is that we are one. That’s what the unity stands for. And we like to urge people to think for themselves. That’s it. We feel like that this current day and age has robbed from all of the individual people that exist. We’re controled by propaganda, TV, music, radio, so on and so forth. The divide and conquer thing they’ve definitely mastered. You could see it in music, everywhere-the streets, even families. The reason why we don’t go by our individual names is because that doesn’t matter to us. It’s all about the art and the music. It’s to get more people to understand the unity that’s needed to make movements, make change, overthrow governments, and to have an opinion. You don’t have to do this by yourself.
I respect that you guys are really going for that larger stage. One thing I wanna ask also is when I first started listening to your music, I was just intrigued to learn more about you guys. Obviously you guys deliberately put on an air of mystery to ensure that your message was out there before your identity which is very admirable but also counterproductive to some. Do you think at some point that makes it more difficult? I feel like for some people, they need that one figure to latch on to or know about, then they start buying into the message.
S: We know it’s definitely difficult for people. We knew it was going to be. We knew what we were up against. We all had individual endeavors. We’ve seen it. To be honest we were tired of that same routine: get some PR, you gotta have a video, you have to get these steps in order to get your art seen. We’re here to challenge people to be better and think for themselves. And whatever it is that you do, basicaly step up. If you can’t grasp that we just want you to appreciate our art, it may be not for you. Simple as that. We try our best to present our art to whomever appreciates it.
N: People think, “Oh, The Black Opera. They must be all about pro-blackness.” But if you listen to our lyrics you will know what we are about. We are one. Simple as that, we have always said that. That has always been our thing. Even if we did a trap beat we would do it differently maybe by being spiritual so you can see we are coming from a different angle. We have different characters that people can lash onto. If you see our show, you’ll see we change outfits like every other song to represent the different types of people in this world. This is only the beginning. The shows will keep getting better.
I wanna play devil’s advocate a little bit. You guys are US based, even though you might have a global mindset. How do you feel about a naysayer that says within this country we can’t even operate our own government to a point where it shut itself down or even operate a website (Health Care).
S: I’ma let Nokbai answer this but I want to say one thing. One thing that’s beautiful about us using music as a tool is music outlasts everything. There’s music that’s been around longer than the presidents and the laws that exist. We’re just making art to influence people. And that art is timeless. There’s no borders around it.
N: Piggybacking off what Sensu said, if you are attempting to make a big statement, whether it be an art piece, or a political statement, you kinda have to start where your foundation or roots lay. Our main voices are Kensah, Sensu, and I. We just happen to be based in the US at this moment. Our art form is not defined by the artform alone. It’s our fashion, visual arts. Even the TBO logo is based on the “Adinkra” symbols from Ghana and adapted to spell out the letters TBO. Our art is all about challenging perception and inspiring people to think for themselves. At first glance, you may see the TBO Logo as a face or a warrior mask. But, if you look closer you will find the letters “T”, “B”, and “O” combining to form a bigger picture. That combination represents the unity that is reflected in one of our most quoted phrases: WE are ONE.
It is difficult to grasp why we’re claiming our global side, based in the US. That’s the beauty of creation. You can’t control creation. You can be from anywhere you wanna be and make art. That’s why we don’t really try to claim any cities, a block, hood. None of that matters when you make art. People may know where Banksy’s from. But people don’t really care. They just love art. They love what he does.
S: That’s the whole point. Just because someone lives in Africa doesn’t mean they’re different than someone that lives in Detroit or LA or doesn’t mean that they should be valued different or have different opportunities. Just like with all humans on this Earth. We all have a trade or a talent. It makes us great. That’s what’s to be expected.
N: I know that we’re not the norm. I know our main vehicle right now is Rap music, Hip-Hop music, if that’s what you want to call it. And I know the standard is you have to claim a city, crew, block, then your state and coast. Those are the rules, but The Black Opera, we don’t follow rules. We don’t care about rules, at all actually. I know it may be confusing for some people but they’ll catch up.
