A defining feature of rising 24-year-old Remi Kolawole is his laidback personality, offset by a rich view of the world that has permeated his songwriting since starting out five years ago with producer Sensible J.
The hip hop artist’s easy demeanour shines through as he contemplates the release of his sophomore album Divas and Demons in just over two weeks, and he’s quick to admit just how excited he is about the new record.
“I really just hope people enjoy it, J and I put a lot of time into it (laughs). We’re keen to see how people receive it. So it’s more of an excitement on that side, and the fact that we’ll be able to make new music after this as well.”
“The whole album is about the last couple years of my life and how those people and times have affected me. So it’s going to be interesting to see how people take and relate to it, and it was an awesome process of being able to write in a very different way.”
The duo are set to take their fresh beats across the country in a few short months’ time, and Remi reflects on touring back in May being “incredible and heaps of fun”. The talented rapper had a particular blast in Perth and, as he remembers it, “We got to spend a bit of time staying with friends that we don’t get to see, so it was great, and we were also able to go back down to Victoria as well and catch up with a few more people.”
That early tour was in support of first album single ‘For Good’, featuring Sydney soul-stirrer Sampa The Great, someone who Remi truly believes elevated the new record “on many, many levels.”
“I mean, just having her around in general in your life elevates you. She was the first vocalist that we collaborated with on the new record, and I was in a weird, control freak-y kind of domain… When Sampa came into the studio, it was just so easy. She was so incredible that it just added this new energy to the track, and a totally new spin on it which made me love it in a new way.”
“That’s all you can really ask for, any time you’re dealing with someone who’s collaborating with you on your music. So for me it was awesome in every single way, and that’s my sister as well, so we’ll probably be doing a lot more stuff together.”
On a high from thinking about working with the blossoming fellow hip hop artist again in the future, Remi reveals how he feels inspired “pretty much any time I’ve hung out with Baro, Sampa, and just a lot of cats that are a lot younger than me.”
“Every time I hang out with them, they offer me a new perspective on not just music but the globe, their style… all these kinds of things. I think there are a lot of young kids that are coming up in music now who have just lived so far outside of the scene, whether it’s hip hop or whatever’s considered to be the normal ‘western’ Australia, that they’re not influenced by it. There’s just a beautiful and very different outlook on the world, and that inspires me on many different levels.”
“I’m all for being inspired by cats that are of all ages, but definitely the youths all the time.”
A point of solidarity binding socially-aware musicians such as Remi together is their understanding that the “social climate”, or the way people are expected to look or act, can either make or break you. Brisbane-based roots and hip hop artist Jordan Rakei is one of those socially-conscious songwriters, who Remi collaborated with on recent track ‘Lose Sleep’. Here, the 24-year-old thoughtfully reflects on the need to have empathy in life, a quality that for Remi is “intrinsically what humans want to be”.
“It feels weird to me that we don’t live in a world where that is just basic. But at the same time, that is the world that we live in, and we’re just going to have to roll with the punches, and try and add a little more empathy. Hopefully adding songs like this will start conversations that will eventually lead to people opening their minds or eyes up a little bit. But at the same time, we’re just making music, so it’s not like we’re here really changing shit (laughs). We’re just saying what we think, and hopefully a few people will listen to that.”
Remi and J are certainly no strangers to bringing out the brutal honesty in their music, and that threads through their entire record label House of Beige, home to like-minded artists including Hau, N’fa and Syrene. Considering all of his friends’ hard work, the rapper admits that “it’s an honour that they feel comfortable enough to let us put their records out.”
“House of Beige is just a really big family, and we’re really happy that we’ve been allowed access to such a strong team. Even though they are our friends and family, it doesn’t take away the fact that we’re huge fans of what they do, or else we wouldn’t be putting it out. To have put out records like Hau’s The No End Theory (2015)… These are really amazing to me.”
However, even though “being able to roll with a team is the best”, Remi is adamant that “it’s really been J and I the whole way.”
“We definitely have a mad understanding of how we roll with this, and cats have always been supportive. But the one person who’s always been there and talked me through each move that we need to make has to be J, without a doubt (laughs). I’m so lucky.”
“It’s really hard to believe that it’s only been five years, in the wake of what’s happened since then. I think both J and I have grown a lot, I mean his beard is at an incredible length, which was not the case five years ago (laughs). But for real, it’s very hard for me to process that we get to do a lot of things that we do. Even just being a full-time musician… That’s what we dreamed of but it feels like it came very quickly, at least for me (laughs). J’s been in bands for a while and been working in a hospital for 16 years pushing papers, so his dues were paid. I guess it’s very hard to take stuff in when you’re always trying to move forward and make sure you can keep doing it.”
“It’s definitely been an amazing and educational time ever since I met J, which is an awesome thing.”
If you’re in Victoria on 16th September, hang with Remi and Sensible J at their free, all ages album release party in Fitzroy, hosted by Northside Records. RSVP here, otherwise gear up for their upcoming national tour by pre-ordering the new album.
REMI NATIONAL TOUR DATES
Friday, 18th November 2016
Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Friday, 25th November 2016
Railway Club, Darwin*
Saturday, 26th November 2016
Rocket Bar, Adelaide
Wednesday, 30th November 2016
Transit Bar, Canberra
Friday, 2nd December 2016
Newtown Social Club, Sydney
Friday, 9th December 2016
Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
Saturday, 10th December 2016
Republic Bar, Hobart
Saturday, 17th December 2016
Howler, Melbourne
