Smba Keeps a Full Plate
Though originally a Michigan local, Smba has definitely proven themselves to be a noteworthy artist currently contributing to the Chicago music scene. When it comes to their music, Smba can be described as a storyteller guiding their listeners through fragments of their life. From troubled relationships to homies becoming family to handling unwanted opinions–there’s something for every listener to connect with.
Smba’s musical accomplishments are impressive alone, but when considering that they were able to establish their own artist development/distribution company and fulfill the role as co-executive producer of an event at such a young age makes me even more appreciative and curious as to how they found the time to sit over Google Meet to chat with me. Check out the Q&A below which covers Smba’s beginnings as an artist, their latest release 3 Heads on Gold, and finding “two-dollar bills.”
What’s up? What have you been up to recently?
Working on a lot of music for the most part.
What have you been listening to lately?
I’ve been listening to the new Cameron Bolden Caramel Sunday–that’s like literally fire. I’ve been listening to this song called “Girls Love Kehlani” by this person named Digital Mozart. I’ve been listening to Process by Sampha, The Life Of Pablo, Be Your Own Shooter by Blake, and Amy Winehouse.
When did your interest in music first develop? What influenced you to start making music yourself?
It was literally always there. When I was born everyone I was around loved music, so I feel like it was almost impossible for me to not be attached to music. It was just something I grew up and had. But going into music didn't happen until sophomore year. I was going through a lot and the biggest thing that was consistent through all of the periods that were rough in my life was music. So if I could be that for someone else then that’s it. I started doing it because it was an output and I showed it to my friend and he was like, ‘Yo this is dope. You should drop this.’
What’s the story behind the name SMBA?
I was in Spanish class and this dude that always hated me–for good reason because we had beef going back to kindergarten–was roasting me in front of the class and said, ‘You look like Simba.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah I do look like Simba.’ And I kind of just took it on as a nickname and took out the “i” because of copyright.
Originally being from Michigan, how did you make your way into the Chicago music scene and get connected with other Chicago artists once you eventually moved to Illinois?
I guess the first drop I can trace back to Victor Pearlman. He lives in New York now, but he used to live here. He’s a curator, fashion designer, [and] multimedia person. He had these shows that he used to throw in Chicago and one of the first ones I went to I met Dew there from LOWERLIPDRIP–it was before either of us had even dropped anything. I got invited to this show in Chicago and I was like, ‘Yo this is dope.’ I tapped in with two or three people and then I dropped my first mixtape. Then I just kept dropping music, got a manager (Michael Magitman), [and] started meeting people. I guess starting to go to these lowkey events really started to branch out into more connections.
You recently released 3 Heads on Gold which is composed of two new songs: “Feedback” and “Way Up.” Tell me more about the concepts behind these two songs.
“Feedback” I made because I was listening to this Aminé song “Compensating.” I really liked the beat a lot, so I made a beat that reminded me of it but wasn't inspired by it necessarily. I had a whole different song that I had been sending around to my friends and everyone was like, ‘Yeah this is cool, but I can't hear myself on it.’ So one day I just switched the hook and I called up my friend–he lives in Nigeria [and] his name is Atsen. I was like ‘Yo I need help on this hook. Can you just sit here with me?’ I had him on the phone and just mumbled through my hook. Just having him there helped me get the hook. I got the hook down, did the verse, and I sent it to Kendall. “Way Up” I made two days after I made the “Feedback” beat. I don't remember what inspired that but I found that guitar sample and tried to build this synth montage around it. I think someone described my music as ethereal montages. I was trying to really harness that into a song and that’s what I came up with. I went on this bike ride and had this melody down for the whole song. So I guess I wrote the song on bike rides which is a fun fact.
Being one of my personal favorites, I really appreciate the message behind “Feedback.” I think the idea of learning to dismiss negativity from others is something a lot of young people can relate to. How did you personally learn to deal with unsolicited opinions and comments aimed at you?
I just did this event, 21 under 21, and that was a whole virtual thing to raise money for this thing called The Bully Project which is supposed to be this interactive thing that goes around in middle schools that’s supposed to teach people the consequences when you don’t stop [bullying]. With that being said, the point I'm trying to make is that it’s been a long time. People have always been saying shit to me since I was a kid. I was just an easy person to pick on I guess. I think a big thing is that I started thinking [about] what happens if someone walks up to me and is like, ‘Yo I hate your yellow flannel that you're wearing so much.’ That used to be something that would really stick under my skin, but what happens when someone says that? They have a thought and then they come up to me and tell me their opinion. There doesn’t need to be merit there. I don’t need to take their opinion as fact–and it’s not fact, it’s opinion. I know that because I can have my own opinions about people. They can be wrong and they don’t have to stick to people. I think the more I thought about how people have a trillion thoughts in their day, and if a couple of them come at me, that doesn’t mean that they have to stick to me. That took forever to learn, but once I started realizing that, that’s when I started to ignore unwanted opinions and feedback.
You mentioned the 21 under 21 event. Tell me more about the event and how you got connected with that.
I was supposed to do this last March because it was supposed to be a real in-person thing, but then Covid happened. I was supposed to be a performer there, but then it became a virtual event. So the person who runs the whole thing, Connie St John, was like, ‘Do you want to be my co-executive producer?’ And I was like, ‘Of course.’ I got my friend Nialie Pompilus to come on and be the social media organizer and she helped me find a couple other people. We got the whole show together to support The Bully Project and it was a two-hour multimedia event. We had Sabrina & Lenai from Duke Ellington School of the Arts come out and show off these dresses that they had made for Romeo and Juliet–which was awesome. We had Redveil and myself perform and two awesome artists Myia Thornton and Zora–who’s an awesome Black trans artist from Chicago actually, but she doesn’t live here anymore. Then we also had really talented 16-year-old fashion designer from New York named Adam Bellaiche who showcased some of his work & actually got Rick Owens to watch the event after the fact and say he liked his clothing! It took us a lot of months to plan and I had never been a part of something so stressful, being an executive producer of an event, but I would definitely do it again. It was mad fulfilling and I'm excited to do it again because it’s going to be an annual thing.
I saw that you produced both of the singles. Alongside writing your own lyrics, do you find that being able to do the production on your own songs gives you even more control in the storytelling aspect of your music?
Yeah like a trillion percent. That’s literally why I started producing. I was making Blue and I had worked with my boy Aaron Kates–he's great and produced a lot of my discography so far. But Aaron was getting busy so then I made a beat with Blake and that was cool. Then there’s this one song “Sunrise” and I was like, ‘Yo I need to get a beat for this,’ because I was trying to use this beat, but it had a sample in it and I couldn't clear it. So before we got the producer who was on it, Bijan Amir, I tried to make a beat and it was horrible. But I wanted to get better because I felt like before it was like me having an idea for a painting and then someone coming in and maybe filling in all the outlines while I do all the colors. It didn’t feel like me doing the whole painting, but now it really feels like I'm doing the whole painting.
Beyond music, you’ve also started 2db Co., an artist development and distribution company. Tell me more about 2db and your goals with the company.
I hate record labels a lot. They’re the worst. I also hate a lot of these distribution companies that act like record labels. They say they’re not and they do it differently that’s a lot less shady and scheming, but they’re still weird about it. I want to give transparent distribution to artists, but the thing I'm focusing on right now is taking plans from A to B. If you go on the website right now there’s nothing except for ‘GUIDED MANIFESTATION OF UNIQUE IDEAS’–and that’s exactly what I'm trying to do. I have three albums in the works besides EP2 that I'm executively producing. The whole point of that is that people came to me with either songs or an idea and I said, ‘I love this concept. This is something unique that I haven't heard before. I have the tools and the brainpower. You can rent my brain out. I want to help you take this from idea to reality.’ So I’m working on three other things right now and we’re transferring these cluttered ideas and we’re turning them into a real finished product. There’s like a whole story behind it [the company]. When I was ten years old, this dude gave me this two-dollar bill and what’s interesting about this [points to the seal on the bill] is it’s red and they only made so many of these and you can’t really find them anymore. And this is like super unique, right? So the whole point is I’m trying to find the two-dollar bills. I found a couple two-dollar bills right now and we’re working on those.
What’s next to expect from SMBA?
EP2. Like for real for real. I know I’ve been saying that for a year–someone pointed out to me the other day–but seriously. I produced it all myself [and] I wrote it all myself. It’s better than every single song that I’ve put out so far–that's a bold statement, but it's true. I hope people like it. I'm going to drop it very soon.
