Zamorra Unlocks Season Of Storms And Rainbows

WHEN his groovy bop dubbed, Importanter, took over the streets of Lagos, in 2018, all eyes started falling on Zamorra.

For the music maverick born Adekunle Abdulateef, it was a season of fame, splendour and intrigue. Fast forward three years later, amid a myriad of singles and now a sophomore EP, and Zamorra is still the buzz on the street.

Stepping out recently with an 8-track soundpiece dubbed, Storms and Rainbows, the 23-year-old artiste continues his impressive run which he began with his debut project, The Schrottplatz tracks. With Storms and Rainbows, Zamorra declassifies the usual braggadocio associated with men, switching on his emotional and introspective alto. And, it is one train of a ride!

Beginning with Aiku, he starts the EP with a pensive supplications to his creator for wealth and other insatiable human needs, before traveling through the terrains of self-introspection with the second track Balance. He continues this Afro-pop/RnB shuttle with the rest of the tracklist from Like My Mother, To Now That You Are Mine, continuing all the way to All Men Are Scum, and down two more tracks to the closing track, another prayerful joint dubbed, Timeless. The entire playlist is interwoven with soothing lyricism, soul lifting, cheerful, love-inspired music, that fits perfectly to these stressful times just like cotton bud to a blocked ear.

Zamorra is definitely crooning a discography buttered with happy rhythm. And while his style might be more noble than commercially explosive, at the moment, it’s definitely powering a tide of sonic change currently sweeping across Afrobeats.

Chatting with Guardian Music, the ace maverick explains how he got into music by default.

“It has always been music for me. I grew up listening to different genres, vibes, messages. So, I was exposed to music really early and I started remixing songs early too. Growing up we had a tape recorder which I used to record my version of songs. I started writing music when I was in secondary school. Although I wasn’t recording then, it was just for writing sake and I performed them during social nights. I started professionally as Zamorra in 2018 when I dropped “a time will come” I also did a remix with small doctor and I released Paradise.”

As many other Nigerian creative artists, the Ondo native also fought the silent struggles from family, a white collar job, and all that society expects from a growing young person.

“I was born in Lagos, I schooled in Ondo state. I lived most of my formative years with my uncle in Ondo town. As an only child surrounded by people in the corporate world, their response wasn’t favorable when I started. They wanted me in the professional world which wasn’t my thing. And then, the regular perception of a musician also didn’t help but I didn’t give in because that was the only thing I am good at. I kept on persevering and when they saw that I wasn’t giving in, they started supporting me. They’ve been supporting ever since.”

Now, the young artiste continues to use his music as a lighthouse of hope, especially for other young people.

“Storms and Rainbows. They are two contrasting words. You know, storms stands for when things are rough and Rainbows signifies that things are beginning to look bright and beautiful. If you know where I’m coming from, you’d understand what I mean when I say that I’m hoping to get to my rainbow phase soon: a transition phase, from bad to good and from terrible to better. The contrast and all it stands for made me choose that title.”

His stint with inspiring others is also one that submarined the growth of Afro Trap superstar, Superboy Cheque. The duo met while schooling at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), and it was Zamorra’s influence that shaped Cheque’s beginning days as an artiste.

“SuperBoy happens to be a very close friend, more like a brother. We used to live on the same street in Ondo. He wanted to do music but didn’t know how to go about it. So, I started taking him around and we moved together a lot. I gave him his first name as an artist. He has been an amazing friend all the way even when he recorded his first song with Chinko Ekun.”

The artiste also revealed that his name is coined from a wordplay on computer viruses; because “When I was in school, my nickname used to be “Virus”, and this was because I was very playful when I was younger; I had the ability to socialize with strangers in little or no time. When I was in OAU, the name had stuck and almost everyone knew me as virus but at that time, there were a lot of “Viruses” a lot of artists were called virus and then the need to add something distinct birthed the name “Virus Zamorra.”

With a blooming discography, and a bag full of dreams, Zamorra believes he can impact his generation. And while it seems outlandish, for some, the reality is he is already living his dreams.

“The passion I have to use my music for a whole lot of things. The fact that my music can be used to entertain, educate, enlighten, effect changes, compel people to do the right things and create a consciousness in minds of young people.”