Swiftly building momentum as one of the UK’s most intriguing and naturally talented young artists in the music scene, oogie drops a new single from his hotly-anticipated new project, ‘phew’. Get to know him deeper with VIPER’s interview…

What five words define your sound?

Honest, claustrophobic, dusty, a cluster, pure.

Tell me something unique about your creative process 

I believe a little too much in crystals, so lean heavily on them to purify the vibe.

Which song of yours would you like people to hear first?

Recency bias, so I would say, ‘KANYE ME’, it puts people in a good mood.

What inspired you to make that song?

I was going through a weird time, I felt like I was letting myself down and not pushing hard enough to get things moving. Then Kanye was being Kanye, so I used popular culture’s love/hate relationship with him as a metaphor for my love/hate relationship with myself.

What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music?

Probably, ‘6 FOOT TALL’, it’s a song about how I had allowed myself to become so separated from my people, that all I essentially had at the time social wise, was my ex-girlfriend. So even though we weren’t right for each other, I felt like if she left, that would be it for me, I would fall into an empty social void. 

What’s the best/worst experience you’ve had on stage? 

One of my first performances was opening for a local group called Knighthood at the Old Blue Last, we arrived and my DJ, hadn’t bounced most of the PA’s properly, so we had about five minutes of music for a 20 minute set. Me and one of my favourite rappers, JENNY, basically freestyled for the majority of the set, the DJ chopped up random beats and we stretched and stretched it. Might have been terrible, who knows? [Laughs] But it was definitely a vibe.

What is your favourite song to perform?

‘DRILLERS’, energy on energy.

Which artist/song/album made you want to make music?

Too many to be honest, Kanye West’s ‘Late Registration’, Skepta’s ‘Ed Hardy Party’, Chance the rapper’s ‘Acid Rap’, Earl Sweatshirt’s ‘Doris’, Azealia Banks’ ‘1991’ and ‘Fantasea’, Joey Bada$$’ ‘1999’, JME’s ‘Serious’, Kodak Black’s ‘Gospel’. Those are probably the most iconic eight for me.

What’s the meaning behind your name?

My guy Ade, said I looked like Ace Boogie from Paid In Full. And our demeanours are kinda similar. There was already an “A Boogie” and a “Boogie”, so I took “oogie.”

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?

Pretending I could still make as a footballer.

What’s success to you?

Being able to create, connect and share for as long as my ideas flow. so if in 10 to 15 years a few people are still interested in what I’m creating, then I’m hella successful.

What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction? 

Seeing things and people above me make it clear the path I was on, wasn’t gonna lead to nowhere. I sound like a Spac Nation pastor, but on the real, when I lost my  close friend in a real messed up way, it broke me. But it also forced me to take a deep look at myself and I suppose that was the big direction change.

Where can people keep in touch with you?

I’m on everywhere, hit me up on Insta.