[FEATURE] VIPER PRESENTS: THUTMOSE

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Thutmose moved to Brooklyn when he was nine years old. Since moving he has navigated the complex landscapes of his dual heritage, creating a unique sound that resonates across continents. Get familiar with this VIPER interview…

What five words define your sound?

Probably a mixture of Pop, Eclectic, Afro House and Conematic would best describe my sound.

Tell me something unique about your creative process.

I like to create majority of my music from scratch, building it out and writing to it as opposed to listening to beats, although I’ve created songs outside of that process.

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

Right now I’d say ‘Champagne on Ice’, one of my more recent songs, I love it so much, it’s feels luxurious and honest, a evolution of me as an artist and as a person.

What inspired you to make that song?

It came through a collaborative effort, my guys LDG and Nosa Apollo had a story revolving around Champagne and that inspired the record, the idea was born from that. I was in a space where I wanted to write more honest music and the Afro house sound really put the cherry on top.

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

I’d say on one of my biggest records, ‘memories’. I wrote that not really from personal experience but just expanding on a feeling I know many people can relate to. Drawing from the emotion of wanting to be loved by someone and things going sour. Writing that song and that story allowed me to tap into a more vulnerable side to get the right emotion to translate vocally.

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

Best experience, I’d probably say performing for League of Legend Fans in their championship games that they host in different arenas around the world. I performed last August somewhere in New Jersey, It feels like the Super Bowl performing for their fans so I’d have to go with that performance. Worst? That’s a tough one, probably one of the times I forgot a few words and had to freestyle without anyone noticing, not the worst but just some funny mistakes.

What is your favourite song to perform?

It used to be a song in my catalog called ‘Ride with me’ but after releasing ‘Champagne on Ice’ and ‘Lagos 2 Vegas’, it’s between those two.

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

There’s been a lot of great music along the way that brought me closer to creating music but I was already making music when Frank Ocean dropped ‘Thinking About You’ and I definitely wanted to write a song as beautiful as that during that time frame, that was early in my journey into music though.

What’s the meaning behind your name?

Thutmose is an Egyptian name and I love the symbolism in movies when Kings spoke and their voice commanded attention, I also love the impact Egyptian history has had on the world and its meaning to Africa and the rest of the world.

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

I’d probably be somewhere working on films in someway, behind the camera, in front it of it; I’m a huge cinematography fan.

What’s success to you?

Success to me is like Jay Z said, having a God given gift and living your life through that.

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

I’ve never felt like I had to change direction unless it’s creatively and thats always been more so of going where I feel Inspired and towards what inspires me.

Where can people keep in touch with you?

Follow me @ thutmose on instagram, YouTube and everywhere else.