Switch ingénue Mpho is the leader of a new pack of young, black London girls, who simply refuse to make the music that’s expected of ‘women of colour.’ She booms on new single Box ‘n’ Locks, “Feisty little brown girl / Raised in Brixton town girl /Supposed to be some ghetto chick / Making all this urban music,” which is a direct challenge to the industry that tried so hard to pin her to an R ‘n’ B style. Pigeonhole at your peril.
Mpho: My music is eclectic because I’m a multi-faceted person. I don’t just listen to one type of music, so why should I make just one type of music? I’ve got nothing against R ‘n’ B. If I want to make R ‘n’ B, I’ll make R ‘n’ B. But I won’t make it because I feel like I have to, or because I’m told to. It’s my choice.
HK: Why do you think there’s a sudden spate of young London girls like Remi Nicole and Ebony Bones, and yourself, challenging music stereotypes?
Mpho: London is cosmopolitan, you have access to every type of music there is. There isn’t just grime and hip-hop available to them, just because they’re black. There’s every music you want to get your hands on. To be honest I can’t understand why this movement hasn’t happened sooner.
HK: You’re very vocal about music stereotypes. What about the expectations of women in music?
Mpho: It’s up to the women in urban music to do what they want to do with their bodies and how they want to express themselves through their sexuality. If a woman wants to film a music video in her underwear, dripping in sweat, bumping and grinding, it doesn’t make her any weaker a person or singer. No one should be able to tell her what to do with her body and her sexuality. Don’t get all moralistic.
HK: You’ve been labelled the ‘British Beyoncé’, how do you feel about that?
Mpho: I don’t care what you think of her music or style – put her on a stage in a plastic bag with no makeup, let the girl sing and tell me if you’re not impressed with the result. She might be mainstream, but you can’t fault her on her ability to deliver. If people want to compare me to that, I’d be stupid not to be flattered.
HK: I know you’ve struggled to make this album the way you wanted to
Mpho: The rigidity of music genres, and this whole pigeon-holing culture has really frustrated me over the years. With me it’s like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. R‘n’B? I have never felt R ‘n’ B. Why shouldn’t I be allowed to draw on my influences and create a music not typical of a young urban artist? I think they should create a new genre – the listen and like it genre. That’s a genre I’ll be a part of.
HK: But you don’t mind being called pop?
Mpho: Call me pop. It’s the most general and all-encompassing genre. That’s fine. I’m pop. I don’t care about music snobbery. Snobs are snobs, and if they want to look down on pop, that’s fine. Yes, it has a cheesy image, but there’s always people in pop who come through. Look at Michael Jackson – he was iconic. For every Cheeky Girls, there’s Madonna. Snobbery makes music exclusive. Stop being a musical snob. Experience it. Learn it, and grow.
HK: You have some big names on your album, does this create pressure to succeed?
Mpho: My album Pop Art features some big names like Switch, and Rob Davis, who’s produced for Kylie, but I never worried about having to live up to anything. If I wasn’t good enough and they didn’t believe in me, they wouldn’t have been working on my album. Because it certainly wasn’t for the money. It was all based on my potential. There was no-one from the record label slapping twenty-five grand on the table.
Tags: Mpho
Except the album sunk without trace/didn’t receive an offical release. Which is a shame as its a good album.
August 28, 2010 at 5:53 pm