My family moved from our home in Warri, Nigeria to the United States when I was 10 years old. When you move to something so unfamiliar, you start to develop a desire to fit in, to be accepted. This album, Ovie, dives into all the desires I went through and still go through to try to fit in, from money and status to women and travels. When Kez (the producer) and I began the album, my only criteria were that I wanted it to be unique and I wanted each song on the album to stand on its own and truly address my situation. The result, "Ovie", is an album about discovery of God and self. Provided below is a little insight into each track: A.A. - I wanted to start off by addressing the desire to fit in (in the form of a person) and slowly express to it how I had come of age and how I was vowing to fight it everyday. It is named A.A. because the battle to not suppress yourself in order to fit in is one that I fight everyday, just like an addiction. Ovie/King - Kez cooked up this beat that was so natural and powerful, that it reminded me of Africa. I wanted to describe this mythical figure, a person of great strength and willpower. The person I wanted to be. The person I think we all can be. Find Your Way - When we first came up with the concept for this track, I knew I had to get someone with a bright voice to light up the hook. I wanted a Michael Jackson type innocence and purity to the voice, so I found the best singer I knew that fit those qualities, Leelon. This song is a reminder that while my father could teach me his principles, he was entrusting me to navigate my own way through this world. At the end, I come to the revelation that finding my way isn't necessarily finding my perfect path, but finding the way I choose to be regardless of where I am. Foolie - So for this song, I just wanted to really rap. Foolie is a term my cousin uses quite a bit, and I have since adopted it. When something is foolie, its funny, its wild, its unorthodox. Like this song.... The Birth of Swervy Jackson - This interlude is a one-minute clowning session. The type that happens to an immigrant kid and makes them addicted to success, women, money and fame...just so they can disprove all those comments. Swervy Jackson - This guy Swervy Jackson is the sauced-up, showoff, that is dead set on shining on everybody and has no mercy on anybody that made fun of him before he became what he is now. He has no desire to forgive, only to stunt on you more and more. My friend Travis (T-roc) always used the term "swervy" for when you diss somebody. I added "Jackson" to it and made it a character. Fluorescent - This is a happy song. Fluorescent is the feeling when a room lights up as soon as you walk in it, or when everybody has a better time because you're around. It dwells on the quintessential light in all of us that shines until our last breath. Pushin' - Pushin' is about a never-ending desire for success. You push and push because you have become a slave to accomplishment. I kept asking Kez: "when will the beat drop"? He said: "Wait for it....." Travel Noire - I was seeing a lot of people post about traveling on social media, and referring to it like it was this life-changing solver of all problems. I even took traveling as another form of addiction to show that I was a successful person. This song was a reminder to me that the mind has the ability to travel far and wide and that just physically going to a new place would not solve my issues. Elijah - This song was inspired by Elijah on Mount Carmel. God appeared to him in the form of a small, still, voice. God is who determines what we are, whether we are successes or not, and what we are supposed to be. The song ends with the marvelous choir echoing that God is the one to listen for! Interesting fact is that my cousin recently had a son named Elijah...this is now his song.