Delasi – The Monday Is OK Mixtape

Who are you: 
I am an herbal spice with 100% all-natural ingredients. ,ore potent than Maggi cube seasoning on the cusp of complete delicious flavoring for gravy stews.

Where are you: 
I’m in Ghana, surrounded by mountainous hilly springs and waterfall treks, quiet neighborhoods with bleating goats on loop. Nat Geo woodpecker birds out back, strange sparrows.

What are you:
I am a conduit of alien technology.

Tell us about the Monday mixtape you’ve put together for us…
If it were to be drawn what would it look like? 

My mixtape would look like a bowl of waakye with all of its condiments floating in a non-gravity room.

If it were a food, what would it be?

It would the meal in answer above.

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?


We would be wearing pajamas and chilling listening to the mix.

Where was it recorded?


Some of it was recorded in my bedroom studio, some from around the world from different studios and some contributions from dear friends of mine.

How do you feel about Mondays in general, excited…or? 


Every day brings its own excitement! Only difference is Mondays means higher probability of a work email from an individual or organization I admire as a collaborator during office hours.

Who would you say are your biggest influences and what are you hoping to achieve with your music?

The influences are as we say back home; “dey many ooo…” Quincy Jones, Mos Def, Wu-Tang Clan (Ghostface Killah especially) and Michael Jackson are artists I can single out in the myriad of influences that have shaped my sound.
Worldwide domination is the plan. It gets people laughing but there’s a real sense of fulfilment from people reaching out to me from all over the world. Some who can’t even speak English because it’s obviously it is not their mother tongue write to me and they tell me how my latest single ‘Perception’ has touched their souls or that I am speaking directly to how they feel.

I’m also hoping to work more in the field of academia and be invited to deliver guest lectures.

What were your original aspirations as musicians and how do you think you’re shaping up?

I was scared of everything. I wholeheartedly embrace technology now. So much so that I’ve now become a nerd for sound. I can cook up what I hear in my head. I have lost all fear.

Some self-help questions for a Monday…
Am I excited to dive into the challenges that I have lined up for the week? 


I had anxiety thinking about beating the deadline for this interview. Once I got to typing, and arranging the actual mix, it didn’t feel so bad. Next time, let’s go outdoors and shoot something.

Am I looking forward to engaging with the people I am meeting or working with? 
The ones who agree with me yes but the ones who are too stubborn and disagree? No.

Am I going to my dream job?
Yes

Am I being compensated fairly for the value I bring to my job? 


I think I am on the cusp of fair compensation.

Do I feel energized, rested, and confident? 


Every other day I feel this way. Unless I put in an all-nighter or two then the next few days might be off rhythm until I offset.

If you were trapped on a desert island with one other person, who would you choose? How long would it be before you eat them? 


I can’t eat my drum machines and sequencers.

Your doctor says you need more exercise….what do you take up for exercise?

I go for walks which helps me think. I can get new deas this way too. I need new running shoes so I can climb the mountain where I live again.

If you could travel in time…where in time would you go? 


Ask me again, when you have a real time machine ha! Otherwise, I am happy with the now.

What was the first electronic record you heard and how did it make you feel?


If we can count ‘Thriller’ as an electronic record then it would be that. Apart from the stories on the record and how good the music sounded with all of the syncopation and layering and everything, listening now triggers a feel-good nostalgia because this was my dad’s cassette tape. I loved him dearly.

How does your brain work when making music? How does it work when you aren’t?

Music making is match making, puzzle solving and problem solving. Sometimes I won’t fit the missing piece in until I go on a long walk, which seems to fix everything! Everything I do is somehow connected to making music, unconsciously. It’s about gathering the right data to tell a story later in the studio.

What were the first and last records you bought?

The first record I bought had a guest feature from me on it. It was a cassette. The last record I bought is a bootleg CD rip from a bootlegger of African collections this morning where I live for this mix I just curated.

What are you obsessed with at the moment?


My partnerships with music tech organizations and jumping over the one or two-week learning curves they present. I love the good folks at Brownswood too and what we’re cooking!

What’s your answer to everything?

A good walk with Ghostface Killah in my headphones. Walks preferably ending with some sort of reward. Maybe some good waakye.

Delasi’s The Audacity Of Free Thought is out Friday. Pre order here.