Copy of MAEAR PRESS SHOT 1.jpg — “I’ve always been rebellious, and I’ve always done my own thing. I’m in control of my own world. That’s what it is, and I’ve just stuck with that mantra”

Meet Maear, a UK artist/rapper who has stomped the music scene. Interested by his style and vision, I decided it was worth interviewing the character that is Maear. The conversation had an organic flow, which isn’t always expected from phone interviews. I saw that Maear’s candour was not a facade and in fact left the studio with him. He openly discussed the portrayals of women in music videos, and political issues in Africa, as well as talking about his plans as an artist.

Maear’s style smacks of the 90s sound - the old-school hip-hop beats and the laid-back style of rap. Some might agree that the groove has been forgotten as production has modernised; it’s not heard often on the UK music scene. “I grew up in the 90s, so that vibe was always there, but I would say when I was about 16 I hung with groups that listened to a lot of old school, like WU-Tang. So that influence is there for sure, but I would say I pull from all the generations really”. Maear emphasised how his influences came from all the eras, and his appreciation of that.

Maear is also a member of hip-hop trio Jungle Brown, who between them mix old-school beats with UK rap, accompanied by snazzy and vivacious brass to create that 90s nostalgia [Keep It Movin’].

How did Jungle Brown come together?

M: “We grew up in Bournemouth, a place where it’s just really interconnected, so we ended up meeting each other at some points. We were making music as a collective, but not officially, for years. One of us was like ‘we might as well just make a group’ - that was in 2014. We started putting out music and it took off from there”.

There was a sense of certainty in Maear’s voice; a sense that he knows where he is going with his projects and his vision. I thought about his image and what he has produced so far, and wondered if there is always an intention to project a message in his songs. “I do solo music and I do Jungle Brown music. I would say when it comes to Jungle Brown, I think we’re all a little more conscious of leaving a message just because it’s got that old-school element to it. I feel like when we do music individually it’s more about the energy”.

What is the concept behind MAEAR Season?

M: “It’s MAEAR Season because I’m in control. I’ve had so many pressures against me about who I am as a black man all my life. It’s this constant pressure about who I should be, but I’ve always been rebellious, and I’ve always done my own thing. I’m in control of my own world. That’s what it is, and I’ve stuck with that mantra. I feel like having that mantra has helped me to make sure that I stay thinking for myself. A lot of the things I see happen culturally like how people are now pro black and pro Africa, this is how I’ve been the whole time, so I just take pride in the whole MAEAR Season thing because it’s how I stay me. I really don’t try and follow trends or let other people dictate how I feel about myself”.

From your experience, is it harder being an unsigned artist?

M: “For our last project [Full Circle] we [Jungle Brown] did get signed to an independent label, Mr Bongo, but in general it helps being in a group because you can split up the tasks between you. The music business is like any other business, if you haven’t got a lot of staff, you’ve got to wear all the hats. You have to learn how to balance energies because for me if I spend too much time in business, I feel less creative. We just make it work man. I’ve just chipped away at anything else that I was doing and just tried to keep as much focus on the music as possible, and that’s what we’ve all done”.

Was it hard balancing everything?

M: “At the end of the day you’re passionate about what you want to do, and you believe in it. This year, the way things are going, and how they have been the last couple of years, we can see the fruits of our labour, but I would say it is hard to balance everything. I definitely believe in teams; I definitely believe in paying people to do jobs that they can do whole-heartedly. That’s the way forward for everything. You’ve just got to make it work”.

Did you ever have moments where you wanted to change your sound?

M: “We created Jungle Brown in London. As individuals we are more inspired by all music. We wanted to bring individuality into the group a little bit more, so in the latest project we had house and afro-swing influences. But that isn’t because we’re trying to fit a mould, it’s really because they’re styles that we like and we just wanted to represent that”.

“The song wasn’t made to celebrate black women, it just does.”

Maear’s recent single Lauryn Hill, along with the music video, showcases the celebration of Black women. I asked if that was his intention.

M: “The song wasn’t made to celebrate black women, it just does. For me it’s corny how it has to be that way. The interpretation is ‘you’re trying to celebrate black women’ but I’m black. It’s normal. The reason why the video looks like that is because that’s how we roll. I just want to reflect me in my music. If I’m with a girl, this is what she’d probably look like, so I’m just going to reflect it. “She looks like Lauryn Hill”, really is about the spirit of Lauryn Hill that I’m celebrating; that’s the type of girl I would move to. I think it’s pretty sad that it’s a celebration to speak up on your own people. It should just be a normality. I don’t like the way it sounds like you’re being a hero. It makes it feel a bit gimmicky, whereas this is just life, and black women shouldn’t be celebrated as a gimmick. It should just be a normal celebration which I feel is happening more now”.

“I think it’s pretty sad that it’s a celebration to speak up on your own people. It should just be a normality.”

Photo taken from Lauryn Hill video shoot. — Photo taken from *Lauryn Hill* video shoot.

Were you in charge of directing the video?

M: Yeah, I pretty much put the whole idea together and got Gwap God Films to shoot the video and Yemzi did all the styling of the girls. I really love her clothing line. She styled the whole shoot, so all the girls were wearing Yemzi garments. Everyone came in with love and just pulled together.

The way the women in your video are portrayed is different to other music videos where women tend to be more sexualised. What are your views on that?

M: “Not enough people think like we do in the game. The UK game, although it’s happening and it’s popping, it still represents similar things. Most of the music is about sexualisation. Sexualised women are normally how music videos represent women in general. You rarely see it just being a normal flex; there’s a lot of sexualisation in it. And I’m not even here to say what’s right and wrong, that’s just what it is. I just feel like the game isn’t as open as it needs to be yet which is why I feel it’s important to diversify the game”.

Do you have any upcoming solo projects?

M: “I’ve got one called Euphoric Love coming in the first quarter”.

**You’re releasing that along with your upcoming book AMAEzing. What made you decide on writing a book?**

M: “During that time, I was like ‘I’m going to write my thoughts on each track’. It became a lot longer than just a little note and turned into a book. I basically matched up the songs to the book and included different thoughts that I have. I’m into culture and society so I just look at things and put my own spin on how I see things. Basically, it’s a mini guidebook on how to live life”.

Is writing and publishing something that you’d want to do more of in the future?

M: “Yeah, I’ve got at least one more book I’m going to do which will probably be separate from music. This one [AMAEzing] is going to be like a merch piece, but the next one I do is going to be a stand-alone book. I’m writing it now but very casually. Right now, my focus is Euphoric Love, then the last quarter of the year it’s going to be the book, then I’ll think about the future”.

Apart from your current projects, what would you like to achieve long-term?

M: “I’m very business-minded, so I definitely want to get into investing. My number one goal is to get involved in Africa becoming number one on the planet economically and lifestyle wise, and I’ve started to really see that as a vison. I just know that’s really where I want to put all my energy, so that is a big thing for me”.

Oh, that’s interesting! Is it a thing where you just want to focus first on one country in Africa and go from there?

M: “At first, Ghana was going to be my main priority. But then I thought to myself, in terms of the economy there are other places [in Africa] that are doing better, so really it’s going to be the continent and that’s the fact of it. I’m realising the diaspora and people who live in Africa need to be part of that, because we’ll do things in a more conscious way. I’m not going to eat from doing business in Ghana and not give back. I just have so much pride in being Ghanaian and I’ve always carried that. I‘ve realised that this has always been my mission because I’ve always had an infinite love for Ghana”.

I could relate to Maear, being from Congo myself. I felt that his ambitions to transform Africa’s economy is something I would aspire to do, and certainly something that resonates with a lot of people. Maear wants to be more than an artist; he wants to revolutionise Ghana and eventually the rest of Africa. It’s inspiring to see how aware he is of Africa’s current economic state, and that his plans go beyond his music career.

Afro-house single Lauryn Hill, featuring producer and artist M-Fly, will feature on Maear’s upcoming project Euphoric Love. The artist has remained mysterious about the exact release date, but will be dropping it along with another single very soon. Stay tuned.

Catch Maear’s EP here:

Meet MAEAR - Artist, Author, Revolutionist

“I’ve always been rebellious, and I’ve always done my own thing. I’m in control of my own world. That’s what it is, and I’ve just stuck with that mantra”