The Mind of Midas the Jagaban - a Unique First Look
New kid on the block, Midas the Jagaban, has returned with a new banger, after huge success with infectious debut single Come We Bill Ehh. Wearing a bally at all times, Midas doesn’t mess around as latest single, Party With A Jagaban, comes top 5 in the Afrobeats Charts. We managed to get a quick interview with Midas about partying with a Jagaban, and her method to the avant-garde. The South London artist is one of only a handful of female artists adding a refreshing change to the ever-evolving Afrobeats scene. Apart from Midas and a few others it’s a male-dominated arena.
This is what makes the Jagaban herself so special; she has also shown us that you don’t need a pretty face, or any face at all in fact, to gather a following for your music. Midas stays true to her persona, doing her magic and turning a beat into a golden hit.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Starting music properly just at the end of last year, Midas started off producing. Something magical happened while recording Come We Bill Ehh when Midas discovered her talent for singing. “That’s when I knew, ok cool there’s a talent there for it, just run wid it.”
Did you write any songs before your first single?
I did write a couple before that, so some of them will be coming out, some might not. But yeah I have written a couple before Come We Bill Ehh.
Where do you find it easiest to make music, is there a place you go to or do you have a hideaway?
Yeah like near my house there’s this spot that if I wanna write or suttin I’ll just go there or it’s really just in my room. But yeah there’s a spot I go to.
What was it like growing up in South East London? What’s poppin’ there?
With me I’m someone that likes to travel around so sometimes I’m in South [but I’m never in one place]. The beat about South is that all the areas are different, you meet different people, it’s different vibes. It’s lit around South.
You’re not messing about calling yourself Midas! Where did the persona come from and when did you realise you are Midas?
When I first said I was gonna do music I had to think, cool so I’m wearing a bally but I want my name to mean something too. First thing that came to mind was Midas cause I like Greek mythology and stuff, so the story about King Midas and everything he touched turned to gold, I thought lemme play around with that - every beat I touch turns to gold.
Production wise, your inspiration was Nigerian big band music and clearly Afrobeats. What made you decide to go down this route when Grime and Drill are so popular?
I feel like culture is everything, and when you bring a culture to now I think it’s the best thing you can do. So obviously that’s what I did with PWAJ, and it’s also cause I think the UK needs something different and when you look at African music in other countries and you compare it to here I felt it was lacking, so I was like let’s try something different. I didn’t think it was gonna get the reception it got but I’m happy it did.
That reminds me, how did you feel about coming top 5 in the Afrobeats chart?
That was crazy to me, I couldn’t believe it. That’s mad.
Did you expect such a good response?
Not at all, especially in the UK cause I know Afrobeats isn’t the main genre here - we respect it and we love it but the main genre is Drill or Grime. That is what’s held here so it was mad getting that response.
And with Afrobeats it’s very much male-dominated. There aren’t many women on the Afrobeats scene.
I feel like that’s changing though in a way. If you go to places like Nigeria there’s a lot of female artists coming out like Temz, Henny and then Koffee, I feel like females are taking over slowly. But one reason I don’t really say I’m a female - it’s bait and everything but - I’d rather just keep it about the music. When you’re putting categories and boxes it just gets long.
What made you want to put on a balaclava?
I feel like it’s a protection thing - protecting myself - and it also lets me be Midas, so if I’m wearing a mask I’m actually Midas and it’s a whole different persona. And I feel like the music is the only thing that matters as opposed to what someone looks like.
Do you have any collabs in the pipeline?
Yeah a couple still. It’s gonna be lit.
Any clues?
You’ll see but I’ll give you a few producers. I’ve worked with Steel Banglez, Rexy - a big producer in Nigeria, one of the biggest. I’ve worked with Guilty Beats and a couple producers in France as well, it’s been lit.
Do you think you might dabble with any other genres?
Definitely. With regards to the UK there’s different genres I could tap into but I feel like the main primary is Afrobeats, and I’ll mainly be taking inspo from those other genres.
For Party with a Jagaban, did the instrumentals and production come first or the lyrics?
I came up with the lyrics. So the producers had a concept and they showed it to me, and then I came up with lyrics from that. Then I just added my own bits like how I wanted the beat to change in the middle, to be more instrumental and more Afrobeat-y.
Who’s your dream artist to collab with, if you could pick anybody? Top 3.
Naira Marley another one is Teni*, then a weird one - Kanye West. Like early Kanye West.
So why Kanye?
I think Kanye’s lit. With music he takes it differently. He’s proper on his music.
How was your lockdown?
Lockdown’s been good for me cause it’s allowed me to make more music, obviously it’s not good that there are no shows but it gives you enough time to be in the studio and make more music. So I’ve been increasing my catalogue this lockdown. .
What has been the hardest part about being an artist in lockdown?
I think it’s that you can’t properly enjoy it, you can’t go out and see people listening to your music in clubs and that. It’s like you don’t really know how big you are until you come out of lockdown. I still don’t feel it - I’ve got two tunes on the charts but I feel like if we weren’t in lockdown I’d feel it cause I’d be doing shows, going out there you know what I mean?
So do you think you’ll ever take off the balaclava?
Hmm I get asked this a lot. I’d say as of now it’s not the plan, but who knows in the future it might come off.