It’s tough to imagine that 15 years have passed since Emma Nhamburo dropped her first single “Must Be Love” with the FYA. The swaggering vocal prowess that helped drive FYA into the Reggae fusion, R&B, dancehall, and pop scene—in line with the bandmates Kezia (Kizzy) Bennett and Tenza Foster. Although famous in the early 2000s, the band has taken a few hiatuses over the years to pursue their solo careers.

No rookie in the industry, Emma’s sensational vocals have been fronting her band ‘FYA’ over the years as her signature vocal style soared with the help of the bandmates Kizzy and Tenza. Wanting to step out and release music under her own title, Emma’s new release is a pivotal moment for the up-and-coming artist as she starts her solo career with an afro-beat-soaked bang.

Her new single, which is expected to be released in March, is just the tip of the iceberg for the singer, and 2021 will also see her releasing new music and collaborating with artists from around the world.

Find more about where she has been, her call to music, and her mesmeric music journey on this interview. Here’s the full conversation with the singer:

In 2003, you were eventually signed with Def Jam Recordings. Tell us a little about that and what the label expected of you.

They expected us to complete the deal with them, although we never did because we only had a single released on the label.

Your debut single “Boops” is definitely far beyond your average debut track from artists in those days. What was the motivation behind such a lyrically rich and melodically unique single?

“Boops” was actually a cover, the original song was by a Jamaican artist called Sly & Robbie, so just covered the song. It wasn’t an official release, a lot of people don’t know about that but it was just a song that was meant to introduce us to the market as FYA. The official single that was released from our album was “Must be love” so that’s why a lot of people don’t see “boops” on any albums.

Throughout your career, tell us about your best show and your worst show.

My best show to be quite honest was when we performed at the Prince’s Trust awards the year when Jay-Z first mentioned that he was going to retire, that was amazing. It was Royal Albert Hall and for those who know Royal Albert Hall it’s a big deal, we had acts from Beyonce, Jay-Z and a lot of acts from both America and the UK

The worst show would have been when we got lost and we ended up getting there after the whole club was literally leaving. I remember parking up outside and we were just looking at people leaving, it was just so heartbreaking.

As a songwriter, what kind of topics do you see yourself writing about most often? Whether it be lyrically or instrumentally. Shed some light on your songwriting structure(s).

The most important thing to me is the beat, I know a lot of people have got their own way of structuring or writing. But I feel like for me when I hear a beat, it literally speaks to my soul, so what happens is that when I hear a beat and it draws me up, my pen and paper come up straight away or wherever I can pop melody it will all come out and I will start writing.

I think mostly my songwriting is based on inspiration, you know I get inspiration even from speaking to my producers to find out what inspired them to make that particular beat or just being in a different place at a different time cause then I got a story to tell. I believe songwriting or singing is like telling a story, and so what I would normally do is for example, if I wanted to write a song I would literary sit listening to a beat sent in by the producer and have a dictaphone or my phone recording all of these ideas that I have.

My favorite time to write a song would be nighttime, anytime past 10 in the evening that’s when I settle in my own little world and start writing. Sometimes it depends on the inspiration, cause sometimes I do get ideas then immediately write the lyrics, and when the beat comes the lyrics magically fit in.

What’s the biggest message(s) you put out through your music? What do you hope to inspire your fans with, and what do you hope they gain from listening to your songs?

The message that I put out through my music is mostly positivity cause I believe music heals, music is a universal language so for me I always want to put positive vibes and good vibes. I always want to put my character in there so that people get to know me as well not just about me singing about love, I like to make people feel that Emma Nhamburo is there either by a laugh, a chant, a scream you know, you got to know that I am in there somehow

The biggest message to my fans is to be who you are and that I try to be as much of me as I can in my music, cause I think a lot of people are being taught to be something or to be someone that we are actually not. So I think in my music it reflects cause obviously coming from an African you would expect my parent wanted me to probably a doctor or be a nurse but that never happened, I was a musician, I followed my dreams, I followed my soul’s calling and my soul’s purpose, be yourself and find what makes you tick, what gives you joy, or what you are most passionate about.

What do you enjoy most about being a musician? What do you hate most?’

What I enjoy most about being a musician is the fact that I can create something that someone can relate to for example a love song, somebody might be able to relate to a love song I wrote when they are in love. I’ve got a couple of tracks coming which are so dear to my heart because I wrote them from a space of how I normally live my life, so for me, I get to live my life through a different lens, if that makes sense, I just literary pour everything in song and make it an experience for me as well as for my fans.

What part would I say I hate the most…that would be as a musician you just feel like you are always constantly on the go, you are in the studio, you are writing, creating, thinking about your next release, this person calling, you are having this conversation, so it’s a very demanding industry. Though I wouldn’t say I hate it because sometimes when I sit back and look at the amount of work that I have done, I feel really proud, though sometimes I just wish that I had more time to relax, but hey It is what it is, it comes with the industry.

If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?

I would say we need more women in top roles, women need to be empowered to record their music, to express themselves cause I still feel like even up to this day and age music is still male-dominated. I think women need to be put on a platform where they can be as mothers and as queens, they need to be given credits for some of their creation they have done.

For example, in the UK, we don’t really have an afrobeat platform for women, they are there but they are not put on the pedestal where they are supposed to be sitting. And also sometimes there is stuff like racism, you know things that are not morally right for any artist no matter what the race, color, gender, whatever they are. It’s a creative industry and I know a lot of people say we are there to be judged but we are really not, we should be able to express how we feel and enjoy it.

We can’t wait to hear more of your future releases. When can we expect new music? And is it gonna be a single, or is it going to be an EP or album?

New music is definitely coming this year, I have a single coming out this march in Africa and February in the UK. It’s a single featuring a Nigerian Artist, Terry G and it’s going to be available on Spotify. I am so so excited about the single because we worked so damn hard on it in the studio a couple of times just to get it right.

An Ep should be dropping but I can’t promise when cause when it comes it needs to be amazing and at the moment that’s what I am working on for it to be great and give people what they have been waiting for. I have been away from the industry for so long and now I am coming back, so I can’t just come back half-hearted, I have to give it my all, so the EP still has no date as to when it’s going to drop but it is coming, and you will be getting more music and in the summer you might just get a summer track who knows? I am still in the studio working that out but New music is definitely coming, so keep an eye on my Spotify, on my Instagram where I will be updating everyone telling them what to come, what dates e.t.c

If you had one message to give your fans, what would it be?

If I had one message to give to my fans, well,  at the moment we are all going through a tough time, I would say stay positive because nothing lasts forever, this is only a season that we are going through, and would also say I love you so much. Thank you for all the support when you have been giving me throughout all the years.

Even after taking my break, I’m still seeing a lot of people showing me love, so I really appreciate it, stay supporting each other cause at the end of the day we are all we have. I LOVE YOU ALL

For our final question, is there anything else you would like to add?

I am glad to be back in the music industry, I am glad to be a voice for women because for me I am really rooting for us women to be able to support each other, to uplift each other. Sometimes I see women are not together, and I wouldn’t wanna see that because there is so much to be achieved, there is so much that needs to be done in terms of connecting with each other, collaborating with each other as creatives. So I feel like that’s my two cents, to see women win, to see us even from the African side and from the UK being able to crossover boundaries and literally connect on a deeper level more than a surface level

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