Based out of London, Essosa is a 19-year old singer, songwriter, and dancer honing in on the skills that she has learned from a young age.
Born in East London as a child, Essosa and her family moved to Toronto, Canada, before she could talk. About seven years later, they moved back to England in search of a better life and education for Essosa and her younger sisters. Now living in Essex, UK, Essosa has taken her experience with racism and discrimination and has found peace in making music, playing the piano, and singing intoxicating creations that you can’t help but get lost in.
In her most recent single, “Belong,” Essosa captures soothing elements that touch on profound themes of feelings recurring on the spectrum of loneliness and isolation that Essosa has experienced firsthand.
Walking the line of a creation that falls into the realm of bedroom Pop, Essosa also takes on tones of Alternative R&B that fuse with her lush Neo-Soul vocals. Crooning intricately crafted lyrics, Essosa takes us into the depth of her intrapersonal dominion as she offers up a vulnerable side of herself to her vastly growing fan base.
The instrumentation's delicate trickles that seep into the speakers have us fully immersed in the deluxe escapade of Essosa’s intimate reflections. She has a knack for creating larger than life dreamscapes in an elusive manner that her vocalization cascades with the arrangement.
Teaming up with London based production architects Thibaut Hucker and Ryan Price, the three depict wistful vibrations of an ethereal universe that submerge their audience in an intricately crafted performance.
As we take in the vivid imagery that Essosa casts out, we appreciate each detail that went into the composition as the production quality holds its own. With “Belong” being the first single off of her upcoming EP, it’s safe to say that Essosa has set the tone in what she wants to offer.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Essosa. We love the dreamy world that you offer to your listeners in, “Belong.” What was your experience like working with Thibaut Hucker in order to create the sound that “Belong” holds?
Thank you for having me! And thank you for enjoying my song. Thibaut is such a sweet person, we've been working together for about a year now and he is super humble and kind! I loosely knew his girlfriend through college and we met through her. We immediately bonded through our similarities in music taste- we both liked kali uchis, Amy Winehouse, frank ocean, KAYTRANADA, etc. So when it got time to make music and he sent some tracks over, I fell in love with the instrumental for 'Belong' immediately, and began writing it that day.
How long was the songwriting and creation process for this song?
I wrote the song in two different sections, the first verse and chorus first, then the second verse and bridge another day. The actual process of writing the lyrics wasn't something I was thinking too deeply about. It flowed entirely from the heart because that was how I was feeling. The day I wrote the first section of the song I was actually walking back home from a dance class, and I remembered dreading going back to my room because I knew I was gonna be there, cold and lonely. So I was already feeling pretty down, and it was super easy to portray that in the lyrics.
What are you hoping that your listeners take away from the messaging that you portray as an artist?
Vulnerability. I want my listeners to know that I am not afraid of being vulnerable in my music and in my lyrics. So many times in my life, I have felt like I had to be this strong, independent black woman otherwise my world would fall apart. But now the world really is falling apart (amidst this Covid crisis) and I don't really have it in me to pretend that I'm always okay anymore. A lot of us aren't. We can't always be good all the time, and that's fine. Instead of holding in the pain, I put it out into this song as a coping mechanism, and I hope others can be inspired to do the same.
With ”Belong” being the first single off of your forthcoming EP, what can listeners expect from the project as a whole?
The project is produced by Thibaut Hucker and Ryan Price- two people that I really enjoy working with. I didn't initially have an overall concept for the EP, I just started making music that I liked the sound of. But it quite literally came together by itself. The project covers themes of ambition, heartbreak, and summer love, and is inspired by a lot of the feelings I had during the multiple lockdowns. Sonically, they carry on the same theme that 'Belong' has, this very dreamy, light ethereal feeling that hopefully, my listeners will enjoy! I'm very excited.
What has been keeping you inspired to create music?
I mean, I'm always making music, all the time. Whether it's singing a random melody in my head or writing down lyrics that I think would be cool to use in the future. Other than the Creator, there's no driving force behind my creativity, it's just something that I do, and it's a part of me forever. Lockdown was a nice period because I would just lock myself in my room and listen to music and write songs. It was the first time in a while that I had time to myself. So I got things done quite quickly. But even out of lockdown, I'm always doing something like that when I get time to myself. I'm looking very forward to seeing the stuff I'm going to create in the future.