Welcome to BuzzMusic, Marley Abdul! We loved "Lows." What a perfect intro to your "Ragga Funky" sound! We wanted to ask, what is "Ragga Funky?" What is "Ragga Funky?" What does the sound mean to you, and how did inspiration for the sound first come to you?
Firstly, I'm the pioneer of the phrase Ragga Funky. I was listening to some of my recordings around the second half of 2022; as an Afrobeats artist, I wanted something that would stand out and be descriptive of my music style, regardless of anything. After some thought processes, I could coin the name Ragga Funky while paying attention to the music in the background. Ragga Funky is a stylistic, rhythmic afro beat fused with reggae-ragga and elements of hip-hop and Caribbean sounds. Ragga Funky is a way of life, from the style and sound to an individual's physical appearance and spiritual consciousness.
Things will definitely happen, whether we're trying our bests or not. Good times and bad times. In my style of music, as a Ragga Funky music artist, first, you need to believe in yourself before anyone else believes in you. Your music will be bad at first; always be open to criticism, be it positive or negative. But to make it to the top, you must be hardworking and relentless, avoid distractions, surround yourself with people who want to see your dreams grow, and wish the same for them. Ragga Funky is you accepting yourself for who you are.
Try to love yourself more, don't feed yourself to pessimism, trust in whoever you call God, and constantly provide your spirits positively. Ragga Funky music is an unruly type of Afrobeats music. It's more of a think-outside-the-box kind of music, no rules, do you, as long as it's dope.
What was your favorite part of seeing your creative vision for "Lows" come to life? Could you take us through your creative process for this release?
Low is a song I love so much; it was written, produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered by myself. My music is my lifestyle, and most of my songs reflect more about my past experiences. I made the beat first before I knew what to sing about. I had different versions before achieving the final master's. I had to send the first version to a friend and upload a snippet on my socials.
People who came across it loved it so much they could see the pictures I painted. Lows is the second track off my It's Never Too Late single pack. The song was recorded and completed in Lagos state, Nigeria. This song made me reflect once more deeply on my life experience. And I realized that "We're living in a time where everything tends to happen too fast. Many people are struggling to survive and living with nothing but a pocket full of dreams. Throughout my entire music journey, many persons are dearest to me; a big thank you to everyone who has supported and showed me love during my struggle; God bless you all."
How did you first get into music? Is it something you've always known you wanted to get into, or did it happen a little later in life?
Music is something that happened later in my life. My early aspirations started late in High School in 2011. Then I wanted to be a rapper. Before music, I wanted to be a football/soccer player, but today it's different; I'll choose music over anything. What started as a freestyle session in high school has become a career that I cherish alot today. Ever since that day in school, I started writing rap verses and constantly searched for tools to help me develop my skills. I had a friend who was late; he was called Spectablos, and he passed in in late 2018; he made me improve my rhyming skills and freestyle game because of the healthy competition that coexisted among us. He's forever a blessed memory. The year 2019, before the pandemic, I represented my city Port Harcourt at one of the biggest rap competitions, the Hennessy Artistry Vs. Class; I was chosen as one of the top five rappers representing my city.
I lost out at the semifinals in Lagos in an episode that hosted me and other good emcees. I grew up in an artistic home, my dad loves Reggae music alot, and he loves to paint and sketch during his leisure time.
When I was little, he taught me how to record songs from compact discs to cassette tapes, sometimes the other way around. I wanted to be a music artist so severely because of my love for music production; I met a producer friend during my early days at the University of Port Harcourt in 2014. He was the first to show and enlighten me about music production at Fl Studio 9.
However, the classes lasted only a short time due to some circumstances. In 2015, I recorded my first demos as an artist and uploaded them to my SoundCloud; then, I was able to use them to build a little fan base for myself; around that period, I happened to meet Sativa Boy. 2016, I was at my finals in college, and my dad got me a laptop to use for my school project before rounding up. I didn't hesitate to install Fl Studio 12, and since that day till the present, my career as a music producer has been on the go. In late 2019, I met a longtime friend from high school at a studio in Port Harcourt, The Dell Records, owned by a doctor/rapper, Plastic Slash & Lace. Two friends who have known each other since their teenage days. That was where I met The Murz, my longtime friend from high school. And since that day till date, we've been working in the studio together.
I owe my music growth to this man first of all because the hunger he had in his eyes fueled my passion. The Murz and Spectablos were classmates in high school; I was above both of them. At Dell Records, we began our journey as studio rats; in late 2019, Murz and I tried working on a joint project but suspended it and worked on his first ep Spaceboy. This project attracted Sativa Boy's attention, we spoke on the phone, and he wanted to meet myself and Murz. In early 2020, Sativa Boy and 22Fro$h came to Dell Records to record some demo tracks before the lockdown.
That was the day we all met at first. After that session, Sativa Boy told The Murz and me that he would like to get a complete music setup and wanted me and The Murz to be his in-house music producer and mix engineer and enlighten his younger brother Trijay, an aspiring producer. At first, we thought he was kidding until a few weeks later, he called to say he had gotten the setup. We camped at his place during the first lockdown. Myself, The Murz, Trijay, Blaak Fiingers, Sativa Boy, and 22Fro$h became a collective under the name Sativa Nation, and we all are still together to date. As mentioned above, I owe these names a alot in my music career; I don't know where I would have been without them.
What goals do you want to achieve through your music? In other words, what is your musical dream?
Seeing people reciprocate to my music is such a great feeling for me. I urge to see it in a larger audience someday; I live and breathe for that moment every day. Ragga Funky is ready to meet the globe. I want to change the lives of so many with my music. I want to learn more about the music business to improve in areas I know I need to improve. Build and establish my brand, collaborate with professionals, go on tours, get more exposure and press coverage, record and release more songs, reach out for more sync licensing opportunities, and sell merchandise.
What's next for Marley Abdul? Can we expect more new music soon, and is there anything you want to say to your fans?
Working on many projects, I got many more releases to put out. The goal is to constantly record, collaborate and release more music. I'm almost done recording my first ep; it's called Black Water, I'll be putting out some singles off my Black Water project soon, and I would like my fans to stay tuned. A very big thank you to everyone who is supportive; I really appreciate it; words can't explain how I feel, but thanks. I won't be here without you guys, ApeBoyz, for life.