Togolese artist brings boom-bap and pink slacks to the rap game
By Rhaisa Kai
Hailing from Washington D.C. by way of Togo, West Africa, Tabi Bonney is not your typical rapper. Notably absent from his videos are the excessively decked-out cars and exorbitant jewelry, and in their place, interestingly enough, are pink scooters, pink slacks and roller blades. From his fashion sense to his music, he is the personification of the Diaspora, fusing sounds and styles from Europe, Africa and America. Via phone AfriPOP! had the pleasure of picking Bonney’s brain about his international background, his journey to self-acceptance and his opinion on the current state of hip hop.
AfriPOP!: A couple of years ago when I first saw your video You, it caught my attention within the first ten seconds and I was like “Who is this guy?” Not only did the beat and the flow capture me, but you just stood out. You were so different from everything that I had seen. When you were first starting out, did you have any fears of stepping outside the box?
Tabi: Not at all. I was just completely myself so I didn’t see it as anything different. Because…if you’re looking at in me in West Africa or Europe, it’s not that different. Like if you look at the pink slacks I had on [in “You” video] that’s nothing in Europe; you’re just blending in with everybody else. So, it’s just me feeling comfortable with who I am and trying to see things a different way.
AP: Well, it caught my attention. And you also have really crazy terminology like “bama.” I know a couple of people who are from D.C., so there will be times when I’ll ask them what’s a “bama” and they’ll look at me like I’m crazy. So, are you making those words up or is that D.C. lingo?
T: That’s just typical D.C. slang, like “in the pocket.” I made that up just as far as [what’s] in my neighborhood, you know how you come up with different things. But for the most part, it’s just D.C. terminology.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEGbg4TS0Pg]
AP: Your album is called Dope Meet Fresh, Fresh Meet Superstar. What’s the difference between fresh and dope?
T: Dope, for me, is just going back to the essence of hip hop, of when I fell in love with it. It’s more of that boom-bap type of feel. It’s heavy on bass and percussion, just as far as the music itself. Fresh is when I start to press the envelope and begin that ascension to superstar. So, fresh is a little more soulful, a little bit more alternative, you’ll hear a little bit more singing on there. By the time we get to superstar, it’s when we open up the envelope, just different music, just alternative, electro-pop, but still hip hop. It’s still me.
AP: I know you were born in Togo, but what other countries did you live in as a child?
T: Pretty much Togo, West Africa, then Washington D.C., and then…almost two years in France. We started out spending the school year in Togo and then we would just go to D.C. for the summers. And then we stopped and went on tour with my dad in France for one and half [to] two years. And then we switched it up and started going to school here in D.C. and started spending our summers in Togo. And the reason we were able to move around so much was because my aunt worked at Air Afrique at the time, so it was nothing for us just to hop on the plane.
AP: Why did your family choose D.C.?
T: My mother’s from D.C.
AP: So is your mother black American?
T: Yeah, my mother’s black American and my father’s straight up African.
AP: Was that hard for you to deal with as child, constantly moving around all the time?
T: Not at all because since I was born, that’s what I know. Like, ever since I was born we were just back and forth.
AP: So, how do you think your international perspective has affected your music?
T: I think it was just so much stimulus. Just to be able to see the world, just to see things on a worldly view, as opposed to just being in one spot. It’s the same as when you watch the local news and then you turn to a CNN or a Fox News, you see everything that’s going on. So, as far as cultures or different styles or a different perspective, I think that’s what I bring to my music.
AP: Your father’s also a musician, right?
T: Yep
AP: How did he affect your musical style?
T: I would say it was more on the showmanship side, as far as just his performances. He would have a full band, four people on the horns, three guitarists and dancers. That’s what I want to take my show to eventually.
AP: Do you perform a lot with live bands? I know that go-go music, which has definitely influenced your style, is big on live bands.
T: It just really depends if the promoter can afford it in their budget. So, it’s half and half, sometimes I just has to be me and the DJ. So, until I get to the point where I’m big enough and it can be supported where I can perform with a band, most of the times I will.
AP: What did you do before you became a full-time artist? Did you work at a Burger King or some place like that?
T: [Laughs] I only worked in a fast-food spot, I think when I was just starting out as a teenager. I worked at Pizza Hut for like a month and half, but I knew it wasn’t for me. But when I graduated college, I was a teacher for two years in a program that allowed me to get my master’s in biology in return for teaching for two years. So that’s what I did as soon as I got out of college and after that I haven’t had a job.
AP: Did you always know that you wanted to be an artist?
T: Naw, I thought I was going to be a doctor. It wasn’t until my senior year in college that it fully hit me that I officially wanted to pursue music. Of course you have those dreams like any kid, like you want to be a basketball player or that you want to be a rapper. But I didn’t take it seriously until my senior year in college when I knew I wasn’t going to pursue being a doctor. I knew that I would rather be an entertainer or rapper.
AP: Do you remember exactly what it was that made you want to be an artist?
T: It was just a combination of me going with what my heart was telling me and then also just being unhappy with the route I was going to pursue being a doctor. I hated taking the tests, it didn’t excite me. Dissecting stuff, it just didn’t fulfill me. I was just going through the motions because it’s like you’re here to be a successful person, to be a doctor or a lawyer, and I was just going down that route.
AP: So what do you think you bring to hip-hop?
T: I think I bring diversity, man. The main thing is not being afraid to be yourself. It’s okay, you don’t have to portray this false imagery of being a thug to feel like you fit in. It just amazes me how everyone goes with these uniforms in hip-hop. The [dress code] is like you have to wear two or three chains at minimum. Like, if you look at every rapper right now…they will have on at least two or three chains minimum. It’s like a dress code at all times. I remember back in the days, it was never like that. You had Slick Rick doing his thing. But on the other hand, you had a De La Soul who looked completely different, rhymed completely different and about completely different stuff. But I’m just bringing back diversity and not being afraid to be yourself.
AP: I think that’s the thing that stood out to me in your video, like when you had on your pink pants and was riding around on your pink scooter, I was like, “What guy does that? What black guy does that?”
T: [Laughs] I had really wanted [a] sky blue scooter but they had ran out.
