Meet Ama Lou, the girl with a lyrical capability beyond her years matched with perfectly produced electronic backdrops.
18-year-old North London rising star Ama Lou is our go-to girl of the moment. With her impressive, expressive lyricism and her edgy aesthetic and creative genius when it comes to her music visuals, she’s destined to make some major moves in be one of 2017’s break out talents. Her debut release “TBC” is an instant banger; over a bouncy beat, AMA LOU lays down a low-key social commentary, making reference to the Black Lives Matter movement (she’s always one to give her opinion on social issues loud and clear) and the devastating last words of Eric Garner, “I can’t breathe.”
For her latest offering, the classically-trained creative recorded her track “Not Always” in New York with production duo Like Minds, who have racked up credits on albums by Kanye West, Wu-Tang and Q Tip – an undeniably impressive collaboration for a newcomer.
We can’t wait to put our ears to her LP when it finally drops, but until then, we caught up with Ama to find out more about what makes her tick.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m 18, I’m from London and I extend my perspective through my music.
What made you want to get into the music industry?
Man was born to do this, you get me? Lool no, I knew I wanted to always be free to write songs and perform but it wasn’t the industry that enticed me, it was the possibility to connect with people through music.
Tell about the artists that inspire you.
I find myself inspired by people around me rather than specific artists. I love to see people really loving and working well in what they do. That’s what truly inspires me, it doesn’t have to be someone with high social status, just people who are getting on with their creativity.
Describe your sound in one sentence.
It’s consistently eclectic, but always producing da bangers.
“I love to see people really loving and working well in what they do. That’s what truly inspires me, it doesn’t have to be someone with high social status, just people who are getting on with their creativity.”
People have already labelled you as a ‘political artist’, would you consider this an accurate observation?
Although I appreciate it, I don’t think I have done nearly enough to deserve that title. I’m am happy and proud to represent my political ideas and the ideas of others in my music, but I don’t know if i would say I am a political artist. I will always try to contribute when necessary, but I am only at the start of what I’m doing and anything I’m saying now through my music is integral to me as an artist right now, whatever that might be.
The themes you explore in your music are quite complex and hard-hitting, why is it you decide to explore such themes?
I don’t think I always decide, sometimes it just happens. My subconscious takes charge and is like “this is what you’re saying today Ama”. I’ve had times where I set out to write about a specific thing and by the time I’m finished it’s a huge distance away from my original goal but I’m okay with that. I try not to control or stress over my writing too much. Of course I take influence off societal events and discourses but usually I don’t know what the song is truly about until the end where I can look back and be like “wait, oh this is what I meant”.
You’re a North London gal, has living here had any impact on your sound?
I am a north londann gyall! I don’t know about impact on my sound but definitely my look on life and all the things that it endures. In North London you can gather masses of information culture and experience from just observing, so inherently it has impacted my life and therefore probably my music.
What do you hope to achieve with your music?
What don’t I hope to achieve you mean?! Joking! Obviously I have long term goals relating to my music but I feel like that comes with working hard and loving what you do. At the moment I just hope people take my music in the way that suits them best. If people can relate or get anything out of it I’m really cool with that at the moment.
