Taken from our Spring 2023 issue, order your copy here.

Confidence – or lack thereof – can shatter self-belief into its deepest orifices. It can soar into places that would have previously only ever been dreamed of. “I’d say it’s the biggest thing. I’m a confident person when there’s not many people in the room,” admits cityboymoe. He’s an artist who, quite quickly within our Zoom call, oozes the impression that there’s more to him than meets the eye; a quintessential vitality that lies beneath a cheek-laden grin.

“More and more I get uninspired to make music because of over saturation,” says cityboymoe within five minutes of our conversation. “It’s too constant, too repetitive. It’s just different versions of the same thing.” We live and create under greying skies, and cityboymoe, at times, seems to struggle to see the light through the clouds. It’s an age of progressively fast-food music with the meals only getting greasier, and cityboymoe is fighting to remain hungry enough to freshen up the palette. “I just want to inspire people. It’s a daunting task because I don’t know that
anyone will listen to me.”

cityboymoe’s trajectory in becoming an artist was far from straightforward. “My mum didn’t let me take music lessons. I got told I couldn’t sing when I was young,’’ he interjects, listing the difficulties he faced as a child who aspired to be bigger than his means. A passion for poetry and spoken word transferred itself into music when he was given the confidence to succeed by producers in the studio. “Naturally, I’m inclined to want to make music, I enjoyed it so much growing up. It was one of my first loves. I didn’t really share with people how much I liked it.”

His idiosyncratic journey towards musicianship is reflective of the avant-garde nature of the North-West Londoner’s artistic approach. Finding a striking balance between sensitivity and grit, the mood and message of cityboymoe’s music forces you to question who the man behind this tender voice is. He’s faced the daily struggles of actively being different, of not quite fitting into his surroundings; a quality that he has embodied as a pinnacle selling point as a human and an artist. “I’ve always been given leniency by my friends and my environment. It’s just me. People tend to accept that it’s what I do; stand out.”

Slowly, cityboymoe is building a significant and eclectic discography, with each cut distinctive in sound and style yet instantly recognisable as his, thanks to his unique approach and iconic tone. Whether ethereally crooning on his sublimely solemn breakout hit “city on fire”, providing skippy melodies on “Might Be” or charismatically barring on sleeper cut “wasting”, cityboymoe devotes himself to his craft, exploring each chasm of his creativity with commitment and tenacity. Despite his somewhat limited releases to date, cityboymoe has worked with some of the industry’s most groundbreaking producers in the shape of Joy Orbison and Stay Flee Get Lizzy. “I don’t think producers get enough credit. I’ve tried lots of things with different producers, for me it was about finding what was right as an artist with my tone, delivery and writing style”. It’s fair to say that no one sounds like cityboymoe; with an oft trap-leaning backdrop that tends to radiate emotion. The singer’s delicate vocals juxtapose lyrical tales of tribulations and anguish, raw to its core and intricate in every syllable. “I want it to be warm and nostalgic. I want it to be soulful in the sense that you feel something when you listen to it.”

cityboymoe’s lack of convention may present as a risk, or it may be the very making of an unstoppable artist. Only time will tell, but for now, citybymoe meanders on through the beauty and strife of life and artistry, disparate to the masses. “It’s fucking hard. It’s long, it’s gruelling. It tests your emotion and your confidence. But when you make a good song, that’s a natural high. It’s those moments there, they’re the reason I do this. I just got something out of my head that I didn’t even know was there. It’s like a postcard, a reminder of a moment in time captured in this little MP3.”