By Bakah Derick
Spoken word Poet and Artist Mottanni has confirmed the release of his EP titled Bruises. In a conversation with The Hilltop Mail on Saturday 3 June 2023, the expressive and passionate artist disclosed that the EP has five thought-provoking tracks focusing on gender-based violence.
Spoken word Poet and Artist Mottanni
"After doing a voice over on one of Coach Lanjo's projects which centered around the impacts of the corona virus on the family and the society, I began reflecting when I saw how a girl suffered in the hands of her father because her mom left. Whenever the father looked at her, he saw the mother and poured the anger he felt for her mother on her. I saw how a mother rough handles her male child because the father left and when she looks at him she saw her husband. After reading an article that exploited the possible causes of gender-based violence something steered up in me. The death of the Nigerian singer and minister Osinachi on April 08, 2022 eclipsed it all and I knew I had to do something. What best way can I do this except by using poetry which I am so passionate about." Mottanni explained
The evocative EP- Bruises has been described by Nnane Ntube in a review as "a must-listen spoken word album that paints a picture of emotional, psychological, and physical violence against both men and women."
"The words in this album uncover wounds with an intention to treat, cure, and heal. This album comes timely in an era where 1 in 3 women and girls are affected by this global pandemic (World Bank report) and where many women and girls, boys, and men suffer from low self-esteem and a lack of adequate education on issues surrounding gender. Bruises addresses gender-based violence through a grassroots strategic approach using artistry, intermingling lyrics, and sound effects to educate and sensitize on the need to prevent GBV. Hence the seriousness of the tone, the general mood of all the poems, and the subject matter." Nnane Ntube says
The journey to realizing the compelling and profound EP has not been an easy one for Mottanni and team.
"It began with “Bruises I” which I wrote and recorded with a beat from Steve Jablonsky. When my personal coach and trainer Lanjo S. Neindefoh listened to it, his remarks was “You have written a good short story in a very poetic way but you have used another person’s instrumental which means you will never own all the credit to this piece.” When the video director of “Fayaside” one of the trending track of my debut poetry album “Darklight” Geraldrigo Guevera listened to it, his remark was make this master piece yours by making everything in original. There and then I knew there was much work still to be down. I started searching for someone who could understand the concept and produce instrumentals to fit the mood. What ever you are searching in this universe, that thing is also looking for you, so I met Ringnwi Charles of Hilltop music academy and he understood the vision and started working on the instrumentals.
I also met my school mate and passionate poet Asongafac Marie Therese who dedicated her time to help in the writing. Together with Lanjo S. Neindefoh we came up with the poems while Ringnwi worked on the instrumentals. We finally did the recording but before it could be mastered, our sound engineer’s hard drive crashed and everything was lost and we had to start from scratch.
Then why not add more weight to the project by involving other poets in the region? So we made an open for poets who were ready to join the project. Atemnkeng Victor(Emm Vee Aei), Nubia Nahbila, Yeika Desmond(Phamous Ink) hooped in and we started moving. Zita Light and Ngek Lois then came in with a different spirit and added gusto to the project. All we recorded the pieces and and after 08 months, this is the result today. With what each and every one of us had to learn along the way, I will say, it was challenging but worth it." Mottanni narrated
As to why he chose poetry for this campaign against gender-based violence, Mottanni was poetic
"If I could do music, I would sang it.
If I could paint, I would have painted it.
If I could dance, I would have danced it
Because I could write poems, I said to my self, let me write poem about it. Since my fellow artists are singing, painting and dancing to raise awareness about it." He saidb
The Poetry EP and the Ebook is available for purchase via momo|Visa|Master Card on www.enowdigital.com or www.bandcamp.com.
T-Shirts have also been produced and are also available on Preorder.