Bloody Civilian - Anger Management

Bloody Civilian, government name Emoseh Khamofu, raised in Abuja, Nigeria, is a songwriter, musician and producer. During her childhood, she grew to fill her life with various genres of music from reggae, blues, instrumental jazz, Afro to RNB and others.

BET: Your parents are very successful being doctors and engineers. Your father specifically was a bass guitarist in a band in the 1980s. How much did that play into your musical makeup and what have you learned from him specifically?

Bloody Civilian: I'll say foundationally I learned so much. That was just the starting point for me. I grew up on so much reggae and soul and a lot of the stuff my dad was listening to – and a lot of Afro folk music, traditional music as well. So growing up on that, it just gives me a very rich background to be able to pull from different influences. And yeah, so in that way

Inspired by music prodigy Asa and writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, her desire to pursue music suddenly ignited by a school talent show, which led her to begin experimenting with different music production apps. Using plug-ins and software tools, she began recording vocals and creating songs. Soon after she relocated to to Lagos, Nigeria, to further network and develop her artistic muse.

Vanguard Nigeria: Great! So from Civil Engineering, when did you make that flip switch moment to start beat making or are you still juggling Civil Engineering?

No. Right now, I’m a full-time artiste but I decided not to rig myself of both choices at a point. Eventually, when I started bringing in more opportunities as an artist, as a producer, I was then able to let go of Civil Engineering; mainly because my parents are not nepotistic. So they wouldn’t set me up for a job and things like that. Finding jobs in Nigeria is pretty hard. I definitely feel like I am able to make the right choice but this generation. Unfortunately, we don’t have the things our parents had with education and infrastructure. And then, the real money right now, I would say, is more in music and tech.

She chose the name 'Bloody Civilian' to show her support for the people of Nigeria who are fighting against the corrupt government.

Bloody Civilian - she explains, “It’s a derogatory term the Nigerian military use when they’re unleashing their violence on us,” she explains. “I decided to flip the image of what a Nigerian civilian is; we’re not nobodies that you can just toss to the side so I gave myself that name saying ‘I’m this Bloody Civilian and you can’t get rid of me.’”

Two early releases reveals her talent as she struggled to make a name in the music industry. 'Moses'-an acoustic free style release September 13, 2018 and 'Goliath' released March 10, 2019 featuring Brum3h, BigShyRobot and Bobby Ibo

During her stay in Lagos, Bloody Civilian made a notable impact with the song "Wake Up" on the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever album, collaborating with Rema, the track achieved over five million streams world wide. Signed by Tunji Balogun, CEO of Def Jam- the same man who discovered popular artists like Tems, SZA and Kendrick Lamar, and is managed by Seni Saraki (co-founder of NATIVE) who oversaw the music production for the Black Panther sequel.

“The track was inspired by the need to wake up in the morning and hit the ground running – just to generally hustle.”

“When I think of ‘hustle and grind,’ I think of waking up… I believe the first 30 minutes of your day dictate the rest of the day,” she tells Vogue over Zoom. “I wanted to write a song that describes how, when I wake up, I fight with getting up from bed, but then find the strength to go about the day.” When she found out composer Ludwig Göransson had selected her song “Wake Up” featuring Rema, it was “so surreal… the whole process was [already] life-changing… so when I found out I’d be on it, I was really, really excited,” she laughs. “I was one of those people who showed up in traditional African regalia for the first film.”

The six track album-Anger Management, tracks include: 'Escapism', 'How To Kill A Man', 'Family Meeting', 'Mad Apology', 'I Don't Like You' and 'Come From'. She gives us rage simmering just beneath the surface, her music deftly engages with the injustices that taint daily existence. With the first track - 'Escapism', she channels her frustrations as she recounts in the lyrics, "My country gives me nothing / and economy is falling / Gimmie sorry / Should have smocked that shit this morning / Those are my options."

The track 'How To Kill A Man' serves as a sarcastic outlet for rage, without inflicting harm on anyone, irrespective of their gender. Bloody touches on her private troubles and informs that her siblings are aware of them before turning her attention towards the root of her issues. She articulates her desire to bury them "six feet under," frequently echoing the phrase "Go down, down go down, down." The music video was helmed and filmed by Blood. The song is both intense and revealing, as the engaging and alluring beat lures the listener in, magnifying the threats.

It’s definitely one of those songs that I'll say is storytelling – equal parts storytelling, equal parts living vicariously through an alternate character. So in writing that song, I kind of just wanted to express the frustrations of being a woman in general. Even in the video, that's the portrayal of young and older women passing down their wisdom and how we navigate the hardships of life. It was an exciting project and I learned a lot from it.

Generally life, I will say, is harder for women of different walks of life. You find men in those same walks of life, but they have a different experience and it's because of the prejudices that we like experienced, especially in Nigeria. There's a lot of stuff that girls, young girls, and women are limited by. So yeah, I just wanted to be able to speak out on that. And I, myself have experienced a lot of these prejudices.

'Family meeting' is a short synopsis on conflict resolution within a family. Bloody Civilian describes herself as the subject of a gathering to happen. She expresses frustration, as she discovers her mother refuses to listen to her, with an aunt constantly checking her. She promises her family to make them proud, but chooses to do things her own way to achieve her goals. Deeply hurt, she is considers packing here things to leave.

How would you say your sound has developed over time?

I’ve become more honest and unhinged. I feel like the older you get, and especially as a woman, you just stop caring, so that’s where I am. I can only be myself, I can only tell my truth, and I can’t tell anyone else’s truth and that’s where I am now as a young woman trying to enter the industry. I’m ready for whatever unfolds, I’ve just evolved into somebody who is ready, I feel like I’m gradually becoming more comfortable, becoming wiser. I have more skills now, there are a million and one things I can do now, that I couldn’t do before, so I’m super excited.

Bloody Civilian sings, " Nigga stop you can put your feet up / No dey call we will never meet up / I gave you everything you had to fuck up / ..................../ You could be by my side for you to love me blind/ No you want to do me shade / And Now/ Cuz you could be by my side for you to love blind / No you want to leave me darling/ I gat no regrets ...regrets/ Mad Apology / You can put that shit to rest rest." The lyrics are repeated with a few tongue-in-cheek references and tapping into the popular afro rhythmic beat employed by many popular afro musicians today, giving the song a dance song tempo.

What kinds of emotions and experiences influence your work?

I know a lot of people make music from very solemn, simple perspectives. I do that quite rarely. What usually inspires me to create music is melodrama; things I find very aggravating. Sometimes it’s anger, sometimes it’s extreme happiness, excitement, disappointment. Extremes, basically.

I don't like you, she uses Nigerian pigeon English (street language) in writing the lyrics, "If I hate on you let fire burn me now / If my mind on you let thunder strike me down / Your brain is co-dependent / That's okay / But I am not your friend / So you can call me loser / You can call me names / And you can call me Lucifer / But I cannot Relate / And I never talked to Abula / I never talked to James". The song's expression of indifference sounds harsh and is easily misconstrued.

What do you think that artists can do to help save the world?

I think artists need to save themselves. That’s the nature of how art works. If you’re authentically yourself, it will be good for other people. Artists need to be a little more into themselves and not care about other people. Take those risks, be selfish.

And finally, 'Come From', explains the painful struggles of many Nigerians who are dealing with the rapid rise in crime especially drug felonies. Despite many difficulties, doubts, and setbacks, she maintains optimism and confidently declares triumph, realizing her vision.

She sings "I come from a place where the grass is green where is sky is purple / Codeine / Don't have to find drugs / That's the thing / Drugs will find you / .........I try to be the best in me / But I can se It's chasing me / ...... And the politics discouraging ohh / ..................../ I come from a place where they used to chill(rest) / Under the stars it was quite the thing / But everybody locked up / Because they heard the gunshot / Everybody just run / Nobody wants to go down ? But I can see it's chasing me / And the politics discouraging ohh / ". Humdrum, succinct, to the point, and heartfelt.

Note*subjects discussed are independently chosen by Steven Wick's editorial team.

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