MPHO conquers the stereotype

“I didn’t want to fall into the stereotypes or stupid expectations,” MPHO tells the London Paper, “– maybe I don’t want to be an RnB singer.”

The genre-melding singer is fast becoming known for her unique style and her inability to be anything but true to herself, even in her art form.  In a recent interview with the London Paper, the singer discussed her just-released debut single, “Box N Locks,” what it was like attending the BRIT School and confidence in general.

For MPHO, her time at the BRIT School wasn’t exactly all rainbows and tea parties. She says: “The BRIT experience was quite difficult. I felt like a bit of a wallflower and it was quite a socially awkward experience for me.”

If you’ve ever listened to any of MPHO’s songs – her debut single or those featured on her mixtape by DJ Beware – then you’ll probably wonder at the above remark. After all, she sounds completely empowered on record, especially with lyrics like those of “See Me Now” in which the singer states: “you’re wishing you could be me now, I’m living in your wildest fantasy”.

The confidence she so easily exudes now didn’t exactly come easy for the singer-songwriter. “I’ve nurtured my confidence,” she goes on. “It’s come from being teased and from knockbacks. You have to build confidence for yourself as an artist; otherwise the industry is extremely difficult. It does mean defying modesty at times.”

“Box N Locks” is a song that does just that when dealing with its subject matter of not being artistically pigeonholed or creatively suppressed.

When the London Paper wants to know if sampling “Echo Beach” for the single was a ploy to win over middle-aged men, MPHO shrieks in reply, “No, not at all! It wasn’t until afterwards when I played it to the A and R at the label when he was like ‘oh my god, it’s Echo Beach’ and I was like, ‘okay, calm down’.”