The Emirates-born vocalist and producer discusses his nomadic childhood, growing up with the internet, and artistic evolution
“A dog tried me the other day at this park for no reason,” MISOGI recalls in response to the sound of nearby barking. “Crazy shit, dogs man.” It’s a crisp Monday afternoon and he’s perched on top of an old air raid shelter in Richmond Park. We’re in one of London’s biggest natural green spaces surrounded by soaring vistas and roaming deer – a postcard scenery. Clad in black, the soft-spoken 20-year-old is an anomaly both visually and sonically. Sharing sporadic insights on growing up, creating, and the music industry, the interchangeable conversation mirrors his ever-evolving musical history. “I’m like a loose cannon when it comes to music,” he laughs. Armed with a lengthy discography ranging from heavy trap-based production to melancholic shoegaze, MISOGI is anything but predictable.
“I spend a lot of my time in this park, either alone or with my friends from school,” MISOGI reflects. It’s the same park that is featured in his music video for “Lostboy,” which finds the artist roaming the extensive landscape through Hightosis’s distorted, pixelated visuals. The single, a collaboration with close friend nothing,nowhere., offers a glimpse into the emotive songwriting and unique production that defines his latest album Blood Moon Underworld. Documenting identity struggles alongside dreamy guitar instrumentals, the project explores a territory that feels timeless despite his young age.
While the visuals for “Lostboy” explore MISOGI’S artistic development, they also pay homage to his past captured in the emblematic space. Born in Abu Dhabi, MISOGI found himself relocating on various occasions due to the nature of his parents’ occupations, predominantly splitting time between London and Dubai. For MISOGI, time spent living in Dubai led to a degree of isolation, and subsequently, an early immersion in the technological world. His formative years were mostly spent online on sites such as 4chan and Tinychat in an effort to find people with like-minded musical tastes. “I’m so jealous of the kids growing up in Dubai now, they’ve got some actual shows and cool line ups,” he says, having grown up when the city’s music scene was fairly non-existent.
These online communities in which his adolescent self was immersed served as inspiration for the establishment of MISOGI as an artist. While his older sister introduced him to cult emo bands such as Paramore and Fall Out Boy, it was the shoegaze and SoundCloud artists he kept in rotation who led him to join influential conversations. Visiting the TeamSESH chat room with regularity segued into collaborating with their members as beat-making overtook his initial EDM project. MISOGI’S identity further took form as he adopted his name from a move in the PC game Street Fighter – an ethos reflected in the electronic production of his early projects. The international links he acquired during his formative years blossomed into friendships that forged his ever-evolving musical direction.
Growing up on the internet has not come without its challenges, however. Although MISOGI has regularly wiped clean his Twitter and Instagram, a residue of the past remains. “I have so many enemies from when I was a kid because I’d just say anything,” he admits. “My entire adolescence has been lived out as someone that makes music on the internet. People show me screenshots of old stuff that I don’t remember saying; I literally get fucking dizzy.” A younger MISOGI ultimately learned to cope with upset by adapting to new versions of himself. Whether it was a matter of changing his musical style, online presence, or physical appearance, there was an inclination to continue evolving into a better version of himself, even if the whispers of the past remain.
In 2017, MISOGI announced his new philosophy through his ambitious EP Death Metal – a project marked a darker, yet poppier sound, wherein vocals and guitar became more prominent. Blood Moon Underworld takes this framework one step further as he creates a hybrid that foregoes genre boundaries and artistic conventions. “I wear my inspirations on my sleeve, I feel,” a sentiment evidenced in the album’s culmination of genres. Purposefully playing to non-standard tuning, MISOGI takes “specific aspects from each element and brings them together.” This approach makes for a project that is marked by the reverb-heavy, drowned out effect from shoegaze, the twinkling guitars of American Football, and even the hip-hop stylings of Brazilian Baile funk.
When creating the record, one of the most important factors for MISOGI was building a multidimensional sound; one that could withstand the current trends in music. Although his past projects were well-received, he notes that their longevity was an issue. “PINK2 was such a product of its time,” he confesses. “Within a year it became Minecraft / Fortnite YouTube video intro music and it got very corny.” In the process of making Blood Moon Underworld, MISOGI adopted yet another new methodology – one involving looking back on the timeless elements of American Football, Bon Iver, Kanye West, and My Bloody Valentine in lieu of indulging his current tastes.
Following the release of Blood Moon Underworld, MISOGI has spent his time fully anchoring himself within Britain’s music scene. Having sent out beats to U.K. drill producers, he is also beginning to consider the prospect of playing his first live shows. Despite initially being “super nervous about the whole idea of having to play in front of a crowd,” he has recently begun rehearsing the necessary skills. While studying for the second year of his degree, future collaborations with No Rome and Instupendo are also on his agenda. Although university is distracting and “parental pressure” plays a role, MISOGI enthusiastically entertains the idea of balancing both.
MISOGI’S ability to build a versatile platform has earned him production credits with AJ Tracey and Lil Pump. His ability to adapt is a skill in which he is confident, and consequently, change should be something that fans expect. On the subject of listeners asking him to return to his older trap and sample-heavy style, MISOGI responds succinctly: “I’m not here to fulfill requests.” As he has evolved significantly past his early days, the seven-year veteran of the force reflects on advice for younger artists who are negotiating online spaces as he once did. MISOGI laughs, “Just don’t fucking Tweet, or only Tweet when you need to announce that you’re dropping something. Just Tweet about positive stuff man.” When it comes to the art itself, MISOGI advocates for what has served him best: “Do whatever the fuck you want musically when you’re younger, that’s your time to experiment and do whatever you want and broaden your horizons.”