OVO-Blessed Amir Obè Gets His Moment on 'Happening in the Grey Area'

Over the past two years, Amir Obè has assumed many roles. He’s been a rap artist. A writer. A producer to Drake on arguably the most fire song off If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, “Star67.” A tour-mate to Partynextdoor. A man split between two cities, Detroit and Brooklyn. Turn back the clocks to 2012 and he was going by another name altogether: Phreshy Duzit. Now, the OVO-blessed artist gets his moment, with his second EP, Happening In The Grey Area, out now.

A big change—both sonic and thematic—from last year’s Detrookyln, Obè describes Happening In The Grey Area largely as an experiment. On the new EP, Obè sings, raps, mourns, and celebrates. Each song feels like it is delivered to an audience, someone waiting on the other end of the line. The bass-heavy “Happening” opens the EP with buzzing energy, following Obè’s voice up and down to addictive sing-rap melody. On “The Only,” he raps the things he hasn’t said to a garbled acoustic beat, “You don’t love yourself / You don’t trust yourself / You not the only one.”

Obè gets into some of the same emotional spaces Drake does—navigating old success versus new success, and the relationships that must change alongside everything—but there’s something different about it. A cut deeper, a little closer to bone. His honesty, and his inclusion in his narratives of others, makes for a different story. An artist who sees himself as a flawed and complete part of his stories. On “True For You,” one of two tracks on the album that feature Partynextdoor, Obè raps, “Drunk enough to write a song about you / Only writer say those words about you / Only writer keep it true for you.” Ending his project with “Say No More,” the message comes through clearly: People will see things how they’re gonna see them, and that’s okay. Say no more. Just listen, and react.

We called up the man himself the day before the EP dropped to talk the new project. Check out the interview, has been shortened and condensed for clarity, and a full stream of Happening in the Grey Area, below.

NOISEY: I was a big fan of Detrooklyn, and to me this album feels so different. Detrooklyn felt like an album that was very much about the place where you were at, and being torn between two places, versus, Happening In the Grey Area, which feels more about a moment in time.
Amir Obè: Detrooklyn, I was basically in Detroit locked away with my producer, and we wanted to create something that was very personal. What happened with The Grey Area, I’ve been all over the place, recording, also in Brooklyn, sometimes in Detroit, but most of them were on the move or in between places. You never get to really sit down and make it. In between tour, I made a few records. After tour, I made a few. There were a lot of experiences in between. I traveled a lot. I experienced Europe. I just been moving a lot. I think that’s where the inspiration comes from — having this grey area.

Kinda being caught in between places.
Yeah, moment to moment. Being inspired by every day experiences. Good and bad.

You had the credit on If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. You’ve been on tour with Partynextdoor. Amongst all these people, what do you feel like your place in this musical moment is?
I think all those are just genuine friendships, as far as Partynextdoor and Drake. Being with them is a very comfortable environment, I felt like I was just around my friends, creative friends, and that’s how I like to keep it with everybody in New York. Everybody I work with.

What would you say your place in the larger musical moment right now? How does your sound fit in?
I think bringing something genuine and authentic and incorporating every musical influence I grew up on. These are subconscious things. I grew up on a lot of different music — my mom playing it, my parents, what they listened to. A lot of those come from older records. Different records like The Fugees. My mom’s Polish and my father’s black and Sudanese, so I definitely had a wide variety of music I grew up on. Bringing that to my music. I just want to keep changing, experimenting. I want to keep progressing. Making music that sounds like it has it’s own place.

My favorite song from the album was “The Only.”
A lot of people have chosen that song, have said that. That was just experimenting, again, like having one studio. It’s a new sound — it doesn’t sound like anything else on the project. But still, content-wise, it makes sense.

What’s your song-writing process?
Me dealing with inception, kind of. Looking in myself, not judging somebody, or like, I’ll point out traits in someone and say, “I relate.” It’s a relative song.

Only you could tell that story, but I think it’s something that people can respond to so much.
I think that’s the benefit of being honest, so that a lot of people can relate.

What does this feel like, the day before your EP drops?
Very excited to share it. The response mainly has been great. Dropping a body of work is exciting. I just want to see the reaction, what people gravitate towards. I like hearing what people’s favorite songs are. So tomorrow I’ll just sit back and see what everybody thinks about it.

Yeah, just sit back, take it all in. Feel that energy.
That’s the best part. I actually enjoy my music more when I see other people enjoying it. Me, creating it — I don’t really get to… Like, I enjoy it while I’m making it, but somebody right here will hear it and they’ll perceive a song fifty different ways. I expect them to.

So you don’t get upset when you feel like someone didn’t “get it”? Getting a different interpretation makes it worth it?
Yeah. That’s what it makes it exciting. People having their own experiences. When there are key things in songs that really stick out to people. Hit home with them. That’s what I like to see.

On “VIP”, you really feel the “in between places” feel. What went into that song for you?
That was actually the last song we recorded. I felt like we needed one more song on the project. About three days ago I recorded that in Marcy Projects, so I recorded in Marcy and we got the final back yesterday. That was another song of the moment. I didn’t write anything for that song. The mic was just on, I filled in the spaces and went through it.

Do you have a personal connection to Marcy?
I’ve been there for the last 5 years with my best friend. He’s like a brother also, a producer. Eli (aka Eli Sostre). He’s credited on a lot of production. He’s also featured on a song on the project. But we’ve been doing that for years, recording in Marcy. Half of Detrooklyn was recorded in Marcy, the other half back in Detroit. It’s very much a private process. I don’t care for big studios. I kinda like being in a home environment, making it work like that.

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Perhaps we are at our best in the in between. When we are pushed, within the pockets of time we are allotted, to create something authentic and meaningful to that moment. That is Amir’s story — a man swept up in the come-up, allowing himself to be inspired by the daily experiences and the moments captured in in-between studio visits. He’s a pure artist in that way — he captures an experience and puts it out to the world, waiting to hear all the different interpretation it receives. “VIP” was recorded three days ago at Marcy Projects in New York. There’s no “getting it right”, because it’s all experimentation, and it’s all coming from a genuine place.

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