To me, it’s important that we also have someone else that doesn’t need to live in the castle on the hill with the moat, somebody who still relates to the people, somebody who can be middle class and not be a billionaire and maybe not even have goals of it. It’s also the idea that a chief is not a king there’s a difference. When I was watching The Godfather, it really clicked that this is an African godfather story and that’s the story that the album is telling, or it revolving around that archetype. Jidenna: The chief is the African version of the Don. Two of your singles were titled “Long Live the Chief” and “Chief Don’t Run.” What’s your definition of a chief? But beyond the clothes and tracks, Jidenna possesses a desire to be a beacon of moralistic aspiration, social ambition and personal responsibility.ĮBONY spoke with the artist to get his take on fashion, his place in the African Diaspora, and his eclectic sound.ĮBONY: Your album is called The Chief.

“On a larger scale, it provided me the framework of marketing to the masses.” What Jidenna has been offering is an eclectic new brand of music that allows Afrobeat, dancehall and East Coast hip-hop to co-exist and work together infectiously, and with a debonair flair scarcely seen in contemporary Black music.Īs the breakout artist on Janelle Monáe’s Wondaland Records, Jidenna captivated music lovers with his striking style, an ode to African dandies, and his Diaspora-embracing music, which resulted in 2015’s Grammy-nominated smash “Classic Man.” His lyrical dexterity and penchant for high fashion are on full display in the release of his highly anticipated debut album The Chief. It turned out to be a crucial move that would shape his artistry. “What I learned from there was the art of putting people in a trance why people go to concerts and paint their face why people wake up and do routines,” the Nigerian-American artist explained. In a bold move, he switched courses and created his own major-ritualistic arts. Jidenna Theodore Mobbison was pursuing an engineering degree at Stanford University when his love of music began to overtake him.

Jidenna the chief album