2015 was great but 2016 was the greatest. This year has been full of surprises, and emerging artist from down under. Some artist reaching stardom in their own light and others struggle to attain a loyal fan base. Surely that is not the case for up and coming artist Mansa, they can’t get enough of him. Mansa is the real deal and has the likes of G-Eazy, Marc. E. Bassy, already acknowledging his presence in the industry. We are lucky to to have spoken with the talented Mansa.
“Uncomfortable is about a very personal relationship with a particular person and the period of my life wherein I shared many experiences with that person. It’s also sort of about my first trips to Los Angeles, where I now live, and discovering the comfort zone that I call Humble Hill.” Mansa told UNXPSD via email. Mansa may not be a household name yet but he sure is making his mark with his music and shown he is on the next wave for success. “Uncomfortable” was the first song Mansa released on Soundcloud and it reached a whopping 250k plays, not to mention this track single handedly reached 1 million plays on Spotify. We had the opportunity to ask Mansa a few questions, here is how it went.
Who is Mansa?
Mansa is a multiplicity of things, I think most importantly it’s my name and the title I choose to release music under. Mansa’s me, a 21-year-old kid from Oakland, CA that occasionally releases sounds that he makes for public consumption. That’s probably the most incisive answer I can give. Sorry, I tend to come off overtly robotic when doing these type of things.
How has music as a whole affected your life ?
I’ve been doing music for almost nine years now, since about 7th grade. I hate to be cliche, but I feel like asking “how has music NOT affected my life?” It’s been such a staple for me, it’s hard to remember a time wherein I didn’t do music. Everything pre-12-years-old is kind of a blur.
In your eyes, what is the most important thing about music?
The most important thing about music for me, to put it artistically, is that feeling I get when writing the perfect, in the pocket melody. When the vibes of a song really come together, it’s a great feeling. It’s more so therapeutic for me.
What is your drive to pursue music?
To be direct, I’m not really that great at much else. When thinking about the operations of my daily activity and the plethora of hobbies I’ve pursued in the past, music’s probably the only one with a wow factor. No other facet of my life has elicited many “ooh”s, “aah”s, and “hey man, keep it up, you’ll go far”s as this one has. So hopefully I’m on to something It’d really suck if I turned out to be wrong.
Mansa[s] music is very euphoric in a sense and quite authentic. The young musician has plans for the near future and time goes fast, he will be releasing some singles sometime soon and plans to release a project he calls Star[s] by early 2017 he tells The UNXPSD. The 21 year old has been recording and producing his own music using FL studio; He has been doing the magic in his bedroom which is the new West Hollywood apartment he now resides in. When asked about influences we got a rather interesting response. Mansa was raised in an soul-centric household, he grew up listening to the likes of Bob Marley, John Mayer, Corinne Bailey Rae. Mansa[s] amalgamation is influenced by almost any genre. Mansa says the stuff moms listen to were constantly resonating through his house. It has a big impact in his song writing to this day. The 21 year old Oakland native hopes to be doing what he is passionate about in about two to five years, whether that be making songs for fans, writing songs for the radio, or any other one of his recreational interests. He believes fulfillment is something worth the chase. Mansa is remarkable and is very determined. He has the potential to be the only Mansa! Lets take a listen at his newest track entitled “Dead Man Walking.”
theunxpsd.com 
I knew him before he was Mansa
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