2020 has been a big year for snny.
Videos by American Songwriter
It’s only August but the Côte D’Ivoire-born, Brooklyn-bred, Iceland-based artist has already gotten married, moved across the world, released a fantastic EP, and created a new label and art collective in his current hometown of Reykjavik—all during a pandemic.
Today he shares a breezy new bop called “Postmodern Black,” featured below. “I wanted to create something that would uplift and inspire,” snny tells American Songwriter of the track, adding that he hopes it gives listeners “a sense of hope and ambition.”
“Postmodern Black” comes on the heels of Otito, which arrived in May and earned a shout-out on NPR’s Heat Check alongside new releases by Siddiq, Yebba, Jenevieve, and Kehlani.
“Otito is an introduction into my childhood and the snapshots of the moments that shaped me into becoming the artists I am today,” says snny of the EP, which he recorded in Brooklyn. “I wanted to create a small plate of bite size moments that ring true to my core as a young African man making indie music.”
For snny, Otito marked a natural evolution in his career as an artist following 2017’s Learn to Swim.
“I first started making music in college with some friends and experimenting with different styles,” he comments. “I’d say since then I’ve just become more of a student of music. My sound has just always been a reflection of where I’m at in life so I guess it’s evolved in the same way I have in terms of just growing up. The music is more and more eclectic but also rooted in a specific soundscape.”
On “Postmodern Black” that soundscape is bright and euphoric, driven by an undeniable sense of forward momentum. Asked if he’s had any important mentors or collaborators, snny credits his mother with nurturing his creative side in the first place.
“My mother has been the most important mentor in my music,” he says. “She was really the one who got me going with poetry classes early on in my childhood and then blossomed into music later on.”
When snny and his family relocated to Iceland during the COVID-19 pandemic, he wasn’t sure how the move would affect his career.
“I got married to my wife in March and about a week later the pandemic really started to ramp up in New York so we decided to leave and head to her home country of Iceland with our daughter,” he explains. “Since moving to Iceland I’ve definitely missed my collective of creatives that I’m used to working with but I’ve been able to cultivate so much amazing talent while being here.”
“Postmodern Black” marks snny’s first release on his new label, Radio Silence, which is one of the channels he’s using to tap into Reykjavik’s creative community.
“[Moving to Iceland] really helped me to lean into my independence and resulted in me starting an art collective—Artists in Iceland—in the past month that has already over 500 members,” he adds.
“I also just started my own record label—Radio Silence—that will be purely in the benefit of the artists, run by artists operating less like a traditional record label and more like a co-op. It’s tough to see my friends going throughout back home in the states but it’s been motivating me to create realms of opportunity where we as creatives have a chance of thriving no matter our background.”
“Postmodern Black” is out now.
