Melo Griffith wears many hats. He is a singer, songwriter, poet, and rapper—and a music student at Carleton University. A self-proclaimed “student of life,” Melo said he has never truly found the opportunity to share all that encompasses who he is until he began working on his debut project, ME.P: Undergrad Appreciation Day.
Now a month since the release of ME.P, The Charlatan sat down with Melo in the studio to discuss the road to his debut album along with his connection to the Ottawa hip hop scene.
The Charlatan (TC): How did you first get started with music?
Melo Griffith (MG): It really started with more so dance. I was doing a lot of dance and poetry at a very young age, since I came out of the womb doing head spins [laughs]. But I always had a thing for, like, rhythm schemes and rhyme schemes and that’s how I got started dancing, by dancing by the words, not really the beats. Then I brought it into poetry and poetry just kind of grew on me. My parents always told me to keep a book and write everything down. From there I was really inspired by people like Biggie Smalls, Wu-Tang Clan and they kind of made me feel like, “Let’s give this a shot.”
TC: What is your new album all about?
MG: The album I would say is a story on my life thus far. Everything leading up to the point it released was an influence in that entire project. I wanted to give people a piece of that. The way that I’ve put it together lets the listener know there’s more to come. When it will come, who knows? The album is supposed to leave you with questions, it’s supposed to leave you wanting more. It was probably the pinnacle of my life thus far. Getting to be able to speak my mind was really a new experience for me, getting to be myself and laying it all out on the radio waves.
TC: What songs are you most proud of?
MG: The one I’m most proud of? Geez [laughs]. I think it would have to be between “Who Knows” and “Difference.” I love all the songs on there but the reason for those two is because [for] “Difference,” I just heard the beat, and 30 seconds later it was ready. I was so proud that I was able to make something like that work and it showed me how easy a collaborative effort can be when it comes to the right person making a beat and [having] the right lyrics to make magic. It’s like a great accident. For “Who Knows,” that is actually one of the songs that started off as an entire poem. To be able to build off of it the way I did, I impressed myself. I didn’t think it would sound the way it did until I heard it.
TC: What role did the university play in your journey facing success and challenges in the Ottawa scene?
MG: It’s been pretty instrumental. I love my city, born in Scarborough but Durham-raised, and I came out here in 2012. After the first year, I called my mom like, “Yo, fuck this,”—can I swear? Cool—“Fuck this,” [laughs]. She was like, “What do you mean?” I was like, “Nah, I can’t do this,” so I left. After I saw all my friends go back to school, and I was like, “What am I doing?” I realized that as much as I love being in and around the Toronto scene, you can get very lost if you don’t know what you are doing. I felt like if I had stayed home, I would have gotten sucked into this complacent phase where I’m not doing anything. I’m wasting my days, waking up late, maybe even missing work, who knows? When I came back here, I decided to make a change. I switched out of the law program I was in and into music because I knew that that’s where my heart always was. From there on, I have been so much more driven, I’m actually focusing on me. I’m learning the skills that make me a credible artist.
TC: What pushes you to pursue music and what does it mean to you?
MG: What does it mean to me? The world. The world plus some. Oh my god. If I didn’t have music, I’d probably be six feet under. If I didn’t have music I’d probably be done. I’m not saying that to sound macabre, but it’s just the actuality of it because if I didn’t have that I wouldn’t have a voice. There would be so many things I wouldn’t know how to express.
Why I pursue it? Because it’s the one thing that makes me feel truly alive, like I’m doing what I was born to do. Doing what makes me feel like I can fly.
TC: In your pursuit, what do you hope to accomplish with your music?
MG: Really, I just want to keep making dope music and anything that’s going to make me happy. Being happy is my number one pursuit over it all, just being able to be and be comfortable. What would make me feel like a super success in the music scene, besides a following and everything? Being able to give my family the financial security they’ve been fighting for. As much as my parents tell me it’s not about making them proud, it’s about making myself proud, still being able to make them proud, that would put me on top. Yeah man, just being able to live a happy life at the end of the day because we are not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time.
– Photo is provided.
