DJ Suss One sat down with Jersey’s own Mvntana, where they discussed the 21 year old artist’s influences, journey thus far, and upcoming projects.
Newark, NJ is known for its endless entertainment and its staple in the Garden State’s art world. That’s exactly what Mvntana has, endless entertainment. Martin Akerele infamously known as Mvntana, has dropped an 11-track mixtape where old school meets the new. The project titled ‘Free Tana’ hit 15,000 streams on Spotify in its first week alone and is proudly putting Jersey back on the map. Also, can you tell I’m from Jersey yet?
DJ Suss One started the interview by asking Mvntana to give some feedback on what he’s all about:
“Im from Newark, NJ. I rep Newark a lot. 973, feel me? I have it tatted. Well basically, with my music I do it all. I like to mess with the melodies. I like to give you the nice street rap, the nice old school, but thats really what I came up on so I feel like that’s really my best side.” DJ Suss One follows up, “When you say melodies so you rap and sing like Drake-ish or?” “Yeah” Mvntana continues “I try–“Peace Of Mind” one of the songs I did a little singing in it did pretty good. It was number one single on my last tape.”
Wow, HOV is one of your inspirations? It’s very rare that you hear a 21 year old say that. That’s lit. I like that.
The Nigerian native hopped on the scene with his first single “Wolves” and followed up with a series of singles accompanied by super dope visuals that have gotten the attention of a couple A&Rs’ in the game. Not a stranger to being featured, the artist’s mixtape can be found on Datpiff.com, MyMixtapes.com, and recently landed a feature in WeAreJersey’s May 2020 issue.
Mvntana continued by discussing how HOV has been such a major influence in his career. “Wow, HOV is one of ya inspirations? Its very rare that you hear a 21 year old say that. Thats lit. I like that.” Replied DJ Suss One.
Another major influence mentioned by the young rapper was Young Thug. “Besides the fact he has good music, he was one of the dudes that when he blew up, brought everybody with him. He started putting everybody on. That’s something I really look up to. That’s something you really gotta do, in my opinion and a lot of rappers don’t do that.”
When asked what Mvntana’s goals were and how he wanted to portray himself to his fans he answered:
“Well I want to build my music to a point where I can tell my story and then get a platform to help other people, so my story doesn’t repeat. See, I was born in Nigeria. Im a Nigerian. I was there for two years before I came to NJ. I started rapping at a young age and my mother hated it. She’s a pastor. I was rapping everyday. People would tell me to start taking it serious on a major level and get paid for it. So, I linked up with my team and that’s what we’re doing right now.”
Stream ‘Free Tana’ on all major platforms, including Apple Music & Spotify. You can also find more music videos to some of recent tracks “Peace of Mind,” “High Five” and “Move” all produced by JvstNice on YouTube. Be sure to follow @mvn.tana on Instagram to stay updated on any upcoming releases.
Check out the music videos for “I Know” and “High Five” below:
