By Whitney Richardson
This is the third installment to our monthly features and the talent is only getting better and better. The DMV is a salad bowl of different cultures and influences and in this month’s article, we put a spotlight on an artist that blends his Gambian roots with the sounds of the city- Fó Bligg.
From the beginning of the phone call, I knew the conversation between Fó Bligg and myself was going to be interesting. His energy was high level mirrored the energy often heard in his music, like Bad Ting. We introduced ourselves and jumped right into to the interview. I wanted to understand who Fó Bligg was as a person before an artist, which is where our conversation started off.
Fó Bligg, aka Foday, was born in Gambia in Western Africa and moved to Silver Spring when he was eight years old. Fó talked about his childhood and what it’s like growing up African in America. A culture switch such as that is huge for anyone, let alone a child. Do to the sudden change and he not knowing english, Fó recounts how quiet he was growing up. There was some bullying throughout the years, but he used his time alone and began making music, beats specifically, a language anyone could understand.
His musical ear started with his family. Fó explained how he’s always had music in his life. He didn’t have cable in his house growing up, therefore each room was filled with music, ranging from Arabic music to dance hall. He gained many of his musical influences from his family and artists like Akon, Usher, Biggie and Sean Paul, to name a few. This musical environment made it almost inevitable for Foday to be an artist. He started off making beats and developed into a producer. He credits his first creation as a track he made on a snow day off from school. As he perfected his craft, Fó set his eyes on getting a rapper on one of his tracks.
Fó sent his beats to local artists, trying to get someone to rap on them. After some time of little traction, Fó hopped on his own beats and put them on SoundCloud himself. He fell in love with being able to say whatever and make whatever he wanted. He didn’t take rapping seriously until his friends and family pushed him to reach his full potential. The second part of his name, Bligg, comes from his brotherhood of fellow artists. He shouts out his family, The Bligg, Parliament, Ajhebeh, Mehki Adams, and Daja Page as his support group and the people who push him and love him the most. And he never takes that love for granted. The people who support him mean everything to him.
I asked him about the message he wants to send out to his listeners. Fó explained that he wants to represent Africans among African Americans. He told me more about his middle school days of maneuvering amongst African Americans while learning the culture and the language. He credits this time of his life for making him tough and developing a thick skin.
You don’t have to go with the crowd
He built confidence and inherited his own style in high school. He got into sneakers and thrifting. He raved about thrifting and all of the good pieces you can find and make your own, if you actually look hard enough.
We finished the interview off with talks about the future. His next tape, he said, will be a mix of everything. He doesn’t want to sound like anyone else in the area. His sound is fresh and his musical versatility is unique due to his background. The best advice is to expect the unexpected. In five years, he wants to build a foundation here and have a couple tapes under his belt. His major goal is be to a global artist. He want his music to be known in his home country, Gambia, all over Europe and the rest of the world
Fo Bligg’s Socials
- Twitter: fobligg
- Instagram: _stunnafo
- Soundcloud: https://m.soundcloud.com/fobligg
