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The Dreamy World of Natural Wonder Beauty Concept
Colored with tenderness and intimacy, Natural Wonder Beauty Concept hosts tender self-reflection reminiscent of the inexplicable feeling of companionship one may experience in absolute solitude. Dreamy almost feels too simple a word for it. Think of how the world sounds underwater, what it may feel like to fly, or more realistically, what it's like when you're up late and think you're alone until you look outside the window to see one other quietly lit apartment in the building across the street.
So you met in 2020... before that you were internet friends. How'd you first discover each other?
ANA ROXANNE— Well yes, we were internet friends, but also have a lot of mutual friends. I was listening to his album that he released in 2020, but we didn’t meet until I finally moved to New York that winter.
How'd you both get into making music?
BRIAN PIÑERO— I was in bands when I was really young, then I started making electronic music in high school… noise music and such. I've always really liked DIY-style music.
AR— I started in a more academic, structured way. When I was in middle school, I was involved in musical theater and choir, then I went to jazz school for college and dropped out. After that, I finished in a more experimental program and played in some bands through my twenties. I started the solo project maybe seven years ago. It's been a winding road, now here I am.
When did you realize you wanted to work on this project together?
AR— We started working together kind of spontaneously. There was a random project that Brian wanted me to contribute to, and through that, we started messing around in the studio. Eventually, it became more formal and then Mexican Summer got interested and approached us to share what we were doing.
What was the creative process like?
BP— I mean, it has to hit when you're driving at night, that was kind of the thing. A big part of the process was doing things that we normally don't do so we experimented a lot and tried to lean into things that we thought sounded good without really overthinking it too much. It was a lot of fun to try out different styles and tap into this feeling of freedom within music. We talked about life a lot and that honestly formed our bond as collaborators. We became really comfortable with each other and are now really close friends.
AR— We took a lot of turns listening to music and sharing our ideas like, 'Oh, we feel inspired by this song, let's try to do something similar to this.' It was definitely a trade off. Sometimes Brian would come up with a melody or I would come up with an idea for the rhythmic element.
BP— We started every song differently as well. Sometimes it would be an instrumental or a lyric. Other times we would write out vocal melodies before writing lyrics. Anna is really particular with the sound a word has while being sung. She’d be like, 'Oh no, this has to be like an oh, this can’t be an ah.' It was actually pretty meticulous. Some songs were quicker, others took much longer to work through.
That sounds difficult, especially when working with sounds that aren't easily described. It’s easy to say, “I want this chord” but it’s a bit harder to understand when someone says 'I want this twinkly thing, not exactly that twinkly thing.'
BP— We would literally google 'twinkly sound' or 'glittery sound,' and then sample it. It’s easier than one might think! But it was also just a lot of experimenting and sticking to things that spoke to us.
Are you going to bring any of this experimentation into your future solo projects?
BP— Collaborating with Ana is its own thing, but being able to write more immediate and traditionally structured music is something that I would like to do. Maybe singing.
AR— With writing, we really identified each other’s strength, which are very different, so we were able to put them together. There will definitely be some stuff that I take with me into my solo project, but I’m not even really sure, because I’m still processing all of that.
It took two years — Brian, this is the longest you've ever worked on a record, and Ana, the shortest for you. How was it meeting in the middle?
AR— I’m definitely a perfectionist; it takes me a really long time to decide if something is good or not. Maybe I was slowed down the process at some point, but it was also an exercise to feel confident in making decisions quicker than usual.
BP— Having someone slow you down and be like, “No, this can be different and better,” was nice. I usually just write records suprer fast and when it's done, I don't really want to think about it anymore. This has taught made that laboring over stuff is very satisfying actually.
Was there a track that was easiest to produce?
BP— The fourth one was the easiest for sure.
AR— The interlude. It was playful and just so funny to write it. I remember laughing because of how fun it was. A good number of the songs came together pretty quickly, at least with the initial structure and idea, but the fine-tuning took a long timeBut when me and Brian write together, there are a lot ideas that flow pretty easily.
Maybe this question is annoying, but do you have a favorite track?
AR— For me, it changes, or it has changed. Right now, I really like the first and the last. You know, bookends. But they're all unique, they're all very specific and necessary to the entire experience.
BP— I kinda just like all of them. A lot, to be honest [laughs].
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Black Sherif Is the Chosen One
SHERIF wears JACKET by DAILY PAPER, PANTS are STYLIST’S OWN, SHOES are STYLIST’S OWN
Hi. Nice to meet you man.
Nice to meet you, man, Sherif.
Jard. How's your day going?
I woke up at like 11 A.M., had my breakfast and came back to chill on the sofa because I was tired recording last night. I literally just got back to the studio right now.
What's your studio setup like?
So I have my audio here and there's art work down there. I always have a mic with me whether I’m working or not working.
I have a keyboard down here and my Nintendo switch to play games on.
I know you've lived in a lot of places. Where is home for you?
Accra, bro. Yeah. I feel at home when I’m with my people, the people that I work with. I’ve programmed music into my life, I’m working every second of the day.
I’m at home when I’m working with my people. I’m free and vulnerable, in touch with everything that’s going on with me.
How did you like New York by the way?
I love it. I love New York so much. I love the restaurants, you know, I tried just two restaurants in Brooklyn. The kind of food that I expected in my head was different than what I actually ate.
If I lived here I would definitely gain weight. I love the outfits on the streets, bro. Everyone is wearing fly rings, necklaces, shirts. It’s fire. Soho is crazy.
So you’ve performed in Miami, New York City, LA, London, Accra, Lagos? What’s been your craziest experience performing so far?
I think it would be Virginia. That was when I did Pharell’s festival, Something In The Water. It's one of the best performance I've ever done.
It was crazy because I was an opener for the whole show. I got on stage a minute before they opened the doors and no one was there, then slowly I saw people move in closer to listen to what’s going on.
The opening act really sets the whole tone. You won artist of the year at the Ghana Music Awards, how influential was Ghana's music scene in establishing your sound?
In the begining when I came out, people’s ears weren’t open. They were closed off to what I was doing.
I had to find a way to be myself as an artist and a business person. It took a while to put everyone on to the sound. We did it unconsciously.
BLACK SHERIF wears JACKET by DAILY PAPER, PANTS are STYLIST’S OWN, SHOES are STYLIST’S OWN
I’m at home when I’m working with my people. I’m free and vulnerable, in touch with everything that’s going on with me.
Right. The sound is organic.
It happens through everything from video shoots to the content we put out. We try to make everything organic.
Do you have a favorite beat that you've been on?
I think Joker is my favorite producer. My favorite beat was on my last album, “Prey Da Youngsta”. That was the last song we recorded. I was in the U.K., I heard the beat and asked him to keep it for me.
I got back from London to Accra like four weeks before I dropped my album. I recorded the song that night. It was the perfect beat, the beat just made me feel so jiggy.
So, I've noticed that in your music you switch a lot between English, Twi and Pidgin. What are your favorite bars and lyrics of your own?
The lyrics off my song 45, 'Fortified, my nigga this shit divine.'
You're very vulnerable in your music. How has making music helped you process things in your life?
I know a lot of men that really identify with hypermasculinity. I respect them but I want to live. I want to experience, feel everything. I want to be vulnerable and feel fragile sometimes.
I just know who I am and I write every emotion that comes to me. I don’t try to be aggressive or anything like that. I grew up very timid and had to learn how to survive in a society like mine. I found my life in music. I want to be corny sometimes, I want to talk about how I feel. The only place where that’s acceptable is in art.
When did you first start making music?
I started putting things together in 2018 but I didn’t professionally release music until June 2019. At first I was just writing stuff, putting lines together, developing melodies.
BLACK SHERIF wears TOP by MARITHE + FRANÇOIS GIRBAUD, JEWELRY by MARTINE ALI, PANTS are STYLIST’S OWN, SHOES are STYLIST’S OWN
I know a lot of men that really identify with hypermasculinity. I respect them but I want to live. I want to experience, feel everything. I want to be able to be vulnerable and feel fragile sometimes.
Can you walk me through your writing process a bit?
I let it breathe. I feel like there’s no limit to where I can make music. Sometimes ideas come to me when I’m jogging, waiting at the bus stop, or on the airplane. Wherever, I am I write it down.
I love to put notes together, my music is like the soundtrack to my life. I mark memories with my music. I write music everywhere.
Right now, what song would be the soundtrack to your life?
"Oil in My Head."
Why?
In the second verse, I say ‘Man don’t stay down when man fall//I get up and come for more'. Right now I’m creating so many projects and sometimes I get so tired. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like it’s possible to make what’s in my head.
But at the end of the day, we try to pull it out and it ends up being better than I imagined. I feel like I’m part of the chosen people and the oil in my head marks being chosen. I feel unstoppable.
SHERIF wears TOP by MARITHE + FRANÇOIS GIRBAUD, JEWELRY by MARTINE ALI, PANTS are STYLIST’S OWN, SHOES are STYLIST’S OWN
What does healing look like for you?
Accepting who I really am as a person and a creator, seeing my strengths and weaknesses. It’s self realization for me.
I feel like I’m close to identifying my problems and that’s the first step to healing. I’m very close to knowing my real self.
I know that you've been called the voice of the youth in Africa before? What does that mean to you?
It means so much to me. I believe that it’s actually true. There’s no lies in my art. My art is authentic and me, so getting that reaction is volcanic. I don’t do cliches.
I write about what’s really going on outside. I don’t struggle to express what’s going on or to explain my art. It’s not difficult to get people on the same page as me about my art or how I see it.
What are you most excited about right now?
The songs, the new songs. I’m in a different space in my head than I was last year. I found time to evaluate things and feel everything to its core.
Now I’m in a space of trying to heal and solve my own problems. I’ve taken steps to solve some things that have been holding me down or hidden in me.
Do you want to talk about your new projects?
I’m dropping a new music video and that will be closure for the album. Then it’s on to the next one.
How would you define your art and yourself as a creator?
My art is pure and futuristic. It’s very rooted in culture and nature. I think my art is like the son of the Earth, the daughter of the Earth. I believe that balance is the source of everything. I try to think about today, reminisce about the past, predict the future and fuse that all on wax.
I try to add a feminine and masculine touch to everything I do. That’s how the world works, it’s all about balance.
Everything is interconnected.
In Twi we say ‘Asase is the mother’ meaning Earth is the mother. We believe the Earth is your mother. She takes everything patiently and with understanding.
I don’t do cliches. I write about what’s really going on outside.
