“Until the lion has a historian, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”
This quote by Chinua Achebe resonates deeply with me, and now almost two years after releasing Östra Skogen, it feels like the right time to reflect on the project and its meaning.
I originally wrote this in the fall of 2024 and updated with a few new thoughts.
the Forest Seasons: A cycle of eps reflecting on life and mental health
Following 2023’s Södra Skogen, Östra Skogen is the second of four planned Forest Seasons projects, capturing my artistic and producer evolution as moments in time. I began learning music production in 2022 through weekend courses at Kulturama in Stockholm, with the intent to release projects that show my growth at different points in time.
Södra Skogen was unmixed and unmastered because, at the time, I didn’t know how to mix or master. I released it raw because I feared that with time, I would find more flaws in the project and become less confident in releasing music that might be technically flawed. Östra Skogen, on the other hand, was produced over a year, demonstrating how much growth one can achieve within a year.
Listen to Södra Skogen by Osai and all their Friends on Soundcloud
The Concept: The Seasons as a Metaphor for Psychological States, and the Forest as a Metaphor for Temporal Checkpoints
Drawing on a childhood memory of getting lost in a forest at age 11 or 12, Östra Skogen is divided into three acts: The City (Staden), The Forest (Skogen), and The Concrete Jungle (Betongskogen). These acts serve as metaphors for both physically getting lost and the experience of feeling lost in life.
Watch the Östra Skogen launch video on Youtube
Since moving to Stockholm (and actually – Uppsala before I released the project), I’ve been forced to reconsider ideas like home, identity, blackness, and solidarity, not as abstract concepts but as tangible realities – moving from concepts in films and books – to how I interacted with my environment and vice versa. How I approached work, play, relationships and so much more. Östra Skogen was my attempt to reconcile some of these feelings through music.
How do you define home? Have you ever felt lost in a place you once called home?
Act 1 Nigerian Drum n Bass: Global Identity with Nigerian Roots
The first act represents my navigation through city life and questions of home and identity.
Mokola International (featuring Begho and Seo) directly addresses the question of “Home.” The song draws on samples from traffic and markets in Ibadan, Nigeria, blended with sounds from Stockholm’s tunnelbana and conversations. Inspired by artists like Emeka Ogboh, Park Hye Jin, Alex Reece, and Ryoji Ikeda, Mokola International is my first attempt at Drum n Bass, aiming to reconcile my Nigerian nationality within a European context and the music I’ve come to love.
Field recordings were done over months in Ibadan by my friend and collaborator – Adrenalin, and in Stockholm and Uppsala by me. Over the course of 2024 and my move, I added ambient sounds like footsteps, the wind and birds from Vedyxa Skogen to the composition. Part of my intent is to mimic the feeling of a place and situation – listening to music on the subway with occasional snatches of conversation leaking through, the sounds of the train and people around you – rooting one to that particular moment and feeling in time.
Nightmare in Lagos City is my homage to my hip hop roots, and it reflects the love-hate relationship I have with Lagos. This track was produced by Adrenalin and explores the chaos of Lagos nightlife – the tension of always being on edge and navigating a city where survival often feels like a game of chance. It’s also a tribute to two of my closest collaborators, Charles Majek and Paybac Iboro, both Lagos natives, whose experiences have deeply influenced my perspective on the city.
A live recording from the first Nigerian Boys show in Lekki, which was shut down, is woven into the track, symbolising the irony of life in Lagos – a place where everyone is seemingly out to get you (and sometimes they are), yet there’s still an undying vibrancy to the city.
Always Choose Wickedness is a response to the hardships explored in Nightmare in Lagos City. This track reflects the decision to harden one’s heart in the face of injustice – “do me, I do you” philosophy if you will. Produced by El Dray, the song was one of the most challenging to finish, I had to reach out to BeatBoyJW – a producer I had worked with on other projects, and one of the most technically sound people I know – to help with mixing. With contributions from Niko – Charles’ older brother, Qaido, and backing vocals by JVSH, the song captures the desire to get those who are out to get you. As a side note, I recorded my verse in the STIM music room in Stockholm, a studio once used by Avicii and ABBA, so I feel in really good company.
Act 2: Afrotronica as a Philosophical Concept
The second act represents a retreat into oneself and the internal conflicts that arise from the introspection one gets from confronting a hostile world.
Monsters in Your Mind marks the start of the Skogen act of the project. It describes coming to terms with the monster of hubris, retreating into yourself, and seeing bogeymen everywhere. The song opens with a calming birdsong from India that I heard during a video call with a close friend, setting a peaceful tone that contrasts with the internal turmoil. With vocals and mixing by Ravington and production by Bube, it’s been a fan favourite so far. Monsters is also one of my own attempts at Afrotronica, a flavour of music if you will, where electronic sounds are made with African roots. I would liken it to IDM philosophically – an approach where intent and origin matter more than acoustics and instruments.
Mr. Sea Bass is a playful jungle/house track that I created over Christmas with one of my first Swedish friends, Alex Kylington. Produced by Bube, it’s a reminder to embrace the unexpected and find inspiration in unlikely places. It’s also an inside joke with another of my friends, and I’m sure she’ll smile if she ever reads this.
The Concrete Jungle: Reflecting on the concept of Home through Östra Skogen
The third act reflects coming to terms with the realisation that home is not necessarily a place, but the connections and relationships we build along the way, that ground us in ourselves and create networks of care, healthy dependence, rituals and memories.
Betongskogen, the final act of Östra Skogen, represents coming home: not to a place but to a realisation that home is found in people and feelings. 7 Day Weekend (featuring Qaido) captures the idea that every day can feel like a weekend if we embrace life’s ups and downs. Charles Majek’s verse perfectly concludes the track, reflecting our aspirations as Nigerian Boys to rise to the top. This track was produced by Adrenalin and features backing vocals from my friend Faith Mutema who I met at the Uppsala Reggae Festival. Listeners can also hear 7 Day Weekend in my short film with the FilmBase Stockholm collective, Alex, released as part of Noom Marathon 2023.
The final track, Baile Nigeriano, like Mokola International, explores a new genre: Brazilian Funk. Drawing inspiration from artists like Sango, DJ Lycox, and Heavy Baile, I collaborated with friends, including dancer and drag performer Marie Mazer / Ivai Jaguara, to create a track that appreciates Brazilian culture without appropriation. The song reflects my connection to the Brazilian community in Stockholm and the values I’ve chosen to embrace – love, multiculturalism, the freedom to be, and an appreciation for life in all its flavors.
Östra Skogen Full Circle Moments and Acknowledgments
One of the most poetic moments for me was having Östra Skogen mastered by my teacher at Kulturama, Leo Eltes, bringing my journey full circle. Throughout the process, I’ve had invaluable input from my partner Esther Reusser, friends Sophia Bouhon, Sarah Ackerman, Disco Jesus, Sute Iwar, Bankole Jesudunsin, Sheyi Owolabi, and June Sometimes. Their support, along with the collaborations with talented artists, reminds me that it truly takes a village to create a record, but it takes friends to make an Osai and all their Friends record.
Now about fifteen months after its release, I’ve been deeply touched by the personal responses and connections I’ve received from friends, both old and new. These voice notes and messages warm my heart, showing that Östra Skogen speaks for itself (and hopefully the forest). Even with minimal marketing efforts, the music has resonated in ways I couldn’t have imagined.
Listen to Östra Skogen by Osai and all their friends on streaming platforms.