BackMyWork sat down with Mide Fash, a talented creative hyphenate. She talked about delving into spoken word, being a singer, guitarist and writer and her many stage performances.
Q – What is your name and what do you do?
A – Hi. My name is Ayomide Fasedu A.K.A Mide Fash. I am a spoken word artist, writer, singer and a guitarist.
Q – Spoken Word, that’s pretty interesting. How did you discover your talent for it?
A – The first time I did spoken word poetry, I didn’t even know Nigeria had a spoken word scene.
I was on my way back from an errand and decided to get Isiewu (an Igbo delicacy) from a popular nkwobi joint closeby.
Upon getting there, I noticed that there was a guy taking names down onto a list.
There were a lot of nerdy looking people around. The guy asked me if I was there for the event, and at that moment, another guy walked on stage and did what looked like a slow rap performance.
So I thought to myself, ‘Why not?’ and put down my name.
When it was my turn to perform, I performed a very slow version of a rap song, and I ended up winning that Poetry Slam.
That got me interested in spoken word poetry.
Q – How were you able to connect with other poets in the spoken word industry?
A – I began to attend a series of spoken word events.
There were events such as “Ask a Fan”, “War of Words” where I got to meet a lot of other poets. I listened to their works and this made me want to work on myself and improve my skills.
Q – You mentioned earlier that you’re also a singer?
A – Singing has always been a part of me. Music has always been really dear to me so singing comes naturally.
Q – Have you performed at other spoken word events?
A – In october 2021, I was shortlisted to perform at Lagos International Poetry Festival (LIPFEST).
There were over 200 submissions and I was among the ten poets that were picked to grace the stage. It was symbolic for me.
Q – Have you worked with any poets or artistes?
A – I worked with Blackmagic on one of his albums. I was featured on a track on it, a song titled “The call”.
I sang the chorus rather beautifully. It was quite the experience.
Q – Are you currently working on any project?
A – I am working on a project of my own, an extended playlist (EP) called ‘WildFire and Chocolate Toppings”. It consists of five tracks which are a fusion of music and poetry.
What makes this project beautiful is the fact that it is a fusion of different genres.
Q – What excites you most about your EP?
A – I can’t wait for you all to listen to “WildFire and Chocolate
Toppings”. It is awesome. It is a wholesome EP.
So please support me here on BackMyWork.
I hope you feel the spark I felt while I was making it.
Check out her funding page on BackMyWork to support her project:
