As a kid growing up, M.O.A's (Minista Of Agrikulcha) parents were constantly playing the track "Sweet Mother" by Prince Nico Mbarga around the house. For M.O.A., the song came to symbolize his own mother, as well as strong African women around the world. Even as a 10 year old, the song had a major impact upon him. Fast forward to 2011- M.O.A. was reviewing a selection of beats sent to him by Sierra Leonian producer Olatunji Mason when he stumbled across one sampling 'Sweet Mother.'  Brought back to his childhood, M.O.A wrote what he calls "the fastest 48 bars ever." M.O.A. laughingly recalls the moment, "I literally got the email from Ola in the morning and an hour later was done writing." A few phone calls later and M.O.A. had young Congolese singer Rafiya singing the chorus. The track, entitled 'Sweet Moda,' was recorded at legendary Larry Gold's 'The Studio' in Philadelphia.

Here at Nomadic Wax, M.O.A.'s 'Sweet Moda' track is easily one of our favorite all time singles. Up there with Tumi's 'Once Upon A Time [in Africa],' this track is an instant classic. Nomadic Wax Creative Director DJ Magee calls the track "genius." The track is defined by M.O.A.'s smooth flow, seamless language transitions and varied flow patterns. The chorus is so catchy, and M.O.A.'s voice is infectious. M.O.A. is able to capture his experiences as a young man in West Africa, and here in the Diaspora, and his pride for his continent, all sentiments and experiences shared by some many people all around the world.
As it is one of our favorite tracks out there, our team pitched a remix campaign to M.O.A.. He jumped at the idea and today, we have our first remix of the original track. This one is by producer/emcee John Moon, of the innovative (and very dope!) live band hip hop collective the Cornel West Theory, based out of Washington DC. John flipped the entire sound of the track, giving it a more luxurious and spacey vibe as opposed to the original, more crunchy sample-based track. John was inspired by the track’s depth of storytelling: “There was a strong cinematic element to it. I could close my eyes and see the whole film unfold before me…” He was also drawn to “Sweet Moda” by the vocals: “…from Rafiya’s singing to M.O.A.’s verses there was a tangible African quality that was both foreign and familiar on a soul level.”



The remixed version feels like a whole new song. Who knew we could love M.O.A.'s track even more?


LISTEN TO THE ORIGINAL HERE: soundcloud.com/m-o-a


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