Interview: Mohombi Talks His Journey To Success, Working With Nicole Scherzinger & Making Babies With Rihanna!

Mohombi is a popstar with a backstory so incredible he could have had a film produced about his life before even releasing his first single.

At 14 he escaped civil-war in the Congo to move to Sweden, where he began an award-winning career in music.

Having already conquered the African and European markets working with stars like Nicole Scherzinger and Akon and selling half a million records in the process, the light-hearted 25-year-old is ready to smash the UK charts with his new single 'In Your Head.'

TaleTela caught up with Mohombi to chat about his past, his close relationship with Lady Gaga hitmaker RedOne and making 'babies' with Rihanna.

What was the move from Congo to Sweden like?

It wasn't really much of a cultural shock because my mom is Swedish. Even though I was living in Congo we sort of kept the Swedish traditions and I would go over there on vacation sometimes. But still, it was different because I was a teenager. My parents stayed in Congo. I was there with my two brothers. We're a big family, I've got 14 siblings so it was kind of hard for all of sudden everybody to not be together.

Was that the hardest thing, having to leave your mum and dad?

Yeah having to leave the family because we were so close. It was also hard leaving everyone else behind. Not everyone was able to evacuate, not everybody had foreign citizenship and they couldn't leave the country. I felt guilty for many, many years, 'why was I able to leave?', you know?

But I discovered a new world. Coming to Sweden, Stockhol! m, it wa s filled with music. I could find a studio in every neighbourhood. I could finally start recording my ideas. I wanted to create my own songs. And, actually, the song writing became part of my musicality.

After moving from the Congo to Sweden, you made another big move to Los Angeles. Was that a make-or-break situation?

Yeah. When I got my college degree I promised my mom I'd get a 'regular job,' but I quickly realised I was letting my dream slip by, so one day I went to my boss and said: 'I think I'm going to quit. You know how hard I work every week, and after my job I go to the studio, I come in late in the morning because I haven't slept...', and he was just like: 'Go. Follow your dreams man.' And I did.

You'd won songwriting awards and had industry recognition before you went to L.A. Was it difficult having to go over there and build your name back up even though you'd had success previously?

I've never seen it that way, I see it as evolution. Like this is the next step for me. The whole universe was telling me to move to L.A. and follow my heart. It's about taking it to the next level. I went and did some song-writing stuff and did some sessions. I only had money for six months - I met RedOne the last week I was there. I told him: 'Man, you better sign me today.'

What would have happened if you hadn't met him?

I would have probably gone back to Sweden, gone back to my office, sat at my desk and put my tie back on!

Explain your songwriting, your sound - you describe it as 'Afro-Viking?

That's who I am. That's my two cultures. Sweden is known for being the country of pop all the way from Abba to Lykke Li - from Abba to Mohombi, I mean! - and then my Afro-Caribbean vibe is something natural, it's in the blood and mixing those two identifies me and my music.

Are your musical influences mostly about your past or do you have any artists that you really look up to?

That's a positive thing about having a lot of people in the same house, everybody has their own taste in a different type of music. So in every room there was a boombox with a different artist playing, all the way from The Beatles to Rage Against the Machine to Bob Marley. I grew up with a big catalogue of music and I was there as a kid like a vacuum machine, just taking it all in. That's why I got the nickname 'The Walking Boombox'.

The new single, 'In Your Head' what's the story behind that?

I write all my songs so every one has a story. When I was doing a soundcheck in the studio I would sing the Cranberries song and I would switch 'zombie' to 'Mohombi'. A couple of months ago we were in the studio working on something completely different and I did it, and it came to me, 'wow, I have to get rid of this idea that has been haunting me for years!'

I sent it to my label and they called us back like, The Cranberries loved it, you got their blessing!' And I was like, 'are you serious? Let's go then.' It's one of my favourite songs, I'll always relate to it because I'm a war kid myself. But it's incredible, not from a commercial point of view but from a music view, to be able to personalise a song. So I was happy with the results. And hopefully so is the rest of the world!

You're signed to RedOne's label, how have you grown as an artist since you met him?

Wow its like an education. Working with RedOne is like being in a boot camp. It's a constant education. He's a genius and he's been proving that to all of us. He's not only a mentor he's like a brother and best friend. He has the ability to make every artist and everybody that's around him feel comfortable. So I've learned a lot and I'm still learning.

Was it easier working with him because you had the same sort of background?

Absolutely. That's the reason we met in the first place. Because we had the same sort of background. He heard about me, this young guy from Swede! n who wa s hungry to make it. I remember one time I paid a promoter to let me be his opening act, that's how badly I wanted it. I guess hard work pays off, and he kind of related to that because he comes from a really difficult background.

On your debut album MoveMeant you worked with Akon, Nicole Scherzinger, Nelly and Pitbull. Who was the most fun?

Lets say I enjoyed working with Nicole [laughs]. But the most fun was probably Pitbull. We were really close and he was supporting my stuff. For an upcoming artist it was an honour for those big names to support my music, they believed in my stuff because they were part of my baby, my first album.

If you're in the studio with RedOne writing songs, you don't know who's going to pop up. You might see Lionel Richie, Enrique Iglesias, all of these amazing artists, and you make friendships and collaborate. When it was my time to write my stuff I called them and was like, 'It's time to write.' Everybody was like, 'Yeah OK, we believe in you!'

What was Nicole like?

Wow. Nicole is such an amazing girl. Pretty on the outside, pretty on the inside. We have good chemistry. She's like a sister. Chemistry is important because you can hear it on the record if there isn't any. It goes up the charts and quickly goes back down - that wasn't the case for our record!

Who else would you most like to collaborate with?

There are lots of upcoming and establish artists I'd like to work with but I think Rihanna and I would conceive a really nice dance floor baby!

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