We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Grace Ojewole a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Grace, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to write your own music and articulate my words in the form of music. It feels good anytime I hear my music and I know that I’m the one that wrote my own lyrics. It motivates me to keep going and to always continue to perfect my craft. Growing up my biggest inspirations were Jay-Z, Biggie, Tupac, Nas, Foxy Brown, Nicki Minaj, Lil Kim, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Mac Dre, Too Short, E-40, Keak Da Sneak and many more. These artists played a huge role in my music and their stories always motivated me to perfect my craft to be the greatest. Their stories also motivated me to always write my own raps and to strengthen my skills as a writer. In order to be the best you have to perfect your craft everyday and success never comes overnight. Their hard work and determination also motivated me to keep going in my music and always reminds me that the sky is the limit. Another great rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to share your music with the world and hopefully touching the lives of people going though hard times. Knowing that your music may have saved someone’s life that wanted to give up is inspiring and a motivation to keep going. Lastly, being able to perform my music is so much fun and inspiring especially when people cheer you on and sing your lyrics with you. It makes me feel so good inside and always reminds me that I’m on the right path.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Grace Ojewole but I go by my artist name Titilayo. I’m Nigerian-American which means my parents were born in Nigeria and moved to the United States for a better life. I was born and raised in the Bay Area in California. I moved to Washington, D.C. to attend Howard University for my Undergraduate degree, and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue my masters degree and also pursue my dreams. I started out writing poetry in my dorm room because I was always bored by myself due to not having a lot of friends. After a while writing poetry turned into writing raps and from then on I started to perfect my craft. I got into the industry through networking and being at the right place at the right time. Also songwriting helped my name to get around in the industry.I think what really sets me apart from others is my uniqueness, me writing my own music, and being able to freestyle my music. My music is also unique because I make Hip Hop/ Rap, R&B, and Afrobeat music. I also write music to help people that are going are experiencing any forms of mental illness like depression, as a form of therapy through my life experiences. I hope to heal people with my lyrics that are going through a lot and want to give up.
I’m most proud of my bachelor’s degree from Howard University, and having the opportunity to have Chadwick Boseman be my commencement speaker at my graduation. His speech really motivated me to want to move to Los Angeles after graduation and pursue my dreams full force. He gave a lot of great advice on how to be successful, not give up when times get hard, and also it’s okay to say no to anything you’re not comfortable with doing. Also our first African American Female Vice President, Kamala Harris also attended my university, and many other legends like Chadwick Boseman, P. Diddy, Taraji P. Henson, Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen, Anthony Anderson, Marlon Wayans, Lala Anthony, and many more successful people. With a great list of alumni with the people I just mentioned, you cannot afford to fail and your destined for success. Attending Howard taught me how to hustle and never take “no” for an answer for anything I truly want in life.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Growing up I always felt like an outcast, because I was different from my peers due to my uniqueness and individuality. People always thought that I was quiet and standoffish, because I’m a deep thinker and I live in my own head all the time. Due to this I didn’t have a lot of friends but I focused on myself and my craft as a result. I grew up as a preacher’s kid so I always had to withhold this perfect image in order to not let my family down. I watched my parents help people and give back to communities and those same people would turn around and betray my parents, but they always turned the other cheek and continued to do God’s work. And they instilled those great character traits in me and it helped me to build tough skin and never let negativity affect me
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to write your own music and articulate my words in the form of music. It feels good anytime I hear my music and I know that I’m the one that wrote my own lyrics. It motivates me to keep going and to always continue to perfect my craft. Growing up my biggest inspirations were Jay-Z, Biggie, Tupac, Nas, Foxy Brown, Nicki Minaj, Lil Kim, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Mac Dre, Too Short, E-40, Keak Da Sneak and many more. These artists played a huge role in my music and their stories always motivated me to perfect my craft to be the greatest. Their stories also motivated me to always write my own raps and to strengthen my skills as a writer. In order to be the best you have to perfect your craft everyday and success never comes overnight. Their hard work and determination also motivated me to keep going in my music and always reminds me that the sky is the limit. Another great rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to share your music with the world and hopefully touching the lives of people going though hard times. Knowing that your music may have saved someone’s life that wanted to give up is inspiring and a motivation to keep going. Lastly, being able to perform my music is so much fun and inspiring especially when people cheer you on and sing your lyrics with you. It makes me feel so good inside and always reminds me that I’m on the right path.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealtitilayo/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealtitilayo
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Gracegurl95
- Other: Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/1ETmO6mTbjKrdVyineVGYR?si=BvoVLkDYTCiYIHNjVlND2A Apple Music: music.apple.com/us/artist/titilayo/1535862662 Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.com/user826390881
Image Credits
Photographer: Aaron Lacy Instagram: @aaronlacy