Inside The Credits 046: Michael Uzowuru
Michael Uzowuru's Blossoming Amalgamations
Michael Uzowuru started out making rap beats that were grimey, unpolished, and quintessential of the blog era underground. His cast of characters who spit on his early developmental sounds included Vince Staples, Vic Mensa, Earl Sweatshirt, and Da$h. Uzowuru’s other early collaborator though, was Kevin Abstract, whose alternative pop instrumentals felt like they existed in an entire other sonic universe. This dichotomy of hip hop and pop defines Uzowuru’s career. From 2012 to now, he’s used those two genre proficiencies as pillars, and let his sound blossom into a wild amalgamation of their core elements.
The first big statement record of Uzowuru’s career was Frank Ocean’s “Nights” from his opus Blonde. The song proves that alternative r&b can be at its best when it arrives at the intersection of hip hop and pop.
Uzuworu would next immediately craft, in an executive producer capacity, his first full length album with Kevin Abstract. American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story encapsulated everything about what makes Uzowuru great: saccharine pop cadences, ghostly hip hop undertones, and atmospheric r&b sequences. Then, immediately after, Frank Ocean dropped his lone hit “Chanel,” which condensed all of Uzowuru’s best traits into one succinct subdued anthem.
Uzowuru’s next era, which lasted about five years, consisted of a sporadic array of diverse songs. What defines this period is how much Uzowuru’s best work leaned even further into his continued expansion of the r&b genre. In 2012, a new era of alternative r&b was introduced by the trio of Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, and Miguel. Yet, Uzuworu’s rise represents the even more bohemian feeling offshoot of that. He brought Anderson Paak. organically into the world of four on the floor EDM energy, assisted Jorja Smith in her most down the middle pop leaning record off her debut album, made grungy r&b with Choker, slid Beyoncé into an Afro r&b bag, gave Sir a surefire r&b pop hit with a Kendrick assist, and even melted hearts with cheeky offerings with Omar Apollo. While this may sound like Uzowuru has an insanely wide range, all of these songs he helped craft feel as if they exist in somewhat of the same universe. That’s his superpower.
Then came Rosalía and her masterful opus MOTOMAMI in 2022. Uzowuru produced on half the tracks, thus marking his return to being an album’s core producer for the first time since 2016. It felt like all he had built gave him the perfect toolbox to be the glue between the pop, r&b, and hip hop that Rosalía merged with operatic croons and reggaeton pulses. Songs like “Candy,” “Bizcochito,” and “La Combi Versace” wouldn’t have been nearly as successful without Uzowuru’s deft hand.
From there, it’s felt like Uzowuru has been donned an album producer, even while still producing offshoot singles for the likes of The Kid Laroi, Burna Boy, Lous and The Yakuza, Dominic Fike, and more. His last two to three years have been defined by his help with full bodies of work for Vince Staples (a triumphant return to his world after early mixtape vibes), Sofia Valdés, Childish Gambino, Halsey, and most recently SZA. Uzowuru is building a community of pop, hip hop, and alt r&b comrades that seem to have reached only a fraction of what they will eventually expand to. I wouldn’t be surprised if a banner year and a producer of the year Grammy nom are right on his horizon.
Inside The Credits 046: Michael Uzowuru- The Playlists