by Niko Skinner

Mo Dinka, June 2021 (Instagram)

Hey guys and gals! I came down with COVID in the past couple of weeks, but I am recovered and back at it again.

I recently got to interview a friend of mine who goes by the stage name of Mo Dinka. Mo is a gospel and soul singer who grew up where I currently live, which is Plano, Texas. He is just getting his career started in the music industry. Although he traces the beginning of his musical journey back to singing in the elementary school choir, he started taking it seriously in the 6th grade because his voice was getting all the girls. Mo has since gone on to write his own music as well as perform in different capacities throughout high school and college. Now 24 years old, he is beginning to take the next steps toward his career and release his original songs. Now that this is all coming full circle, Mo says that he has become more aware of the different ways that music can be marketed, and now looks at his career from an entrepreneurial point of view. The wide array of influences of his include Michael Jackson, Prince, Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, the Jonas Brothers, Jodeci, and Childish Gambino. He also environmentally attributes his musicality to his African Christian roots as well as spending his life in Texas.

This past summer, Mo won the InterContinental music award for his original song titled, “Never Will I Be Alone”. He considers this to be the most important song he has written so far because he wrote it during a difficult time in his life. The song is about hopelessness, faithlessness, crawling out of dark places, and turning negatives into positives. You can tell that he put a lot into this song if you listen to it. You can hear the passion in his voice along with the strong soul vibe accomplished by the long tones and runs in the piano line. Mo sings with a harmonious voice along with a consistent falsetto. Throughout the song, he is expressing to God the different emotions he feels when he goes through hardship and the mental toll that it takes on him. He is crying out to God for His grace and mercy yet acknowledges that He will always be with him even if he doesn’t aways see or feel it. I think the latter is a repetitive lesson that we have to keep remembering as we experience both triumph and tribulations in life. One line in this song that really hit home for me is in the bridge, where he sings, “My least favorite person is myself”. Unfortunately, it is all too common for us to beat ourselves up and be our own worst critic. I struggle with this, and I personally know a lot of people who struggle with it as well. Even public figures and other people we look up to aren’t exactly the kindest to themselves. I feel like it’s important to normalize this issue because it is a lot easier said than done to build confidence in ourselves and tell ourselves that we are worthy and adequate.

Speaking of adequate, that brings me to another song he released, titled, “Feeling of Inadequacy”. Mo refers to this song as a more upbeat version of “Never Will I Be Alone” because it touches on the same subjects yet the message signifies faith and redemption. The song also has a more lively and positive sound. This is evident when you hear the major key and vocal harmonizations throughout. “Feeling of Inadequacy” has uplifting lyrics of hope, affirmation, and assurance. They express that God will watch over us whenever we struggle and feel like crap, and that God will always beat the giants that we face in the end. It’s like Mo is rallying listeners to not lose hope because our situations are temporary, not permanent. This message is also achieved visually through the music video for this song. The music video depicts a basketball game pitting the Angels against the Demons. At the beginning of the video, it is halftime, where the Angels are down by 15 points. The Angels are gathered in their locker room, and Mo is praying for a comeback come time for the second half. Eventually, they get back out on the court, and the coach starts talking strategy with the team and rallying them up. The Angels then start catching up to the Demons and narrowing the gap on the scoreboard. Toward the end of the game, the coach calls a timeout and reminds Mo that the game is almost over. Mo then goes up to the free throw line and makes the final basket to get the win for the Angels. I really like the story that is told in this music video because it is symbolic of resurgence from various hardships. It’s like Mo sings in the song, “The grass is green on the other side.”

* Fun fact: Mo confided in me that this was a real basketball game, and that he ate Chick Fil-A right before filming this video. That makes for a fun time, right?

Mo describes his music as “soul-healing” because he ultimately aims to glorify God and be that voice for people with mental health issues. Not only that, but he wants to take it a step further and contribute to the emotional healing of people who are struggling mentally. Furthermore, he hopes to grow more as an artist and possibly collaborate with other artists such as Toby Nwigwe, IceJJFish, and Gary Rojas. Mo also has an album, titled Ground Zero: the Prayer of an Underdog, set to release in February and an upcoming motion picture short film. He is approaching all of this with humility because he has said himself that he doesn’t want to be a stepping stone nor does he view anybody else as such.

References

Dinka, Mo. Interview. Conducted by Niko Skinner, 21 October 2022.

Introvert, Proffesional [@mo_dinka_music_]. “Too blessed to be stressed. 💯 🙏🏿 📷 cred: @k_wadnsiah” Instagram. 22 June 2021.