Q&A: Jazzy & Lyrical We’re Following Meduulla From “Limbo” to Stardom
AT THE INTERSECTION OF JAZZ AND RAP, CHEEKY AND CONSCIOUS, FAMILIAR AND FRESH — you can find Meduulla. No stranger to strange in-betweens, the Zimbabwean-born, UK-based artist's latest single, “Limbo,” brings joy to the conflicting liminal space of the diaspora. With a sound reminiscent of seminal ’90s jazz hip-hop and contemporary stars such as Little Simz, Meduulla feels familiar — you’ll find yourself nodding along to the boom bap beat of the song with ease.
Yet Meduulla remains crisp, crafting punchlines that — bolstered by her years as a poet — are incisive, boisterous, and hilarious all at once. Through an extended metaphor about being in a relationship with both Zimbabwe and the UK, Meduulla expertly examines the experience of living in and between two worlds.
With a level head and mellow voice, Meduulla has recently attracted thousands of new fans with a viral TikTok promoting “Limbo.” But don’t be fooled by this recent attention — she’s a seasoned creative. She’s a published poet, has starred on the BBC’s Rap Game, and has opened for the legendary Souls Of Mischief. Slowly but surely, she’s been carving her path in the industry.
While as queer Black woman and an independent artist in hip-hop this might sometimes feel like an uphill battle, Meduulla has the talent, support, and mentality to take not just a seat but the whole table.
Though her most popular singles such as “Mish Muulla” and “Life Is Like a Box of Chocolates” remain in the land of kick-snare bliss, her EP shows her knack for variety. Named Oblongata after medulla-oblongata, the project acts as an extension of the artist as well as her artistic abilities. It allows fans the opportunity to learn more about her and, she hopes, provides an avenue for self-reflection by the listener.
From the soothing piano of “Road to Damascus” to the love-stricken strings of “Night Trip,” Meduulla will have you hook, line, and sinker.
Read below to learn more about Meduulla’s recently released single, “Limbo,” and her upcoming EP, Oblongata.
LUNA: You’ve said you don’t remember Zimbabwe, being that you were only three when you migrated. But you also said that at your house it felt like you were still there. And stepping out it felt like Manchester. You were in these two worlds at once. If you had to say one stereotypical Zimbabwean thing and one stereotypical Mancunian thing that reminds you of your childhood, what would each of those things be?
MEDUULLA: Oh my gosh. So with my Zimbabwean side, I feel like I just think of the food… Literally just getting home from school and being really excited to have sadza and this green veg we have called muriwo, and then like a stew, and maybe a meat dish. I just remember I’d be so excited to have it. That really reminds me of home.
Then, Manucian… Let me think. That’s a good question. Do you know what? This isn’t stereotypically Mancunian, but I’ve always felt like I'm drawn to the Black British experience… I feel like the fusion of different cultures… Like, I've got Jamaican friends, Nigerian friends. I’ve got all these cultures fused into one, and that seeps into the music culture in the UK. I feel like I wouldn't really have gotten that if I was in Zimbabwe. So that’s something that’s super Mancunian and Black British. I end up using Nigerian slang, Jamaican Patois, just because it’s what everyone uses. That really reminds me of childhood.
LUNA: Growing up in Miami, I relate to that in the sense that I would be picking up Cuban slang and Colombian slang and start mixing things together... In past interviews, you said your dad is an academic and that he encouraged a lot of word play growing up, even a tradition of picking a “word of the week.” If you had to pick a word of the summer, what would it be?
MEDUULLA: Word of the summer… This is so peak because obviously we’ve not had much of a summer but I’d say “melancholic.” One, I just love saying that word because it’s so beautiful — it's written really lovely. I’d just describe it as that ’cause it’s been kinda sad because it's raining. But not sad where I'm crying — [it’s] just been a sad where I’m okay with it.
LUNA: A bit comfortable, but still sad. You’re a poet. You were recently published in Hear Our Stories, an anthology about migration. Of course, I see the connection between songwriting and poetry, but I’m curious what inspired you to make music?
MEDUULA: It was just a case of just trying. I’ve always written poetry, and I felt like poetry kind of wasn’t as accessible as music. I might have a really good message in my poem but if you’re not someone that tends to listen to poetry, you might not be inclined to listen to me.
I realized music is so universal — it transcends language, culture, anything. I don’t come from a musical background, but I was like, “If I can marry the way words make me feel and the way music makes me feel, it would just be such a beautiful thing.” So I decided to just try it.
I remember doing my first freestyle in 2015. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with grime. When UK hip-hop started, grime was what everybody did. It was the genre: 140 BPM, techno mixed with hip-hop. So growing up that's what most UK rappers started off doing. I remember in 2015, [I thought,] “Let me try and do a freestyle over a popular grime beat.” I remember thinking, “Wow, I love how that made me feel and how everyone reacted to it.”
LUNA: You finished the freestyle and you were like, “Wait, I'm good… I kinda just ate that.”
MEDUULLA: Exactly! I’m like, “That’s me?” Like, 140 [BPM] is so fast — I don't even rap at 140 [BPM] anymore. That’s just what everyone used to do, and I was just like, “Wow.” You genuinely feel like, “That’s so sick.”
LUNA: How did you go from trying this genre everyone is doing to finding your own artistic identity?
MEDUULLA: Yeah, that was super hard. You don’t even realize you’re not being yourself. I was just doing grime because that’s what everybody [did]. Then I was like, “Actually, this doesn’t feel like me.” In everyday life, I speak pretty slowly, pretty mellow. As much as I appreciate that music, I don’t think it’s me. Then I went through another stage where I thought, “Drill is massive — let me try to rap on a drill beat.” But, I don’t know, I’m not really on badness. Do you know what I mean? I don’t have anything to say that drill artists say. So this also doesn’t feel right.
Then I thought, “Okay, female rappers like Nicki Minaj really inspire me.” But… I’m not super into sexualizing myself. I love hearing when women take control of their own identity — it just wasn’t really me. I sat down and thought, “What do I really like?” I like Chance the Rapper and people like that who are pretty poetic in their rap, so let me just do that. That’s when I received the most support, because it felt organic, and it was. I wouldn't have gotten to that point if I hadn't tried everything out, so I’m really grateful I tried all those things because they led me to lean into my creative practice.
LUNA: Yeah, it’s practice, and also about finding that authenticity that people respond to. In a similar vein, how do you think your creative process is different when you’re writing poetry versus when you’re writing music?
MEDUULLA: I was literally talking about this the other day — it's so different. Obviously rap is poetry, but they are different disciplines. There’s things you have to apply, or not apply, to each [of them]. Something I struggled with at first was [that] I was so focused on the words…I could hear a beat but I [was] thinking, “How could I just do some sick wordplay?” That doesn’t always translate to a song. The flows need to be there. You can have a really sick song and it's sick purely because of its flow and it's got nothing to do with its lyrical content. So that’s something I had to learn. Like, okay cool, when it's music it has to be music first and then lyricism after.
I also feel like when I write poetry I'm going inside myself and digging deep into my inner self and trying to put that on a page. Whereas in rap I feel like I'm tapping into my exterior. I'm gonna be a bit braggadocious, like, “How does this look to other people? How do I want to be perceived?” Do you know what I mean? It’s like an alter ego. They're coming from completely different places but they compliment each other, I think.
LUNA: I mean, I guess poetry doesn’t lend itself as well to that alter ego. It’s a balance, but rap kind of envelopes both a bit more, lends itself more to that duality. If we’re talking about your creative process, I’m curious about the process behind your recently released single, “Limbo.” Can you walk me through that?
MEDUULLA: Honestly, my favorite bit about being an artist is writing, but it's also cumbersome when I have to write raps. That song was born because I already have a poem about feeling torn between two countries. In that poem I kind of personify the countries. I say I’m in a relationship with Zimbabwe and I'm in a relationship with the UK, and what are you guys telling me? That’s where that came from. I was like, how can I turn this poem into a song?
For ages, the hook, I changed it like three times. This song is not capturing what I'm trying to do. At first it wasn't even about limbo — it was too complicated, too much like a poem, and then it finally hit me. Like, yeah, it feels like I’m in limbo. If you saw the poem then you saw the rap you would see the inspiration but they just turned into completely different pieces…It's like the song allows me to be comfortable being in this limbo. The poem is maybe more introverted and more [of me not knowing] where I stand. Then the producers on the track, The Mouse Outfit, sent me their beat, and when I heard [it] I was like, “This is such a groove” — even without me on it. I was just bopping; it was sick. That’s not the first time we collaborated, either. It’s always fun to make bangers with them.
LUNA: I love the song! You were on the BBC Rap Game series three. When you’re in a competitive situation, surrounded by people in your same field, I’m assuming you learn a lot as an artist. What was your biggest lesson being on the show?
MEDUULLA: Oh my god, that’s so hard because I learned so much. I learned very early on how important discipline is in this field. I think that's something I didn’t know I lacked before going on the show. I say that to say, when I was there, five [out of the six of us], when we were not doing the competition, we were smoking, drinking — like, literally chilling. There was one guy there, the guy [who] won — he was super disciplined. I learned so much from him. He came for a mission: to win. And he did exactly that.
I felt like a lot of us didn't have our heads in the game fully… Once the game was over, we were out of it. It taught me a lot about being disciplined, not conforming to worldly things. I mean, yeah, it's cool to let loose and have your vice of choice or whatever but when you’re around competitors and people in the music industry you have to remember they're not just your friends. You are at work. Or, you're in a competition — they are your colleagues.
I also feel like I learned about myself that I shouldn’t be thrown off my own path — ’cause there were so many people around me that were doing, like I said, drill or grime or [other genres] that are very popular, and I feel like what I do isn't in the mainstream hip-hop in the UK… I shied away from it. As soon as I let myself go there, that's when I saw the best result. So [it’s about] just purely being yourself, ’cause there’s no other way to succeed.
LUNA: Yeah, that lesson feels so easy on the facefront, like “be yourself,” but it's also difficult when you want to have mass appeal [as an artist] but knowing you have to be true to yourself and trust that’s what people will respond to. Can you expand on your stage name, Meduulla, and the name of your EP, Oblongata?
MEDUULLA: I had a few aliases before I got to Meduulla. I feel like Meduulla suits for so many reasons. In my house we would speak a mixture of Shona and English — Shona is a language from Zimbabwe. So there were times when I was younger when I didn't know if a word was Shona or English but I would know what it meant. So my mom, if I was doing something stupid, would be like, “Use your medulla oblongata.” I was like, “Alright, okay, this is a cool word.” It stuck in my head.
Fast forward to going through loads of different names. I was like, “Medulla is sick [and] I like intellectual things” — medulla is in your brain. It's also a really big reference in hip-hop so I was like, “This is cool.” Then I found out there’s a [Brazilian] band called Medulla and I was like, “No way!” And they’re popping — which by the way, they followed me the other day.
LUNA: That's so crazy! Full circle.
MEDUULLA: Yeah, exactly… We need to link up at this point ’cause we have the same name. Definitely look them up… They are smashing it, so I was like, I need to be able to differentiate myself. So I put two “U” in the name. I was like, “This is kinda cool as well,” ’cause the nickname my friends call me is LuLu and my actual birth name is Maruvaashe. So,m it feels like it's a mixture of those because if you rearrange [them] it feels like it's a mixture between Marua and LuLu, so I was like, “Yeah, this just suits!” And it makes sense because I’m trying to use music to touch people’s brains.
LUNA: So then what are your thoughts on dividing that with Meduulla and then Oblongata with the EP? Does that feel like maybe your EP is an extension of yourself, like, “Here’s more of me”?
MEDUULLA: Yeah, because this is my first EP! [My thing] is people only really know you if they know your last name. Like, if you don’t know my last name, or about my family, you don't know me. So I want people to get to know me as an artist, and my artist last name would be Oblongata… It’s a dope word, anyway — it's got weird letters in it so I thought, “Yeah, sick.” I'm hoping this EP will be a window into me as an artist and for people to get to know me a little bit more [as well as] the different sides of me.
LUNA: Yeah, it’s sick! Your last single before this was “Levelled Up,” it's been two years since then and you were on The Rap Game, you performed at Reeding and Leeds, and — I'm sorry to say this because its so corny, but I have to — you’ve kind of leveled up. How do you feel you’ve grown as an artist since?
MEDUULLA: No, it’s true! I feel like that single was me manifesting, in a way. Every day I feel like I get more unapologetic. Which, [being in a male dominated field], I feel is so necessary because [even though I know I am as good], sometimes I do feel like I’m not... So I feel like I've grown in that I don't second guess myself.
Manchester has a bubbling music scene and there’s so many talented artists [who] are super diverse in hip-hop alone. So let's say I’m in a lineup with people I respect and people I've known in the Manchester music industry. [I used to] doubt my set. I’d be like, “Should I do this song? Or, “Should I do this one because they'll like it more?” I don't do that anymore. I’m like, “This is the song I want to do for you guys today, it's gonna run anyway.” So that's just really helped me, and it's helped my supporters because you have to back yourself the most. There's no way you can be dependent on other people to back you before you back yourself. So that's definitely one way I've leveled up.
LUNA: You’ve said before that you have a great support system but at the same time you are an indie artist who works as your own manager, promoter, everything. I think learning to have that confidence in yourself is both forced and yet essential — it’s great to see a burden and blessing has allowed you to grow especially as a queer woman in rap.
MEDUULLA: Yeah exactly, not having those things and being my own entity in this game has shown me probably the hardest bits. I'm sure there will be harder things to come, but I think if I’ve done this it can only get easier.
LUNA: That’s true. You’ve performed a lot: Reeding and Leeds, Manchester International Festival, The Blues Festival, Green Island Festival. What’s one of your most memorable moments from a performance, and why?
MEDUULLA: Oh my god, hands down opening up for Souls of Mischief when they came to Manchester. First of all, it was just a super big blessing to be part of their first world tour in ages. I was just honored, and in my hometown — that was sick. Also, the room was filled with absolute hip-hop heads and I was like, “This is my tribe. These are my people.” I started singing [“Mish Muulla” and “Life is Like a Box of Chocolates”] and people started singing it back to me … I was like, “What?! This is amazing!” It was genuinely such a lovely feeling — seeing people vibe to something I wrote in my bedroom a couple years ago was insane to me. That is by far one of my best shows because it was highlight after highlight.
LUNA: That must’ve been unreal. Speaking of “Life is Like a Box of Chocolates,” you did a stripped down for iluvlive. I feel like that song is super upbeat, but at the same time it’s talking about something serious: the lack of affordability of public goods. What was it like to perform it live? Did it bring a new dimension to the song for you?
MEDUULLA: Well, to be honest, I feel like I did that version ages ago and it only came out recently. That’s the first time I did that song with a live band as well, so I would've, looking back, done some things differently. I’m just happy it brought a different dimension because when I wrote that song I did think, “I’m writing about a serious topic.” There is a cost of living crisis in the UK. A lot of people can’t afford the train loop or the tram, and a lot of homeless people use the tram as just a way to go from point A to B but they're getting penalized on a four pound ticket — like, come on! It’s just too much. I feel like when I wrote that I was trying to make light of the situation because it is just our reality at the minute and the only thing we can do is kind of joke our way out of it or bop our way out of it. And just [for people] to feel like [they’re] not the only one that's struggling — we are all struggling.
LUNA: You recently released your EP, Oblongata, congrats! It's amazing. I’m curious, as an indie artist, what made you decide to release it on your website as opposed to on streaming?
MEDUULLA: I just decided to put it on the website as a window into what I’m doing. If people are really into me they can have it there like available to listen to. It should be coming out on my SoundCloud super soon. I want to allow people to have access to me. I remember when I was coming up listening to SZA on SoundCloud… I loved that era of music where people were putting out music because they wanted to share it and it had nothing to do with streams. I’m not really focused on all of that just yet — I’m doing everything just for it to get heard by more people. So yeah, and also I'm just in between distributors right now. So I'm not gonna rush it. I just decided: Let me put it here for now and see how it goes.
LUNA: I like that. I like the openness to sharing without the focus on streaming... “Limbo” has brought you a lot of engagement. It went viral on TikTok. It has such a strong beat, witty lyrics that I think manage to talk about diasporic issues in this prolonged love affair metaphor that's critical and emotional, and yet it has a lightness to it. Why was “Limbo” chosen as the single to promote the album?
MEDUULLA: This is my first project, so I’m learning as I go. [With] “Limbo,” I put it out like, “Okay, this isn't the hit but I really am passionate about it, so let me just put it out.” Luckily, people really resonated with it. I think I really take a lot of inspiration from Outkast [and] people [who] have a “funness” but may not be talking about something super fun. So I feel like “Limbo” achieves that: It’s a groove but still allows you to think about what I'm saying. I feel like it's a good summary of me as an artist, so I feel like it makes sense for it to be the first track because that's me as a person. I’m quite unserious. I like serious films and dark crime dramas and stuff, but when it comes to music I like music that makes me feel really good. I want to make that but allow people to also think critically, and I think “Limbo” just did that.
LUNA: I mean, it’s funny you say Outkast — you’re right on the nose with that, like, “Y’all don’t wanna hear me, you just wanna dance.” So it's like they’re fun but they're also telling you something, and “Limbo” is right there with it. I guess you see a lot of validation in people responding positively [on social media], but at the same time, as you’ve said before, it’s hard to make music and create in general when a lot of it is centered on engagement. How do you stay grounded when social media engagement takes off? How do you stay motivated when it seems low?
MEDUULLA: I think like I am quite a level person — I dont get super excited about things and I don’t get super super sad about things. So when something blows up on TikTok, [I acknowledge] that it’s cool [but also that] it could be gone tomorrow. When things are low, it puts pressure on me to get back to where I've been. I’m someone who thrives under pressure, and [I take it as motivation], because it can be disheartening. Sometimes you can spend hours making a TikTok and it won't do what it's supposed to do. It is what it is. You need to know you put in the effort, and those that are meant to see it will see it and we just go again tomorrow. Do you know what I mean? It's not getting too caught up in moments but looking at the journey as a whole.
Also, my family just keeps me grounded. I'll be like, “Oh my gosh, I am going viral on TikTok” and they’re like, “Well, you still have to wash the dishes.”
LUNA: Yeah, they’re humbling you. They’re like, “Did you take out the trash?” You’re like, “Uh, well I was making the TikTok so… no.”
MEDUULLA: No, exactly.
LUNA: Going back to Oblongata, the first track, “Road to Damascus,” is so beautiful. I love the composition with the piano. I’m curious about the choice to make the first track about a road to Syria. What significance does Damascus have? How does the idea of a road to this city set up the album as a journey?
MEDUULLA: I’ve come from a super religious background. I grew up Christian and my dad is a pastor of a church, so I know the Bible quite well. I wouldn’t say I’m super Christian anymore but I’m definitely spiritual and I love to take gems from any kind of spiritual text. So in the Bible there's this chapter called “Road to Damascus,” and it's about someone on the road to enlightenment … I thought it was so dope. For me that's how this project felt — I’ve had so many moments where I'm like, “Oh my god, I did not know that about myself” or, “Wow, I didn't know I had it in me to write this.” So I feel like it just made sense. It's a long road, [and] I feel like I'm still on it. So come on this road with me while I still figure things out.
LUNA: The song matches what you’re saying — it's a long road, maybe arduous, but the piano has that calm, welcoming feeling to it. As we talked about, you have that mix of lightness and playful lyrics with some cutting themes. What's one line that you’ve written that maybe you were giggling when you wrote it? What’s one line that hits deeper, whether politically or emotionally?
MEDUULLA: There’s a line in this song called “Refill.” I wrote, “I’m trying to get ahead / I ain’t talking about fellatio.” I love that line! I thought it was super slick, and [it] makes me laugh all the time.
One that’s more serious and hard-hitting, I've got this freestyle called “SIYADUMA” and it's about colonialism and things we deem to be normal now but we don’t know why. I have a lyric, “Do you know that I'm a southern queen / from the land where we eat with our hands cause we know they’re clean.” I remember when I was a kid eating with my hands [and] people thought it was savage or whatever — and it was like, no … we actually wash our hands. If you look into European history, knives and forks were made because they didn’t wash their hands. So the next line is like, “You made knives and forks because you’ve got blood on your hands.” I'm talking about the fact that they’re dirty because you've got so many cultures that have been ruined at the hands of like eurocentrism. So I feel like those lines hit the most because they say so much in a few words.
LUNA: They definitely do...If fans were to take something away from this EP, what would you want it to be?
MEDUULLA: I want them to get to know me but because I feel like the songs are quite different. I want them to know which parts of me they resonate most with and why. When I listen to music I learn a lot about myself and I want someone [who], for example, relates to “Road to Damascus,” to realize something that's going on in their life. Or someone listening to “Limbo” [to think], “Okay, all of us in the diaspora, we’re all out here vibing.” Do you know what I mean? I hope it just helps them discover something about themselves, one way or another.
LUNA: This is my last question: I feel like you’re just getting started. If we’re manifesting here, if we’re looking to the future, what would be a dream collab for you?
MEDUULA: Wow, so many! Well, NoName is someone I admire so, so much. I would love a collaboration with NoName. I would love a collaboration with Chance. They’re both from Chicago so maybe I need to widen the net. I’d love a collaboration with Doja Cat. I think she’s super talented and she is also not afraid to be misunderstood, which I really appreciate. I know she’s got her own controversies around her, but her music speaks for itself. Erykah Badu. I’m actually gonna see her on Saturday.
LUNA: Oh my god, I saw her at Jazz Fest in New Orleans and she was amazing — I’m sure you’re gonna have so much fun.
MEDUULLA: Yeah, I’m excited.
LUNA: Well, thanks for chatting with me!
MEDUULA: Yeah! Thanks for having me.
