Return of the Mark, I mean the Motion

the story of "love you better"

“Return of the Mark” was one of those songs that blasted day in and day out on the radio in Lagos. I was just a kid and I kept wondering where Mark Morrison was returning from, because none of us knew that he left in the first place. But now it makes sense because alas, just like Mark, Motion has returned and if I were boxer making his way to the ring, that would be my entrance song. Today I want to do something different which is share the behind the scenes and creative process of what I have been working on and what it took, to bring it to life.

Love You Better (LYB) is a song that happened organically in the studio. We were working on a different song and just when I thought our day was coming to an end, the melody and chorus lyrics to LYB came like a revelation. I instantly knew it was special because the chorus was stuck in my head.

However, when I returned from Kenya, I got back into the studio and realized that it needed more percussive drums to push the rhythm. When you listen, you will notice how the drums dovetails with the synth + chorus and makes you groove as if you were on a Caribbean Island, in linen while sipping something tropically alcoholic.

My approach to finishing a song is the belief that I will know when it’s ready and until that moment comes, I am always tweaking, adding and orchestrating. I am very particular and I am blessed to have people around me who accept and understand this about me, because even I know it can be annoying sometimes. Kudos to Edson and Oggie because LYB has like a million versions but we didn’t stop until we got to the final copy on a cold February day at the studio in Brooklyn.

If making the song was a marathon then I would have to call shooting the music video a sprint because we did it ALL in one day in Miami. While shooting a music video is challenging, try doing it in a city where you don’t reside which further limits your resources especially as an independent artist.

We started the hair and make-up for the entire cast at 4am and still weren’t done 5 hours after even though it was 9am. We had to do the fitting and make-up for each person individually which takes longer. There was even a time I had to run out of the house at 6am to go pick up a toothbrush and special paste so the women could lay their edges for their hairstyle.

Listen, it was all hands, fingers, and toes on deck, whatever was needed. By the time we got to the Coconut Grove (the beach area to shoot in Miami), the sun was glaring in a way that wasn’t conducive to the camera lighting. Upon this matter, sweat started to ruin our make-up and our photographer was running behind which affected our ability to do both the video and photo shoot simultaneously. I won’t even get into the wardrobe malfunctions, because that one is another story but credit to our lead Sibongile Mlambo for rocking with us through the craziness.

To celebrate and share LYB, I had an invite-only premiere party in New York City where I screened the video for a packed room of friends, fans and well-wishers. The event had signature drinks, hand-crafted decor and exclusive merchandize all fitting the Love You Better theme. Shoutout to the team (Umazi, Saba and Baski) for what it took to bring all of this together!

Everyone loved the video and the comment section of the video on Youtube has mirrored the same rave reviews. We recently hit 10k views two weeks ago and as I write this, it has passed 20k and I hope before the end of May we can hit the 30k views milestone. If you haven’t watched the video yet, please watch and leave a comment to help us reach our goal! Also, please share it with three friends and add to your playlist.

- MOTION 🖤.

PS: If you are in NYC, I am doing an opening set at the legendary SOBs this Thurs for my guy Teemanay’s show. Pull up :) - Tickets here, use code: Teemanay for 20% off.