“Feelin’ Different” With The HipHop Artist Menon

Today on our Hot Seat we have a talented artist from UAE known by the name “Menon”. He has recently released his music video Feelin’ Different. We will have a conversation with him about his professional and personal life as well as about his recent release.

Twist Online : Please introduce yourself to the readers and how and when did you first get into music?
Menon : I go by the name of Menon, a Filipino/Sri Lankan mixed breed that was raised in the desert turned concrete jungle known as Dubai. I started writing mini verses when I was 17, it was never anything more than a hobby back then. During my last 2 years of high school I met a guy called Mitch, who is a close friend now. We would always go to the music room in between classes to show each other what we wrote the previous night, and I really credit him for my development as an artist. Before you know it, I’d be rocking up to school with no sleep at all because I’d be writing songs all night, and it just kept moving on from there.

Twist Online : Who or what inspired you as an artist growing up?
Menon : As far as inspiration, there’s a lot of artists that I could mention. During the early stages I drew a lot of inspiration from the likes of Eminem, 50 Cent, Game etc. Right now I’ve been listening to a lot of Tory Lanez, J Cole, and Belly, listening to their records always pushes me to work on my craft and better myself as an artist.

Twist Online : Is there any story behind your artist name ‘Menon’?
Menon : My stage name “Menon” is actually my last name. I decided to use it as my alias because i want to represent my family and put on for my roots.

Twist Online : Tell us about your recently released music video “Feelin Different”?
Menon : For the music video of “Feelin’ Different” the last thing we wanted to do was make an ordinary and typical rap video. The director, a good friend of mine who goes by the name of Eazy, worked like a man possessed to make this video what it is. We didn’t just want to make a music video, we wanted to make a short movie, which is what we ended up doing. As far as i know, there hasn’t been a video coming out from this region that followed a story plot, we wanted to capitalize on that and differentiate ourselves. Shout out to Eazy for creating the short film single handedly, as well as Quiz, Afshin, Azarel, and Dushane for their contribution.

Twist Online : What was reason behind going for HipHop as your music genre?
Menon : There really is no specific reason, it’s just something that kind of happened naturally. I’d listen to rap music and think to myself “I can make words rhyme too” and it just kept popping from there. One thing I have to say though is that hip hop, in my opinion, is the genre that requires the most effort when it comes to writing lyrics, I’ve always been intrigued by how different artists would develop their own styles and sounds.

Twist Online : You have performed in multiple venues. That is so exciting, you must be loving this?
Menon : Most definitely. I mean, getting on stage is the best feeling next to skeeting haha! Performing in front of an audience just gives me this natural high that I can confidently say I’m addicted too. The one performance that stands out though, is when our team at the time performed in a charity event for kids with autism. Club performance are dope and always turnt, but performing for those kids and making them smile was just a very special feeling.

Twist Online : What do you enjoy more performing live or working on music in studios?
Menon : I really can’t choose one over the other. I mean, come on, that’s almost like asking me who I love more between my mom and dad haha. Like I said, performing gives you a rush and it’s just an incredible feeling when you see a crowd full of people just turning up to the music that you worked so hard on. Working in the studio though is a little different, the excitement that comes with finishing and listening to a new record that you spent hours on is hella dope too. They’re just 2 different buzzes, and I’m always feenin’ for both of them

Twist Online : What will you rate as your best achievement as an artist so far?
Menon : That’s a tough one, seeing as I feel like I haven’t accomplished anything yet. Being granted the opportunity to perform in Dubai’s A-list clubs and having my music played in certain spots every now and then is something that I’m truly grateful for, but I would have to say my greatest accomplishment to date, in my opinion, would be when I performed in Abu Dhabi for MBC Actionha, which is a TV network over here. I’ve always wanted to be on TV haha.

Twist Online : Are you on working on any new project? When it will be released?
Menon : Yeah, I’m currently working on a new project and a couple visuals. We haven’t set a release date as of yet, I want to take my time with this one and make sure everything about it is A1 steak sauce.

Twist Online : Are you on Social Media? Your fans would love to follow you.
Menon : Yeah I do, hit that follow button on all my social media links, help the kid get his numbers up! haha
Facebook.com/itsmenon
Instagram: @menon_official
Soundcloud.com/menon-3
YouTube-MenonVevo