On the four original songs, he addresses the wrong turns of “Street Life,” violent tendencies in “War,” love for his late grandmother in “Broken Link” and equality in “Born To Be Free.” Hitting on topics with which many can identify or understand, the penetrating song “Street Life,” produced by CoLa, became an immediate hit on Toronto's urban radio station Flow 93.5 FM. The track made it to #1 within weeks, and held its place at the top for four consecutive weeks!
“‘Street Life’ is my own experience with some people I hang around with, the things I see happening here in Canada,” explains Obie. “In Jamaica, it’s a different way of life down there and to come up here and see that people are suffering from the same things that we are suffering from there, and they have all these opportunities, but they’re still on the street trying, it’s understandable because some people aren’t coming from the best homes. They don’t have role models to look up to. I touch on all of that in the song.”
Born Mohanza Kelly in Jamaica, he was nicknamed “Obie” by his grandfather who won a Derby bet with a racehorse named Obie Wan Kenobi and declared his young grandson a good luck charm. His upbringing wasn’t privileged, but he didn’t know any better. “I just took it how it came,” he says.
Obie grew up in the church and has strong Christian beliefs, wanting to make a difference. He started singing in the church, eventually leading his youth choir, but he was also drawn to dancehall, soul and reggae music. “The message in reggae songs is something that I can relate to my own life,” says Obie. “Back in Jamaica, we were barely making ends meet and that’s what reggae music is — you sing about the struggles that people go through.”
In 2001, at age 16, Obie’s mother, who was already living in Toronto, brought him and his sister to Canada. He had graduated from high school in Jamaica and planned to go to university here, but discovered that the system didn’t acknowledge Jamaican education as equal. Obie had to return to grade 10 and was understandably discouraged. “I started falling off,” he admits. “So I surrounded myself with music to get my life back on track.”
Obie soon found out about Central Tech high school, which had a remarkable music program, including two in-house recording studios on which to learn. He transferred mid semester from another school in Rexdale and immersed himself in recording engineering. “I’d hang around the studio and learn stuff in the environment,” he says. “Being in Canada, I saw the different possibilities for things that I could do with myself and I started reflecting.” Obie cut some tracks at Central Tech, including “Keep The Dream Alive” to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. After graduating from Central Tech he worked at The Remix Project, a government-funded studio which allows up-and-comers to sign up, come in for an interview process, and get approval to record there for free. There, he cut such tracks as “Street Life,” “War” and “One In A Million.” Now he is an audio engineer at Toronto studio The Loft, where he finished up his debut EP, taking “War” and “Street Life” and combining them with “Broken Link” and “Born To Be Free.”
“War” is a killer dancehall-flavoured reggae-based track featuring rapper Krymes. “I can only write about the environment I see. Every summer is like a season for violence,” Obie says of the lyrical inspiration. “As soon as the weather gets a little warm, people start getting crazy. So the way I approached the track is ‘Why is this happening, people walking on the street beefing on each other for no reason?’”
“Broken Link,” he wrote for his grandma who passed away in 1998 in Jamaica. “I still have trouble with it because I grew up with her,” he says. “She was my mentor, my mother, everything in one. She would really look out for me and when she passed I wasn’t even there. I was coming from school and it was tragic the way I found out and it stuck with me. It’s saying if I get the chance to meet her again, how much I would tell her I love her.”
For “Born To Be Free,” Obie sampled Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I Have A Dream" speech and used snippets throughout the song. “He’s saying everybody’s one, we should be able to fight together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that one day we’ll be free — that’s the parts of his speech I used,” says Obie.
And Obie too, even at 23, would like to make a difference. “As a person and as a musician, I’m a big advocate of humanitarian acts. I think my purpose is to help the less fortunate in any way I can and use music as a tool to really get to them, as a medium to communicate with them,” says Obie. “So I see myself in the future owning some enterprises, but at the same time I’m going to go back to my home country or to Africa or wherever help is needed and try and set up a studio. I’m trying to use music as a tool to promote positive change.”
Así Me Siento Hoy
Obie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Why todavía nada
Aún ni he pagado la renta why yo que sé
Encima de eso tu ni llamas
Hazte cuenta no estoy bien
Haz destrozado mi alma
Tus palabras muy falsas
Así me siento hoy
Como la rueda perdida de un coche
Como el fantasma que busca en la noche
Su otra mitad
Así me siento hoy
Como el quijote que sigue luchando
Pero mis ganas se están acabando
¿Y dónde tú estás?
Ni en el trabajo me va bien
Botaron al que mandaba
Why tantas cosas con las que yo contaba
Se esfumaron hoy no hay nada
Dime que tengo que hacer
Para seguir esta marcha
Que en mis hombros se siente tan pesada
Why no llega tu llamada
Así me siento hoy
Como la rueda perdida de un coche
Como el fantasma que busca en la noche
Su otra mitad
Así me siento hoy
Como el quijote que sigue luchando
Pero mis ganas se están acabando
¿Y dónde tú estás?
No hay mal que dure cien años, pasará
Como el dolor que causaste pasará
Pero aquí esta noche, ¿Que daría por ti?
Así me siento hoy
Así me siento hoy
Como la rueda perdida de un coche
Como el fantasma que busca en la noche
Su otra mitad
why así me siento hoy
Como el quijote que sigue luchando
Pero mis ganas se están acabando
¿Y dónde tú estás?
Why así me siento hoy
The lyrics of Obie's song Así Me Siento Hoy convey a message of emotional distress and confusion. The singer expresses feelings of frustration and disappointment with their current situation. They mention being unable to pay rent and feeling unsupported by loved ones. They also describe feeling lost and incomplete like a "rueda perdida de un coche" (a lost wheel of a car) or a "fantasma que busca en la noche su otra mitad" (a ghost searching for their other half). Despite this, they keep fighting and trying to move forward like Don Quixote, but their motivation is slowly fading.
The singer seems to be looking for answers or guidance, wondering what they can do to make things better. They long for someone to understand their pain and reach out to them. The phrase "Y dónde tú estás?" (And where are you?) is repeated throughout the song, suggesting that they are missing someone's support or love.
Overall, the song speaks to the universal experience of feeling lost, confused, and unsupported, and the struggle to keep fighting even when things seem hopeless.
Line by Line Meaning
Son las cinco menos diez
It's almost 5:10 but still, nothing has happened
todavía nada
Nothing has happened yet
Aún ni he pagado la renta why yo que sé
I haven't even paid the rent and I don't know what to do
Encima de eso tu ni llamas
On top of that, you don't even call
Hazte cuenta no estoy bien
You can assume that I'm not doing well
Haz destrozado mi alma
You've shattered my soul
Tus palabras muy falsas
Your words were very false
Me dejaste como un cuerpo sin el alma
You left me like a body without a soul
Así me siento hoy
This is how I feel today
Como la rueda perdida de un coche
Like a lost wheel of a car
Como el fantasma que busca en la noche
Like a ghost searching in the night
Su otra mitad
For its other half
Como el quijote que sigue luchando
Like Don Quixote who keeps fighting
Pero mis ganas se están acabando
But my drive is coming to an end
¿Y dónde tú estás?
And where are you?
Ni en el trabajo me va bien
I'm not doing well at work either
Botaron al que mandaba
They fired the boss
Why tantas cosas con las que yo contaba
And so many things I counted on disappeared
Se esfumaron hoy no hay nada
They vanished, and now there's nothing left
Dime que tengo que hacer
Tell me what I have to do
Para seguir esta marcha
To keep going on this path
Que en mis hombros se siente tan pesada
That feels so heavy on my shoulders
Why no llega tu llamada
And your call doesn't come
No hay mal que dure cien años, pasará
There's no evil that lasts 100 years, it'll pass
Como el dolor que causaste pasará
Like the pain you caused, it'll pass
Pero aquí esta noche, ¿Que daría por ti?
But here tonight, what would I give for you?
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: OBED BERMUDEZ, JORGE VILLAMIZAR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind