For many budding singers and songwriters, nabbing a much-coveted spot on The Voice is a dream come true. For Blessing Offor, it was a launching pad for the next part of his career.
The much discussed, Stevie Wonder channeling singer-songwriter was one of the most hyped contestants early in the show's seventh season. After a stunning, cool rendition of "Just the Two of Us" in his blind audition (which had all four coaches turning their chairs), Offor -- who also happens to be blind himself - was a fan favorite, until his shocking elimination in the knockout rounds.
Instead of being detoured by his short tenure on The Voice, Offor is moving on. Tomorrow (Dec. 2), he will release a new Christmas classic "Like a Child" alongside a fan-aided music video. And next year, he'll use his newfound stardom and momentum to drop his latest album, Roots.
Recently, Music Times chatted with Offor about his time on The Voice, Christmastime and his process as a songwriter.
Music Times: Let's start off by talking about The Voice, obviously. It's been huge for you, so can you tell a little bit about the audition process for the show and why you decided to go on it?
Blessing Offor: For me, I've been writing songs for probably the last 10 years now, and I think as we all try to process what media is really, I thought, I love the idea out of all these shows -- you know reality TV and everything -- I think The Voice is the most legitimate. Just in the way it's set up, they look for "The Voice" when the judges listen and turn around. I thought that was pretty.
To give some insight, I auditioned before and decided not to go with it actually. This was the second time around, and I finally went with it. The first time it was just more because I thought, "I want to do more writing and really figure out what I want to do." I never felt desperate to be on TV because I am very confident in me as a songwriter and that's what I want to do as a career. I thought, when I go on The Voice, it's a way to get in front of a lot of people, not necessarily a way to win The Voice or justify myself as an artist. So, I wanted to be there when I was ready and when I had great product to bring to people.
MT: You're a songwriter -- was it hard for you to sing other people's material on the show?
BO: You know, it's not so much hard for me to sing other people's material. I just want to be those guys, you know what I mean? I admire songwriters. I love great songs; I love singing. I want to sing great songs that I wrote.
There's a point where you do a cover song but I want to do a cover song and do it my way, and you know I think there's a difference being a performer and an artist. I think maybe a performer does XYZ, but an artist will have a little bit of both, I think. If you're going to be an artist, you not only have to perform, you have need to have something valid to say and something that resonates into people. I'm speaking bluntly -- but I think a performer can get away with just entertaining, you know? Whereas Bob Dylan can sit on stage with a guitar and he doesn't have to have naked chicks. [Laughs]
MT: On the show, did that play a lot in your song choices? Did you have a say in what songs you performed?
BO: Yeah, I mean we all had a say. Everybody had a say, but we all just couldn't do the song we wanted to do because a lot of people wanted to do the same ones. So there was what song you wanted to do, what song other people wanted to do. Those songs were available for like different things. So there are a lot that goes into song selection.
MT: Right.
BO: But for me personally, deciding on the Stevie [Wonder] tune was not my personal first choice or any choice, any of that. In the battles you get the songs and so you know that was that... I don't know what that was [Laughs], to be honest. But there it is.
MT: There are some huge names on The Voice - you worked with Pharell, Adam Levine, Alicia Keys and even Taylor Swift. How much interaction did you actually get with the coaches? Were they involved?
BO: [Laughs] You know, it was very -- it was a great experience. I think whether it's a ton of time or a little bit of time, you can take a lot from all those moments and learn what you can and show what you have in you, initially. I think at some point you just kind of realize that whether you sit with them for five minutes or if you sit with them for 10 hours - whatever it is they're saying to you is from experience.
You also have to know yourself a little bit. To be Adam Levine is not my goal; I want to be Blessing Offor. Taylor Swift is not my goal. It goes back to the whole singing and doing covers versus the original thing. My life experience, my worldview all these things -- I want to offer that to people, to say that to someone as opposed to saying what Taylor Swift would say, which is a very different thing.
So, I think if you're going with a really great since of self, you don't have to necessarily spend eight hours with a coach. You can take what they say apply it to what you already know and good things might happen.
MT: To have even five minutes with somebody like the coaches can help an artist. I suppose that's the whole point of The Voice.
BO: But then, when people that don't know who they are hear Taylor Swift say one thing and Adam Levine say another thing... So I think there's a good and bad, a sense of self kind of helps you out.
MT: DId you get any particularly advice? Something that you're going to carry with you forward?
BO: Well, everything the coaches said was great advice personally. But I think the one thing that really stayed in my mind was when Alicia Keys was commanding the band. We were working together, and she was like, "Pause. I need 'Boom boom boom, and do it like this.' She was polite, courteous yet definitely in control. It hit you in a different way. You're the lead singer -- if you don't tell the band what to do, then the band doesn't know what you want. They don't know how to support. That was a great lesson for me.
Also, when we were trying to do the duet, Pharrell says, "You know the melody. There's no such thing as tempo." [Laughs] Initially, you go, "What are you talking about?" But, the tempo is just the balance of time. So when you hear melody like, "Do I Do," you know there's a temptation to be robotic. But understand the tempo -- tempo is not as rigid or as lucid you think. Tempo is just where a song needs to be. And you can loose it or tighten it as humanly possible, nobody dictates. So, I thought that was really cool.
MT: You are releasing your Christmas single "Like A Child" on Dec. 2. What inspired you to write the lyrics to that song specifically? Is there a particular mindset you were in?
BO: I wanted to write a Christmas classic. I wanted to write a Christmas song that's relevant forever. I wanted to write a Christmas song that's universally relatable, and I think that's everybody's goal. So, that was a first whack at it. And I thought, man, I remember being a kid; we all remember being a kid, and we still are a kid. It's a universal experience to feel Christmas in that way. You know to remember what Christmas was and to appreciate where you are now. You're the kid who feels really small next to a Christmas tree.
I'm a nostalgic kind of guy. Back in Nigeria, which is back home, all Christmas was back home was a giant meal with your entire family. It wasn't, hey you got a present. No one was expecting it anyway. It was just everybody was off work and off school and there was more food than you could ever imagine, and you hang out with people you haven't seen in forever, and that was great. That was Christmas.
Generally, it's feeling experiential and feeling driven not by money and presents. I think maybe just always wanting that back. You want something that makes you feel small again.
MT: Do you have a specific favorite childhood Christmas moment?
BO: I remember a Christmas that I had with my family we went to North Carolina, and it was weird because it was 70 degrees, and yet it was still Christmas. The tree was up and I just remember appreciating and I was like 8 or 9 years old. Appreciating the tension mattered more than the release. Like Christmas Eve, when everybody was still getting ready for it. I've always thought that Christmas Eve was the coolest part because there's something about that anticipation that does it for me. Christmas is amazing, opening presents -- but I've always loved the ripping opening of the box because it's like that moment there could be anything in there. More than when you find out what it actually is, which is probably something cool anyway.
MT: You were having fans send in photos for the music video, which also drops Dec. 2. How did you get them involved in the music video and develop that concept?
BO: This whole Voice thing has been really amazing. People have been so supportive and I'm just very grateful. I thought, "How can I do something to incorporate all these new wonderful friends?" Because I hate the word fans.
I thought, "Well, I'll have them send me their holiday moments, and I'll put some of me in there." I don't want it to be just a video about me. I came up with this really cool idea, starting off with me on the piano, start off the song singing, and it kind of melts away with pictures of a whole bunch of different moments: a bunch of people families, a whole bunch of faces and ages. It's a way to get people to be like, "This is really cool; we're in his video." It's for them to share with a lot of people and to say thank you all at once.
We also thought that we can release the song and encourage people to make their own video - if you don't like the one we did, then you do one. So you can do your own little montage of Christmas. I think we're going to be happy.
MT: "Like A Child" is ahead of your new album Roots, which is coming out Feb. 10. You have been putting it together for a while; what can people expect from the album? Will it be a continuation of you know the things you did on The Voice? Will there be some new stuff?
BO: My dream as a songwriter and as an artist is for people to hear something from me, and I want it to be identifiable.
All my influences are the singer-songwriter type -- Lionel Richie and John Mayer. I love those guys; I think they bring a lot of originality to their stuff. I think that's what this record is going to be. All the songs were written by myself and occasional co-writing here and there, but it's me as a songwriter.
Blessing Offor's Christmas single "Like A Child" will be released tomorrow, Dec. 2 and his new album Roots will follow on Feb. 10, 2015. To learn more about Offor, visit his official website and Twitter.
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