Meet Joanne Osewe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joanne Osewe.

Hi Joanne, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always been a singer, but I never saw it as something I could pursue as a career. It always seemed so out of reach. It wasn’t until I got to college that I realized music was the only thing I really wanted to do. That’s when I started converting my dreams into reality.

With some help, I decided on the name PynkMo$cato and ran with it. It has been funny gauging people’s reactions when I tell them my name because they always assume I’m an exotic dancer or a porn star, I don’t have the skills or fearlessness to be a sex worker but I do enjoy having a name that catches people’s attention. Standing out from the crowd has come naturally to me my whole life, it was rarely voluntary.

Being a dark skin black woman in predominantly white spaces meant that I had to stifle parts of my identity that I am just now rediscovering. I want to be a voice for other black women, primarily of darker shades, because that was a representation I rarely saw growing up.

We were always the butt of the jokes, undesired, and disrespected. Not to say my presence will change the course of history, but people will put some respect for dark skin women.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
No, if it was a smooth road I’m sure I’d be at the Grammys by now, the struggles I’ve faced and continue to face are primarily in my head.

Sharing my art puts me in a state of vulnerability I’m not typically accustomed to. It’s uncomfortable knowing that people can get that close to my thoughts when I don’t let people that close to me in general.

Being in my head causes me to overthink all of the work I put out, over criticize, and often talk myself out of releasing altogether. Lucky for me I’ve been working through that block and discovering myself more as I do.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I sing, create flyers, logos, etc, make clothes on occasion, and most recently I rap as well. I’m known for freestyling, that’s probably what I’m most proud of.

I worked really hard over quarantine to better myself as an artist, I would go to the woods and just sing. It started off as covers then I was like lemme make my own songs, then I just started freestyling. What sets me apart is not only am I a singing freestyler, I do it on stage, which is mildly terrifying because I’m coming up with the song through the course of the instrumental.

It’s a freeing experience for me though because it feels like the most authentic version of my art, it has to be because I’m coming up with it at that moment.

What makes you happy?
Music, nature, family, fashion, dance. The common denominator between these topics is that I feel the freest when I’m a part of these things. The feeling of constraint is where the majority of my unhappiness stems from.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: linktr.ee/PynkMoScato
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pynkmoscato/
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/r62HUCHt7D4APfZQ7

Image Credits
@sayakanotdoyouhaveanickname, @altimages, @trentryd, @halaamephotography, and @faith.flicks