MOHOMBI MAKES HIS CANADIAN DEBUT AT MUCHMUSIC | AUTOGRAPH GIVEAWAY

Mohombi at MuchMusic - February 2011

“Mo who?”. That’s the initial reaction I get when I recite the name Mohombi. The Dancehall-Pop Singer who was born in Senegal  but exported to Sweden at the age of 14, is ready to launch his Music career stateside after finding success in his native Sweden. He formerly belonged to a Hip-Hop group named Avalon before going solo.

Mohombi currently is on tour with Latin Heartthrob Enrique Iglesias and made a stop-off in Toronto this afternoon, after garnering raves at their Bell Centre show in Montreal last night. The Singer-Songwriter who stands a towering 6'4, is now promoting debut Single Bumpy Ride, which has gone on to reach Gold sales in Canada, peaking on the Canadian Billboard Hot 100 at number 32.  Not bad considering he's done little promotion.  Today in fact, was his first time in Toronto.

The Single is produced by none other than the Man responsible for Lady Gaga’s biggest hits, RedOne, who shares in Mohombi’s part-Swedish identity. Upcoming debut Disc Movemeant (no, that is not a typo) is slated tentatively for an April 2011 release with the distinction of being the first release from RedOne’s 2101 Records, which together with Cherrytree and Interscope Records, will see its release through Universal Music.

I was invited by the wonderful Team at Universal Music Canada to sit-in on Mohombi's first-ever MuchMusic New.Music.Live. appearance. The outgoing 24 year-old's day didn't start off ideally, I was told.  With a v. tightly-scheduled afternoon which included Radio, Rehearsals and two back-to-back performances, Mohombi and his Manager J Wells weren't left with much time to worry about the fact that his lost Luggage which was routed in error to Chicago instead of Toronto.  And early tomorrow, they are headed on a trans-Atlantic journey to London.  No time to shop even for some replacement clothing.

If he was stressed, Mohombi certainly didn't let it show, brimming with confidence as he greeted us Backstage after having made it back right on-time for the show.  The Singer/Songwriter revealed today that he has written "hundreds of songs", then leading the young audience at New.Music.Live and Host Phoebe Dykstra into an impromptu Dance Lesson, teaching some saucy moves lifted right from his Music Video for Bumpy Ride.  When questioned on his overt bumping and grinding, he replied without apology, "That's what I do".  He then took to the stage, delivering a pitch-perfect rendition of the Single, fully choreographed.

Watch the performance below:

Adoring Girls in the Audience were quick to rush over  to Mohombi as he exited the stage, asking for Photos with him.  And you can bet they'll be just as quick to whisper details of their new-found Crush to their respective Circles. Oh, the fascinating lives of Teenage Girls!

Mohombi genuinely was cool and grounded, taking the time to greet every Fan possible and he was wonderful enough to pose even for a few Photos.  Generously, he personalized a couple 5x7s (below) for you Mavenati, and to qualify for the win all you have to do is tell me the title of his debut Album due this Spring, in the Comments section. Two winners will be picked at random on April 10, 2011 and all are welcome to enter!  Hurry!

See more of Mohombi below:

Follow Mohombi on Twitter here.  Expect big things.

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will-W.)