jidenna the chief album cover original picture

'That's when they realized that there was real concern.

'They wanted me to pose for a picture, and my parents were like, 'He's not the poorest of the poor,'' he laughed. 'An innovator.' His family moved to Nigeria a few weeks after he was born despite hailing from the state that calls Cheeseheads home, he suffers from a severe lactose intolerance-an affliction that his parents were unaware of until UNICEF came to Nigeria and encountered a young Jidenna with 'a distended stomach and a big ol' head.' Jidenna Theodore Mobisson was born in 1985 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin his first name translates in Nigerian to 'Embrace the father.' 'My father told me that he wanted me to be like him,' he says with a little laugh. 'I love anything that feels like an iron fist in a velvet glove. This ride is a moment for Jidenna to take a breather from the week's activities: tons of meetings and press opportunities in advance of his debut album, The Chief, mixed with smoke sessions and knocking back glasses of Sazerac, a cocktail he was first introduced to by video director Alan Ferguson (husband of Solange Knowles) while recording the ubiquitous 2015 single 'Classic Man.' 'I like drinks that are both hard and tender,' he says with a laugh.

I would never buy a pre-rolled joint-rolling the tree up is part of the fucking process, period.' I love style, but I love the fact that I went through the process of making a bespoke suit, too. 'I have more in common with an Amish man, or a Hasidic Jewish man, than I do with fashionistas. 'I made these clothes-I didn't make these shoes, but I'm working on it,' he says with a grin, explaining that his interest in clothes dates back to his obsession with Michael Jackson's personal style circa Off the Wall.

Jidenna the chief album cover original picture