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August 15, 2022
Rimma Onoseta's Playlist for Her Novel "How You Grow Wings"
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others.
Rimma Onoseta's novel How You Grow Wings is a powerful debut that transcends its YA label with empathetic and thorough explorations of colorism, class, and intergenerational trauma.
Publishers Weekly wrote of the book:
"Onoseta’s devastatingly vulnerable debut, told nonlinearly in two teen Nigerian girls’ dual perspectives, portrays a tempestuous sisterhood amid colorism, familial trauma, and financial precarity…. Onoseta uses visceral prose to sensitively depict Zam and Cheta’s home life and the abuse they endured. The teens’ complicated familial relationships, further ravaged by wealth disparities and societal presumptions, presents an arresting look at two girls embarking on diverging futures in a character-driven story that promises—and delivers—hope for a brighter tomorrow.”"
In her own words, here is Rimma Onoseta's Book Notes music playlist for her debut novel How You Grow Wings:
It’s Plenty – Burna Boy
There’s a scene where Zam, one of the main protagonists moves to a new city. Everything leading to the move is traumatic but within the bleakness, the character and her friends are able to carve out moments of happiness for themselves. It’s the first time in a long time Zam truly feels carefree. She’s exploring a beautiful new city, going to new restaurants, experiencing the beauty of female friendships, making memories and living a life that she had only ever seen in movies. If these moments of discovery were in a movie, it would be a montage with the chantable chorus of It’s plenty playing in the background.
Who Born the Maga? – Wande Coal
Who born the Maga is a bold song that confronts its listeners. It asks, how dare you try to stop my blessings? This song is about defiance, about standing tall when forces around you are trying to pull you down. It’s about doing what’s best for you and choosing yourself wholly. Defiance is a trait that a few of the characters share.
Crazy Tings - Tems
The first line of the chorus is a succinct summary of what the main characters in the novel go through. Crazy Tings are happening. The two sisters are one very different paths in pursuit of the same thing. They’re unable to look past their differences to truly see each other. Leading them to making decisions with long lasting consequences. Crazy tings are definitely happening.
Yahooze – Olu Maintain
A high energy song, that everyone sang along and danced to back in the day, not caring that it was a song that glorified yahoo yahoo (fraud) and the high living of those who engaged in the illicit activities. This song was the soundtrack in my head when I wrote certain scenes where one of the main characters falls in with the wrong crowd leading to a series of bad decisions.
Foreign – Falz and Simi
Foreign is a satiric take on the illusion that anything “exotic” or “foreign” is intrinsically better or more worthy. In the song, the artists’ use humorous lyrics and bouncing beats to take listeners on a journey from Los Angeles, Cameroon, Mexico and the UK. In How You Grow Wings, the characters are constantly looking away from their current place towards greener pastures, believing that a new location will herald a new beginning. From Agbor to Abuja to Benin City to London, the settings in this book reflect the different stages of the characters journeys. Every city has something to offer and leaves a memorable mark.
Dami Duro – Davido
There’s a scene in the book I’m sure a lot of people have experienced. That moment when different possible paths are placed before you. You’re a little bit scared and a little bit excited. Curious to know what the future holds and terrified it won’t be what you dreamed of. In that moment, the character Cheta finds comfort in community. She’s surrounded by her friends and a part of her knows it could be that last time they’re together, but she refuses to dwell on that because there’s only space for happiness. Dami Duro is a song that can liven any room. There are certain songs that can be played anywhere, at any event, at any time and you are guaranteed to have Nigerians of any age dancing along. Dami Duro represents joy and fun. Two things that the character wants to grab and hold unto when they occur.
Rimma Onoseta is a Nigerian writer whose work explores identity, familial bonds, and the colonial corruption of African spirituality. She holds a degree in Finance from Northeastern University and an MBA from Suffolk University. Onoseta grew up reading late into the night, under her covers, with a flashlight and snacks. She writes stories she wanted to read when she was younger, stories about young Nigerians girls who are chaotic and fierce, and who question what they're taught. When she's not writing, Onoseta enjoys traveling and watching documentaries.
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