These days, artists are finding success quick and fast through virality on social media. Gone are the days where industry gatekeepers determine who’s worth listening to, now the audience is taking some of that power with platforms such as TikTok and more, becoming instrumental in catapulting artists into greater success.
One perfect example is Nigerian-born, UK-based rapper, DEELA who’s been bubbling on our radar for quite some time. Since her appearance in Fresh Meat (now known as uNder) back in August 2021, the rising star has been fine-tuning her catchy bars which are armed with a youthful outlook on life and an unfiltered sense of confidence. The budding rapper has continued to carve a space for herself in the current zeitgeist of powerful female emcees unabashedly putting themselves on and inverting the male gaze to their benefit.
Two years later, so much has changed in DEELA’s world and we’re all the better for it. She’s been building up an impressive catalogue of feel-good flexes where she chops it up to the men and naysayers that deserve a mouthful. Her sophomore EP ‘DONE DEEL,’ is perhaps the most comprehensive introduction to DEELA’s talents, one that feels like each track is a burst of her personality. DEELA once shared that ‘DONE DEEL’ took significant inspiration from Flo Milli’s ‘Ho, Why Is You Here?’ “I guess that also speaks for itself. Flo Milli and I should be on a song soon,” she told the NATIVE at the time.
On “Take It Up,” DEELA opens the track with brazenly honest bars as she adopts the tone of someone fed up with all the BS from a former love interest. “Take it up with another hoe who cares you fucked up because I’m heavy on grind/If I weren’t so turnt up right now might spaz but you even ain’t worth my time,” she commands on the track’s intro. Switching from her laidback and collected delivery in the verses to a higher pitch in the hook and pre-chorus, it feels almost like DEELA is symbolising the freedom she feels through her melodies.
In today’s world of modern-day dating and relationships, it’s very difficult to find partners that are willing to speak the same love language, leading to an endless string of heartbreaks and situationships. It’s common to see women compromising on what they want and settling for less but DEELA is reinforcing that there’s power in shutting things off quickly and focusing inwards on stacking your paper and learning your craft.
DEELA adopts a laser precision flow as she digs into this frustrating experience and finds relief through her pen. In a similar tune as female emcees before her, DEELA reaffirms her self worth. She reminds herself that she’s still that girl despite the treatment she once endured with catchy bars like “Price ain’t cheap, so stack up your coin like you need a new home.”
It’s not hard to see why American rapper, Flo Milli took an instant liking to the no-holds barred track. Flo Milli found DEELA’s track through her For You page on TikTok where she instantly reached out to the Nigerian rapper and commended her sharp, clear raps. As fate would have it, the pair soon linked up on the remix to the track which further expands the song’s reach to a wider audience.
Flo Milli’s catalogue is littered with tracks that mirror the energy dishes on DEELA’s “Take It Up.” Think tracks such as 2019’s “In The Party” and 2020’s “Like That B*tch” where she fires off menacing bars around her competitors and her naysayers. It’s this same charisma that Flo Milli brings to DEELA’s world, matching the rapper’s don’t-care attitude and trading bars about sticking men to the curb. She smoothly complements DEELA’s deeper vocals with a light and airy verse “He fishing for love I ain’t taking the bait/I thought a broke boy said I won’t be shit, look at the tables I still got rich.”
Flo Milli’s success has been one of the most captivating to witness over the past few years. For any fans of the young American rapper who broke out just before the pandemic year, her dizzying flows and a sex-positive fearlessness has deservedly resulted in a legion of fans. At this crucial moment in her career, it’s endearing to watch her take an interest in the Nigerian rapper and boost her song to greater heights.
It’s only forward for DEELA at this stage, given that it is one of the most exciting times to be an emerging artist. Although she has kept his releases precious but powerful, she is gracefully confirming herself as an artist in a constant state of evolution, hungry for more bars and ready to top her best effort. We’re definitely ready for whatever she serves up next.
After over a decade helming some of the most romantic cuts in Afropop, Tiwa Savage’s dalliance with R&B is...
There are only a few artists in Afropop with the range, longevity, and lustre that Tiwa Savage has. Since she...
There are only a few artists in Afropop with the range, longevity, and lustre that Tiwa Savage has. Since she emerged on the Nigerian music scene in 2011, Ms. Savage has set an inimitable standard in terms of platforming the point of view of women at the pinnacle of Afropop, working to show that women are multi-dimensional and layered, capable of going through the motions of joy, angst, distress, and optimism just as much as the next person. By unapologetically leaning into the very minutiae of what makes her tick as a woman, she’s become a fan favourite and an undisputed legend of the genre.
Impressively, she’s done this while making great strides sonically. From the throbbing afropop of ‘Once Upon A Time’ to the swaggering house-inflected triumph of ‘R.E.D,’ and the dense polyrhythmic structure of ‘Celia,’ Tiwa Savage has continued to tincture her R&B-adjacent sound with influences from home and abroad. It is an accurate reflection of Tiwa Savage as a person: grounded by her Lagos heritage but shaped by global influences. For the last six months, she has been talking up her forthcoming fourth album, describing it as a full-throttle return to the R&B sound that was her stock in trade before she returned to Nigeria in 2011 to establish herself as an Afropop powerhouse.
In April, she released the emotive “You4Me,” clearly establishing the direction for her new album, ‘This One Is Personal.’ Produced by Mystro Sugar, “You4Me” put a fresh spin on Tamia’s ’90s classic “So Into You” with percussion work by Magicsticks adding a decidedly Afropop sheen to the song. Upping the ante, Tiwa Savage returned with “On The Low,” a delightful sung-rap bop featuring British-Nigerian rapper, Skepta. Like “You4Me” before it, “On The Low” is steeped in R&B tradition, finding Tiwa Savage pining after a love that feels like a taboo or forbidden pleasure. Produced by Rymez and Mystro, it is a surefire pointer that Tiwa Savage wasn’t joking when she said ‘This One Is Personal’ had overt R&B influences.
After over a decade helming some of the most romantic cuts in Afropop, Tiwa Savage’s dalliance with R&B is helping to propel her artistry to new heights. Just as the soundtrack for ‘Water & Garri,’ her debut as a filmmaker, pared down universal emotions like longing, desire, and anxiety into digestible bits on standouts like “I Need You,” “Lost Time,” “Love O,” her latest song chronicles the intangibles of a romance that’s quite not out in the open. “I know you want to link on the low / We have to stay discreet, you don’t know,” she sweetly intones on the song’s hook, clearly obfuscating the true status of the relationship but revealing just enough to let her listeners know that the dynamic of this relationship is not the usual.
It’s a premise that is established from the opening lines of the song when Skepta breezily starts with an offer to travel, presumably after being unavailable for a while. “Yeah, I’m off tour, we should celebrate / Dedicate some time for you, baby, it’s a date,” he says. It sets off a sequence where Tiwa Savage admits to being annoyed by the complexities of this relationship.
Still, there’s something about the thrills of these tenuous romances that keeps one tethered to them, and Tiwa Savage manages to capture the dilemma of the situation when she sings, “Boy, you make me stressed, you don’t know / Then you send me sweet texts on the low.” Her measured delivery and tonal inflections lend an air of believability to the story that would be inaccessible in lesser hands.
It helps that even as she revisits her R&B origins, the singer still maintains a strong connection to the sonic references that made her an Afropop juggernaut. There is seriously impressive percussion across “On The Low” with enough Yoruba ad-libs sprinkled across to remind any doubters that this is a Nigerian star paying homage to an elemental part of her evolution without losing touch with her roots. It sets the stage for This One Is Personal’ perfectly.
TMZY and Yiizi’s nimble mastery of melodies, penchant for colourful storytelling, and palpable chemistry...
There has never been a more rewarding time to be a music lover. The democratic access that social media...
There has never been a more rewarding time to be a music lover. The democratic access that social media allows means that listeners are exposed to a wide variety of acts whose music mines the minutiae of their lives and the circumstances of their experiences as inspiration for their work. In many ways, that sense of believability is crucial in distinguishing acts that stand out in our crowded digital world, and rising singers, TMZY and Yiizi, possess that believability in spades. Their music, reflecting the pulse and vibrancy of their Ebute Metta upbringing, ruminates on the dynamics of modern dating. They are at once frustrated, enamored, and oddly amused by the financial necessities of dating as a young person in Lagos.
Last year, after teasing listeners with freestyles filmed all over their hood, they made a big splash with their debut, “Money Over Love,” a zestful, youth-fuelled dedication to the utility of cash as the primary catalyst for romantic love. Another single, “Omalicha,” expands on the precepts set out on “Money Over Love,” praising a love interest for her alluring qualities. It all set the stage for their debut project, ‘Money Over Love,’ which takes its name from their debut single.
On ‘Money Over Love,’ the brother duo presents a fuller vision of their sound, while tincturing their melodies with vocabulary sharpened by interests that intersect between the streets and online lingo. No track reflects TMZY and Yiizi’s nimble mastery of melodies, penchant for colourful storytelling, and palpable chemistry like the project’s opening track, “Ayawa.”
Like most of what has come from the brothers before now, they are head over heels for a lover and are keen to show the depth of their feelings. “Ayawa,” the Yoruba word for “our wife,” is used as a metaphor for living happily ever after with their loved one. Impressively, they manage to weave their sticky-sweet verses in Yoruba, English, and pidgin without losing any of the rhythm that listeners of the brothers have become accustomed to. Listening to the song, there are giveaways that the brothers are dialed into the cutting edge of music. “Ayawa” is cut from the sample drill style that American rapper and producer, Cash Cobain, has popularised, with the brothers choosing a humorous sample as a backbone for this track.
In just a little over two minutes on ‘Ayawa,” the brothers manage to pack in a week’s worth of thrills, promising a trip to Las Vegas, decking her out in designer outfits, and a visit to her parents’ to formalise their affairs. Almost impressively, they have a more nuanced grasp on healthy romance, candidly asking, “Would you stand by me?” It is a welcome micro-evolution from where we met the brothers on “Money Over Love,” and a reminder that they are master wielders of narrative with the world buying into their enjoyable music.
“Over” is arguably the strongest addition to Indi’s growing discography yet. It’s sexy, cool and...
Since the turn of the year, the underground music scene has been experiencing a surge of vibrancy, marked by...
Since the turn of the year, the underground music scene has been experiencing a surge of vibrancy, marked by the emergence of a talented new generation of young musicians. Loose terms like New Age and Cyber Youth have been used to describe this new wave of artists, but what’s certain is their ingenuity and profound artistry. Some of the best music coming out of this new movement has come from Indi, a singer, songwriter, and producer who sounds like she’s aching and flirting at the same time. Her songs, most of which barely cross the 2-minute mark, blend Y2K aesthetics with the boldness of contemporary Hyperpop. Think Clara La San meets Charli XCX.
Indi only started putting out music officially in mid-2024, but she’s fleshed out a clear sonic identity in such a short time that one might think she’s been at this for much longer. A Pop singer with light R&B contours, she employs a refreshing approach, somewhere between accessible and experimental, that stands in contrast to the overwhelming monotony of mainstream Pop music in Nigeria.
Tracks like “Atbu,”“Caution,” and “Promise” are built similarly: melancholic, upbeat, and made irresistible by her DIY charm. The singer’s latest single, “Over,” follows this same pattern, fusing cutting-edge club music to melodies and rhythms rooted in R&B and Pop. Her enticing melodies, a key feature of her sound, seamlessly swirl around a glitchy beat courtesy of frequent collaborator Awful Daniel and Three Cyk-Beta.
Most of Indi’s lyrics are often delicate depictions of relatable emotions like desire and teenage angst. They can, however, be pretty repetitive and opaque. “All these lights but I still want you more,” she sings with a spike of anxiety on “Over,” slyly referencing a love interest. This lyrical anonymity is offset by the song’s silky Electronic pop production and Indi’s ethereal vocal passages, which give much of her music deep emotional resonance, much more than her lyrics do.
“Over” is arguably the strongest addition to Indi’s growing discography yet. It’s sexy, cool and forward-thinking. It’s also quickly become her most streamed song yet, a testament to it’s irresistible charm. In a clime that mines nostalgia for the sake of it, Indi borrows from the past to create something refreshingly familiar and futuristic at the same time. This unique ability has placed her at the forefront of this new wave of eccentric artistes who are looking to make their mark on our ever-evolving music scene.