After years of wins, big records and the kind of career milestones most artists spend their lives chasing, KiDi is asking himself a different question: what happens next? The Ghanaian star is looking inward with his third album, ‘Where Do We Go From Here,’ a 15- track album about everything that comes after the wins. “Making this album was the pivotal point that taught me that the journey really is the destination because that is where all the fun happens,” he told Apple Music’s Africa Now Radio. “That’s where all the losses, the wins, the ups, and the downs [are]. There will be no destination where we’ll reach and say, “”Yes, enough is enough.” So, we need to find joy in the journey more than pinning our happiness on a destination.”

Across the project, the singer trades the pressure of having it all figured out for a simpler pursuit: finding joy in the process. He sings about heartbreak, ambition, growing older and the dreams we attach to arbitrary timelines, while making room for gratitude, fatherhood and the uncertainty of what comes next. “My biggest dream in life is just to have so much joy,” he says. “Joy means even when things are going wrong, I still show up knowing that it’ll be fine. Joy is within. Joy is a lifestyle. Joy is a way of life, and I feel like if I’m able to get to that place where I find joy, it branches out to every aspect of my life and leaves everything in a flow state.”

This interview has been edited for clarity.

How important is your passion for music?

I wouldn’t rather be doing anything else. If I die and come back, this is exactly what I want to do over and over again. I mean, in everything you do passion is very important. Talent is important, but passion is important because, trust me, there will be mornings where you just don’t feel like getting out of bed. You don’t feel like doing anything. You don’t feel like facing the world. It’s the only thing that keeps you up, getting up every morning, the passion and the love for it, and I’m grateful that I have it in abundance. There are those days where it’s kicking you on the floor, stomping on you, and you’re like, “Nope, this is what I want. I have to keep going.”

How do you reflect on the highs and lows of life?

There’s been a lot of big moments, and there is no journey in life without the big moments and the little moments, and the ups and the downs. The downs make you appreciate the ups more because there will be downs. From the beginning of my career, it’s been one win after another, after another. There’s been some losses, but then when the wins come again, you appreciate them even more. Also, being a father is just a blessing and very rewarding. It’s an inspiration. Sometimes, outside of the passion, that extra battery is being put in my back to keep going because another human is looking up to me. So, that alone in itself is a big inspiration. Of course, the blessings to have children come with the joy of being around and teaching me things. You might think they are just children, but they teach us a lot as well. So, learning along the job, along the way as well because I keep saying that there is no manual on how to be a parent. You will learn on the job. You get thrown into the deep end and you have to figure it out. I’m so grateful to my family and everybody around me for always being supportive and helping me to navigate this. 

What’s the inspiration behind the title,  ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’

That’s the question I’m throwing to everybody. Where truly do we go from here? Because at every point in anybody’s life, no matter what you do, no matter what field you’re in, no matter what stage of life you’re in, at one point or another, you have definitely asked yourself, “What next?” After you graduate from high school, you’re like, “What happens next?” You graduate from uni, college, what happens next? After your first job, there’s always the need as humans to ask ourselves where we go from here. What do we do after everything we’ve achieved? This is what I’m asking right now, and this is a journey that I had to be on in making this album, because I used to be that person that I’m always like, “Okay, so if I achieve this thing, then I’ll be happy.” Then, I’ll get it and then I’m like, “Is that it?” Then I want more, it never stops. You know, we always want more.  It’s insatiable. We always want to get more. Making this album was the pivotal point that taught me that the journey really is the destination because that is where all the fun happens. That’s where all the losses, the wins, the ups, and the downs [are.] There will be no destination where we’ll reach and say, “”Yes, enough is enough.” So, we need to find joy in the journey more than pinning our happiness on a destination. One of the symbolism that we use for this is the paper plane. When you throw it, it just goes with the wind, flows with the wind, and it goes exactly where it’s meant to be. So, that uncertainty is why we have to open up our minds and hearts and just be and just allow ourselves to be a vessel. 

How did you end up with the songs that made the album?

Trust me, I’m not going to wish that process on my worst enemy because it’s tough. It’s a tough process. As creatives, we are very attached to our work. We are insanely bonded with our work, and having to let go of some songs that you feel sends a message or says something is a very damning task. But again, in the spirit of where we go from here and letting go, there are so many meetings we had where it was a back and forth. I was like, “You know what? I’m letting go and trusting that whatever 15 songs we narrow it down to will be powerful,” because every song we recorded is powerful. I’m so happy [with] my whole team helping me narrow this down to 15 amazing songs.  

Why did you open the album with “Crazy World?”

“Crazy World” was such a perfect opening to the journey I wanted to take the listeners on because the song basically says, “You know, we go out every day into the world to go and hustle, work, play, do everything, come back we go, we come, we go, we come every day and people go and they don’t come.” It’s just a part of our lives that can easily be overlooked because we go every day and we come, and we think it’s supposed to be natural.

It’s just a song saying this world is really a crazy world, and I don’t take anything for granted. I’m grateful for the protection to go and come and be able to even live my dream.

What was it like collaborating with Sarkodie on “IDK?”

I’ve basically listened to Sarkodie since I was in high school. To grow up, be in the industry,  learn a lot from him, and get the chance for him to be on my record is just surreal. I remember somebody passing a comment about how people don’t make yearning music anymore. So, I was happy when this song came up. We were like, “Yes, real yearning is back.”  Every now and then people just wanna talk about sex. It’s good to talk about all the other things you wanna talk about but it’s nice to have the yearning, crying in the rain, begging for your girl and being vulnerable. 

What about “Signature” with Lasmid?

So the real meaning of the song is that we’re singing about hickeys. Hickeys is me saying, “I’m going to put my signature on you,” and when you’re walking around everybody’s going to know that somebody’s in your life. But I didn’t want to sing it too on the nose like, “Hey, girl, I’m gonna give you a hickey.” So I was like,  “I’ll give you my signature.”

What inspired “Lord Knows?”

“Lord Knows” is a song about coming of age. When we’re young, we all had dreams and plans of what we wanted to achieve. We all said, “Oh, by 25, I’ll be married with kids, and I’ll be a millionaire, and I’ll own this and that and that and that.” This song is me saying, “We’re trying.”  The Gen Zs and millennials are all growing and some of them have not even started achieving their dreams. Some of them are in the process of achieving their dreams. So, this song is basically me saying, “Lord knows I’m trying, and I’m not putting any time on my dreams. No matter what life has for me, we’ll still come to pass.” Don’t let the biological clock, time, and all those things chain you. Everything that you wanna do, just do it at your own time and own pace.  

How about “Babylon?”

“Babylon” is one of them heartbreak songs that isn’t actually a heartbreak song. Usually, when a girl leaves you, she expects you to crumble, and she expects your whole life to come to a standstill and nothing to happen for you. This song is basically saying, “Everything happened, but guess what, it’s over. And then I’m living life la vida loca, and I’m fine, and I’m good. I’m not about to keep running it back like how they used to do it.” So, this is just a liberating song about, “You left, it’s fine. I’m still thriving, and I’m still happy, and I’m still living life.”

Why did you choose to close the album with “Dreams?”

This is actually the first record I made for this album. When I started the process of making this album, “Dreams” was the first ever song I wrote. That was when I was still in my head trying to figure out which direction I wanted to go with this album. It was reflecting me, basically saying, “I feel like I’m not doing enough. I feel like there’s so much more to me.” I just poured out my heart out there, making that song opened up the whole album. Every song on the album, even the ones we didn’t pick, have to give gratitude to “Dreams,” because it definitely set the ball rolling for this album. 

What are your dreams now?

I’m on a journey to just find joy. Not happiness, but joy. I’ve just realized that happiness is like any other emotion like anger and excitement. They come, they go. If I’m on a constant quest to search for happiness, I will never be happy. My biggest dream in life is just to have so much joy. Joy means even when things are going wrong, I still show up knowing that it’ll be fine. Joy is within. Joy is a lifestyle. Joy is a way of life, and I feel like if I’m able to get to that place where I find joy, it branches out to every aspect of my life and leaves everything in a flow state.