When ru. made her debut with 2024’s “i think i love you,” the singer’s unique juxtaposition of weighty emotions and buoyant delivery marked her out as a voice to pay attention to. A Magixx-featuring remake of the song in March 2025 confirmed the promise that early listeners heard. All of that has set the stage for the arrival of her new extended play, ‘SILK,’ that’s a practice in understanding life and her capabilities. 

“What defines this era is just what is strength to me,” she told Apple Music’s Africa Now Radio. “What does strength look like? That’s what ‘SILK’ is about.” Across five songs, the singer explores the cost of ambition, romance, and fear with characteristic wit and tenderness while providing more detailing on her artistry and inspirations. 

This conversation has been edited for clarity. 

What impact does Abuja have on your music?

In comparison to Lagos, I would say Abuja is much more chill. It’s just a much more calm energy, like a slower pace. Not in a way that makes you lazy, but just allows you to be intentional and really take things in. I think the approach I have to Afrobeats is just on a much slower pace, not in terms of melody or rhythm, just more intentional with the music. I want you to feel everything. I’m trying to actually create an atmosphere, an environment, one that allows you to feel, to breathe, and just be. I would say that’s the portrait of Abuja in comparison to Lagos. 

How do your values and faith influence your music 

I am just who I am. I believe that everything that comes out, comes from that core. So, I’m not necessarily always double-checking or trying to be sure that the essence of my faith is coming through, because I believe it is one with who I am. I believe that anything I’m making is coming from the original source, which is God. I just explore or take things in that way, basically. I would say that there are times when I’m worried when I’m trying to feature an artist and I’m like, “Oh, can I speak to them?” For me, having explicit words or expressions, I really don’t want that because one of the reasons I set out to make music anyway is just for that purity. I want people to enjoy excellent music and not have to worry about the source or the essence of where it comes from. 

I want to be that sound. I want to be that person that people run to when they’re just looking for something clean. When I say clean, I don’t mean it’s mediocre or slow. I mean excellent music, still great, but you just can trust what you’re listening to. I have definitely worried sometimes if, with great artists that work with me, maybe, sonically they sound amazing, but maybe they speak a bit more freely than I do in terms of expression. I’ll be like, “Mm, can you maybe rein it in a little bit?” It’s always hard because you really don’t want to stifle expression, but it’s like this is a priority to me that the sound remains so pure. I’ve not been in music too long; It’s been two years, literally. I haven’t even had a lot of features or situations like that. I’ve not really had an issue in that way. The one person who I had a feature with, I didn’t even have to speak to him, he just delivered. Sometimes, you just thank God that the stars align. 

How did your collaboration with Magixx on “i think i love you 2” come about?

For the idea to have Magixx on, he’s an artist I respect and I love. His vocal tone is just so rich. Someone literally just said to me, “I think you should do a feature with Magixx.” I’m like, “How do you get someone like Magixx to jump on a song like this, and how do I convince him to give me a verse I want?” A verse that I feel like is perfect for the song. At first, it was like a shot in the dark, but then someone knew someone that knew his A&R, and they pitched the song to him. In a few days, he sends me a message and he’s like, “Ruth, I think you’re a star. I love this song so much,” and he sends me a verse. I’m like, “No, you guys must be kidding.” And the verse is clean. It’s perfect. The melody is on par. The chemistry is undeniable. I was just so glad because it felt like it was just supposed to be that way. I didn’t plan a chapter two, but it was perfect. I couldn’t even call it a remix. At the time, my very good friend was like, “I think you guys have done justice to this. We can’t even call it a remix. Let’s say part two.” So, she gave me that idea, and I’m like, “Okay, let’s just say this is a sequel to the original,” as opposed to, a regular remix or something. We got to release it that way, and honestly, I’m just grateful. I think everything that happened as it was supposed to, and I wouldn’t change a thing. 

What inspired “Woman?”

I just tried to search deep within myself and of course, God, because if you’re a creator and you made a woman, and I know I’m not an afterthought, what did you have in mind?  What were you thinking about? So, “Woman” is just that journey of discovering who I was because it was largely a quest for myself.  I’m like, “If I can’t describe what I am, how am I supposed to reshape identity, grow, and become when I don’t know what the starting point is. Purpose will now define who I’m supposed to be, and “Woman” was just my documentation of the response I felt like I was getting, and I feel like it’s still just the tip of the iceberg. I worry that my generation will feel like it’s too soft, it’s such a vanilla song, and women right now, they’re trying to be dangerous. But I had to just do justice to the purity of the message I felt I was getting, and that’s what that song really is about.  

Why did you choose ‘SILK’ as the title of your project?

I chose that name because I feel like it’s such a paradox. It’s soft when you touch it. It looks glistening and shiny, but spider silk rivals the strength of steel. So, that I’m soft or that I’m presenting as a fragile babe or embracing my softness does not mean I’m lacking strength. It was the perfect metaphor. For all of the songs on this project, I didn’t make them as a project. We handpicked sonically aligning music, because I needed different phases of the strength I was talking about to come through. It’s literally just a collage of different frames of me being a woman. It’s my diary, but it’s also like my message, like a daring message to women out there to just accept who they are. You actually don’t have to do all the things. You don’t have to do all the add-ons. Who you are is enough, and you’re actually really strong, and you have a lot of power as you are. I think even in just exploring the music, I’ve figured out so many things about myself.  So, there are songs where I’m singing in third person because I’m looking at the woman I’m aspiring to be. There are songs where I’m talking to myself. There are songs where I’m singing from who I am now. It’s a compendium of many things.