For fans and listeners who started listening to Seyi Vibez as early as 2021’s ‘NSNV,’ the strides the singer has made in his career might dwarf even their wildest expectations. From a rising upstart singing about predestination and the institutional ills he navigates in his day-to-day life, the singer has become one of Afropop’s most beloved stars. As his acclaim has grown, the singer’s appetite for risk and experimentation has similarly increased, marking a new and distinctive epoch in his career. 

Starting with 2025’s ‘FUJI MOTO,’ he has been ranging further in his sonic stylisation, fusing more pointed influences from R&B, Trap, and House into the core of his Street-inflected delivery pattern. On his newest album, ‘SWAGUU,’ he is unabashed about where he is headed. “I feel like my swag, my energy, and my ideas [changed],” he says in an interview with Apple Music’s Africa Now Radio. “ I feel like everything that I keep doing evolved. So, I feel like my name is Swaggu now, and Swaggu is just a local way of pronouncing swag in Nigeria. I’m really from Lagos. My dad is from Lagos. So, I feel like Swaggu. It’s just about my style and the new guy on the block.”

Boasting only one feature with Quavo, ‘SWAGUU’ sees Seyi Vibez luxuriate in the essence of his global ambition while coming to terms with emotions like love and longing on tracks like “DIAMONDS” and “MELANIN.” It’s an instructive glimpse into the competing parts of the singer’s id as he figures out a pathway to global stardom: “I’m a man now. I feel like my emotions are real, and I’m supposed to tell that in my story.”

This conversation has been edited for clarity.

How did you approach writing “BACK 2 U”?

I feel like, on this album, I’m becoming a man more because I used to be a boy. But right now, I’m evolving as an African. I’m a man now. I feel like my emotions are real, and I’m supposed to tell that in my story. So,  “BACK 2 U” is just a recap of all my memories. When I was much younger, I started listening to Justin Bieber’s  “Baby,” and I met a girl. I was in Lagos State University. That was the time I started making music. It was nothing about sex or anything, it’s just the emotions. It’s just the memories. It’s just the picture. It’s just happiness. That’s how I feel on the song.

Why did you name the album ‘SWAGUU’?

I feel my style evolved. I feel like my swag, my energy, and my ideas [changed].  I feel like everything that I keep doing evolved. So, I feel like my name is Swaggu now, and Swaggu is just a local way of pronouncing swag in Nigeria. I’m really from Lagos. My dad is from Lagos. So, I feel like Swaggu. It’s just about my style and the new guy on the block.

How much does Grand Theft Auto inspire your music?

The creativity with the siren in the “GTA” song, I feel like it’s real life. It’s in real life because in Lagos it’s like everywhere is noisy. Everywhere is noisy where I come from because every art I make is a reflection of where I come from, every song I make. You can hear the siren right now if you listen. The security might pass, the police might pass, and the siren is on. In the Grand Theft Auto game itself, when the guy commits a crime in the game, it’s like the police are looking for the enemy, and the enemy is running away from the police, and there’s a lot of sirens. So now, it’s like it’s syncing with the Lagos noise and I feel like that’s a double reflection. I used to play GTA a lot and that’s how I came up with the song.

What inspired “ALUBARIKA”?

That’s like a South African-Nigerian kind of beat. This time I was going spiritual. This time I was talking about the streets. This time I was talking about life in general. So I feel like life is a celebration. Life is what you can make it. Alubarika means good fortune, that track is so special to me. 

How do you feel about “OBLE”

I think “OBLE” is already a jam. Oble feels normal to every Nigerian now because Oble is on every Nigerian’s Oble December. I was the originator of Oble in 2023. Oble means nothing. I just came up with the word Oble and it sounds like a Yoruba word and everyone took it up like a Yoruba word and it feels normal now. I feel like that’s like a reflection of me and it feels like I’m this festival guy and I’m this carnival guy. So, the “OBLE” song is not still something I did myself. It was still something my fans and everyone had to speed up. So right now, I’m putting “OBLE” out because I feel like everyone should know Oble is not a Yoruba word.

What was it like working with Quavo?

That track is called “SWAGUU” because it’s swaggu itself. It shows how I keep evolving. I’ll keep evolving and more. It just shows my state of mind. I’m a star now, but let me show you I’m from the hood. I’m from Ikorodu. I’m trying to show these young artists they can do better than me. They can do what even no one has ever done yet. And, you know, for someone like me rolling on the space, it’s like, “Okay, I can do it too as a ghetto child.” So, I feel it just shows how connected I am in the world right now and my state of mind. That’s why the song is there and it’s like the beauty of the album. It completes the album and we had no choice than to just put that out there.