Tekno built his career on being one of Afropop’s foremost interpreters of love, writing songs like “Pana,” “Rara,” and “Duro” that captured the ebb and flow of romance in the 2010s with a pithy essence that paved his way to superstardom. Over a decade since he broke through writing those love anthems, Tekno is often wondering what happened to the romance he knew.  “Since 2020, I think love hasn’t been the same again,” he expressed in an interview with Apple Music’s Africa Now Radio. 

The quest to understand and dissect the manifestations of love played a critical part in inspiring his third album, ‘Where Did Love Go?’  A lean eight-song effort that finds Tekno taking listeners through the motions of love from his perspective, the album cruises on the balmy, mid-tempo style that the singer made a name off. Songs like “Adaeze,” “Gently,” and “Matter” capture the singer at his graceful zenith but it’s another song, “Wedding Day,” that truly captured Tekno’s vision for ‘Where Did Love Go?’ “That’s the song I meant when I say where did love go,” he said. “People don’t love anymore these days. It’s so short-lived because there are people I know that got married and I performed at a wedding and in less than a year or two they were done. It’s like, ‘Oh my God, where did love go for real?’”

This conversation has been edited for clarity. 

How did your early experiences shaped your interest in music? 

I started playing the piano when I was very small in church. While everyone was trying to play the next choir song or the next hymn, I was more interested in remaking a beat to P-Square or Usher or Michael Jackson. So, I think that kind of framed me because my dad is a pastor as well. After he left the whole military thing and it was behind him, he got into church and I practically grew up in a church as well. So, that really influenced my music.

What was going through your mind while making “Holiday” in 2013?

At this time, I wasn’t thinking too much about it. I just had fun making music. I actually wish I could go back to that time, if I’m being honest. Like you didn’t care. It’s like there are no fans telling you, “Oh, we miss you, this, that, all that.” You just created for the sake of just creating music. So, I wouldn’t necessarily say I think I thought my life would change. I had way more fun making music then because it wasn’t so analyzed or whatever. It was just music. I think in those early years, it was just more music than a trend. These days when you have things like TikTok, it’s now like when you make music, you have to post it like this and you have to do this. Back then, it was just purely art. So, I feel like people nowadays most likely go for what people go for, not necessarily search out music on their own because of how the algorithm works. 

Do you prefer producing or songwriting?

I enjoy producing music, but I also enjoy freestyling. These days I actually enjoy writing. So, it’s a whole package, if I’m being honest. 

How did you deal with losing your voice back then?

I stopped being goofy and playful on social media after I lost my voice. I stopped coming on social media because I was just in my own world. I kind of got away from everything. So, now it’s like I’m gradually able to start posting funny-ass videos or just being playful again. It took me some time to get back because we’re habitual creatures. Sometimes, you think you know what you’re doing, but you don’t. You just built new habits for yourself. At other times, someone is like, “Oh, but you don’t post as you used to post.” It’s not because I didn’t want to post, it’s because that has now become a new habit. So for you to start doing that again, you have to now force yourself to do it and that becomes the new habit. I’m actually happy these days I’m able to just post and not care anymore. It took me time to find that version again, if I’m being honest.

What was the reasoning behind “Bamboo?”

That’s me tapping into my Dancehall side because if you listen to the track “Holiday,” you would notice that I was more Dancehall with that record. I was way more Dancehall, but when other styles came along, I just kind of dived into that because the fans really ate it up and making music like that came very easy to me. I’ve always loved dancehall, so with this album, I literally let myself make every type of music that I like to make. That’s why I produced most of the tracks on the album. “Bamboo” is special for me because tapping into Dancechall and making that was beautiful.

Is “Wedding Day” your favourite song on the project?

That’s my number one record. That’s the song I meant when I say where did love go. Songs like “Wedding Day,” “Adaeze,” those were the songs  speaking of where did love go. People don’t love anymore these days. It’s so short-lived because there are people I know that got married and I performed at a wedding and in less than a year or two they were done. It’s like, “Oh my God, where did love go for real?” It’s just for me personally and for my fans because most of my hit records are all love songs and they’re just funny little special love songs like “Yawa,” “Pana,” and “Duro.” I actually stopped making love records and now I’m asking myself that question as well while asking the rest of the world like, “Wow, what really happened?” Since 2020, I think love hasn’t been the same again.

Why did you make “Gently?”

It’s for the guys that love a woman hard and she just likes having him as an option.  It’s for those guys that want to get you flowers and get you bags on your birthday but it’s like some of the women these days prefer the bad boys and the dreadlocks and tattoos. Then there’s this guy with a simple low cut that works in the office, gets her flowers and he’s the one telling her to please love me gently and love me carefully. Obviously, they have hearts as well. The song is not for bad boys like us, it’s for the gentlemen. It’s a very emotional song. I feel like when I do the video for it, I’ll capture the essence of that song really because it’ll be like a mini film.

What do you think about men expressing their true feelings?

They’re not simps, that’s just how they love. That’s how they show love. They want to show you that they really do care about you, but you only know what you know. If he’s getting you flowers and being attentive to your birthdays and the things you like but he’s not a bad boy, he’s still a human. If you’re a woman and you love a guy like this, just appreciate him and love him gently. Not every guy is going to be mean and try to be like the stereotype that women like. People are who they are.