Fave was only 19 when she shared her first single with her followers on social media. In little under two years, that fresh-eyed singer with buttery smooth vocals has worked her way up and carved a lane for herself off a strong belief in her abilities.

After conquering the Internet and gaining the attention of industry heavyweights like Olamide and Mr Eazi, to whose incubator programme she is now distributes her music, the rising star is earned her first breakout single with “Baby Riddim,” a romantic bop that also earned a top five spot on the TurnTable charts. Now, she’s ready to bring listeners closer into her world with the release of her debut effort.

 

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Fave’s love for music started at such a young age with her earliest recollection of music dating as far back as she can remember. Over a Zoom call one Lagos afternoon, she tells me, “Making music was side by side with other parts of my life, I have always found a way to always fit it in my life.” Her sound is influenced by the music she’s been listening to since she was a young girl. In her earlier days, she listened to a lot of Soulful Pop music, including Lordè, Sia and Adele, which helped her shape her sound into what it is today. 

Following the reception of “NBU,” she proceeded to put out her single “M.O.M.M.S” and since then, Fave has captivated the ears of many. Describing her journey so far as “elevating”, the singer made it a mission to take her craft more seriously, rather than creating music to just keep to herself. This landed her not one but two spots on Olamide’s most recent studio album ‘UY Scuti’. 

Now, with a clearer vision of her sound and the path she hopes she take, Fave is ready to take the world by storm unveiling the world around her debut EP ‘Riddim 5’ which she shared with her growing fanbase today. To this end, we caught up with the “Baby Riddim” singer ahead of the release of her album to talk about the music and the realities of her journey. 

Our chat which follows blow has been lightly edited for clarity. 

NATIVE: What’s your earliest recollection of making music?

FAVE: For as long as I can remember so I think I would say since I discovered how to write from quite an early age.

NATIVE: Who were some of your earliest musical inspirations?

FAVE: Adele, Sia and Lana Del Ray. I used to listen to Alicia Keys2, Lorde, a couple of artists that were singing at the time but these ones i mentioned were the major influences though. 

NATIVE: Tell me a bit about life before making music. What was growing up like and attending formal education in Nigeria?

FAVE: Making music was side by side with other parts of my life. It has always been part of my life regardless of the fact that I started making music officially recently. I have always found a way to always fit it in my life, whatever it is that I’m doing at the time I’ll be making music alongside. I don’t have to be recording music to be making music actually. But before I officially started making music in 2019 I was just a student basically. I think I learnt makeup artistry. I was trying to get into the whole makeup thing. It was my side hustle in school so when I got the opportunity to be in the studio that was when my first song came about and I haven’t done any other thing since then. Just music and school. 

NATIVE: What about your family? Were they supportive of your music career and what were some of the ways they nurtured it?

FAVE: They have been supportive. Sometimes they give me a nod that I should take a few steps back, think things through, they’ve tried to really make me understand that it might just be a hobby, it might not be something I’d want to do all my life as a career, basically just the African household. It’s like your parents have to know more than you, you think that you know everything but you do not know, your parents know more than you and so it’s like regardless of the fact that i spend time trying to convince them that this is me, music is literally my life if you take away the music you’re taking away my everything. I could get by in life but I wouldn’t give you the best of me if it isn’t something I’m really excited to do. So yeah they support me because they know that I’m doing music because it’s not really something I can hide at this point so they support me but sometimes they try to tell me to focus on school, don’t let music distract you. 

NATIVE: When did you make the decision to take music seriously?

FAVE: 2019 was when i decided to take music seriously. I had always been telling my parents before I started school that I’d love to record and like go to a proper studio but they didn’t understand at first. I wasn’t really on my own so I couldn’t make some kind of decisions till I got to university and I was alone and I could make some certain decisions by myself. That was when i was able to record in a studio.

The first song I recorded was the first song I put out actually. One night, I wrote the song and sent it to a close friend who was also a student and owned a studio. I told him I was going to stop by and record the song and that became M.O.M.M.S”. I recorded that song and put it out days after he mixed it just briefly. I just had this conviction in me that I should start, like what the hell am I even waiting for I don’t need too much. I was not even really thinking about money then, because opportunities could come from basically anything. It didn’t have to be such a big step to take so I just did that. That was when the whole music journey started.

NATIVE: You have also caught the attention of industry heavyweights like Mr Eazi and emPawa. What does it mean for you to develop from singing in your room to a small audience to your music now reaching the right ears?

FAVE: It’s elevating. It makes me want to do more, makes me believe more in myself. It’s the kind of energy you need when you’re progressing. It gives you that answer you need even if you’re not looking for an answer or just a conviction. It just tells you that for you to be here you’re probably doing what you’re good at and you’re doing it well so it makes me feel really good. It makes me appreciate people more, makes me appreciate my music more. 

NATIVE: What are some of the most challenging aspects of pursuing your craft in Nigeria?

FAVE: The area of money when you’re just starting people will tell you you need money to push your music or else you’re going to have difficulties. Money is an issue. You need to believe in yourself. It’s really good to have faith in oneself. You need people that tell you the truth, that love your craft as much as you, people who listen to you, people that want to build with you, your art around you. Working hand in hand with people that are not working with you because of what they can get but because they love you.

NATIVE: How open are you to collaboration? Who are some of the people you’ve worked with behind the scenes to get to this stage in your career?

FAVE: I’m definitely open to collaborations, I’m not going to shy away from that. I’m very very excited when it comes to trying to see what I sound like with someone else’s sound. Especially if it’s someone I have great interest in. Like organic collaborations. I’m definitely open to working with different artists. And for people on my team, my two managers Folu and South. Those are the major people behind the scenes. I am grateful to have people by my side that I can still openly talk to, that I’m very comfortable with. We go through stuff together. Those 2 people have helped my music grow. 

NATIVE: You featured on 2 songs on Olamide’s ‘UY Scuti’ album. How did you meet Olamide and how was working with someone as important as that?

FAVE: It was the freestyle video I put out during lockdown, that was April last year. I guess it went viral and it got to him so he hit me up on Instagram and told me my sound was fire so we started talking from there and when he was in the country I went to see him and then suddenly we were recording in the studio. That was literally how we met. 

NATIVE: What themes or topics are you drawn to when making music?

FAVE: Usually it’s the beat. What usually creates the direction that I go subconsciously is usually the beat. There are some beats that are played and I figured that there’s no love word coming into my mind, there’s no love theme, there’s no picture of affection or vessel of emotion coming into my mind, it’s just something else. I’m probably just getting like a sad vibe or i’m getting like a you’re trying to leave me vibes or maybe i’m a great person you can’t fuck with me vibe. I try to take that direction. If it’s a beat that gives like two different vibes or 7 vibes I could just pick. Sometimes I start writing before the beat plays, sometimes I decide what the beat is going to be like from scratch. So usually it’s the beat. I don’t write about stuff happening to me, it’s just a few times I’ve written from my own situation.

I feel like the music I make is from my head so they have to be thoughts of mine, some experiences consciously or unconsciously, things that I see or have been around, it comes from sort of knowledge so I can be able to paint a story or imagine it in my head. Most times i might have already finished writing a song before i now figure out that it probably relates to some part of my life or i’ve experienced it. Subconsciously when I’m writing its building up from somewhere, it could be a movie or something I didn’t even experience first hand.

NATIVE: What are some of your interests outside music?

FAVE: I love to write poems, I’m an all round kind of art person. Art people don’t shy away from putting their hands in everything. I tried to separate the educational side of my life with the creative side. Now I’m in school studying Law but it’s just something that I’m studying because I can, it’s not really something I’m interested in or that I would like to do. My answer will be that I could do several things, I love to cook, I love to draw on peoples faces, that’s why I learnt makeup. I also love to draw. 

NATIVE: Your single “Baby Riddim” is currently gaining incredible traction online. Did you ever foresee this moment and how does it feel to live it now?

FAVE: I didn’t envision it. I just knew it was a great song. i was excited to be putting it out with emPawa because there was a plan, usually when i put out song we just put them out based on vibes, we try to milk it from the fans, the people who love Fave they can definitely take it to next level but with “Baby Riddim” we did bank on it, we actually wanted to go hard with this song, we wanted to put it out with a plan, we didn’t want to do a shabby job because we were thinking of the projects to come. When the song had been recorded I was excited for people to hear it because it’s very different from other songs I’ve put out in the past, I was excited for people to hear that side of me, I just knew that people would tell that it is a great song as much as I knew. 

NATIVE: What was the inspiration behind “Baby Riddim”?

FAVE: It was the beat, that was really it. The beat.

NATIVE: What’s next for you?

FAVE: A new project, collaborations basically. First off I don’t really know because I usually work on vibes most of the time but the project is really definite and the collaborations because I haven’t really done much collaborations and then whatever comes. We’ll take it from there. 

Pre-save ‘Riddim 5’ here.

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