Up Close with Niniola
The secret magic of Niniola's stage performance and creativity
Seeing Niniola perform on stage is one of the most exciting things you’ll ever see. When she moves, you are struck by her poise and that smile and her laugh. Part of what makes her an exhilarating performer is her stage presence. You can see the control, depth, ease and decisiveness. She is a wickedly talented performer who seems to be in one place and everywhere at the same time when she sings and delivers on complex dance routines. Everyone’s gaze remains locked. In that moment you are drawn into her kind of music and her personality. This is no doubt part of why Kobalt Music Group just offered her a publishing deal.
It’s hard to imagine that she who intensely knows how to move a crowd, is actually an introverted person. But for Niniola, the stage is a phase of extroversion and periods of intense introversion. Before “Ibadi”, “Shabba”, “Soke” and “Maradonna”, Niniola was that woman who stepped into a room and skulked in a corner fiddling with her phone, praying to stay unnoticed. Soon after she began performing to small audiences from the little band she had, she shed her skin and found herself.
But how does someone become so confident in a society where sex is a prohibited and restricted topic according to social and religious customs, in a society where women are constantly told to guard themselves and ascribe to certain values that are rooted in misogyny. Rather than fight this limiting conception, Niniola is seeking to even embrace her sexuality as a technique when she crafts her songs.
Niniola’s opus is “Maradona” a deceptive afro-house that explores some seriously heavy topics by folding them into deftly chosen colloquial Yoruba metaphors. She doesn’t shy away from being ballsy and underscoring the raunchiness that makes the track what it is. A striking feature of Niniola’s music is the way she uses Yoruba for very lush lyricism, “I love to sing in Yoruba cause I think Yoruba is very cool —and [I sing in] English Language as well— but I’ll rather sing in Yoruba because that’s my mother tongue. And people love the Yoruba Language as well. It just sounds really…Sweet”, she says.
As an artist, Niniola pulls off that rare feat of transporting audiences of different strata, into the same paradise. Well, it was how it happened at her last performance in Fela’s shrine. Maybe it’s her flair for speaking and singing in Yoruba during her performances, without a blemish on her spoken English —thus her message is communicated across all peoples— or maybe it’s just the euphoria her Afro-house style of music brings. To talk of Niniola’s genre of music without emphasis on other genres she tends towards, like RnB and traditional country music, would be skewering important bits of her music or reducing her artistry to one narrow detail.
She is deft behind the microphone as she is in the mixing booth. By taking a hands-on approach to sound design, she is able to control how tight and well-made each and every sound and instrument she sings along with while in studio is. She likes the studio to be quiet and void of any distraction, this way, she is able to extract as much story, emotions and directions from the beat. Next, she pens down some of her melodies and lyrics before crafting the actual arrangement of the song to make it whole so she ensures it has a general theme and the verse connects to the pre-chorus and then the chorus. But anchoring all of this is God, whose steady guidance melds all of these parts into a very pretty whole. She says definitively, “God comes first, I pray to him to give me divine inspiration to order my steps and take control of the session in general, so at the end of the day, I have a beautiful song to present to my team and in turn, we present to the world, to listen to.”
In the years before Niniola became a mainstream artist, she studied music at home. As much work as it seems Niniola puts into making sure each part of her song is neatly woven, nothing about the song departs from who she is. She has learnt to be herself because that’s the only thing that matters —how an artist embraces herself. In effect, this is how her audience come to appreciate her cool on stage. Cheerfully, she says, “being cool is dancing, for instance my song “Gbese kan soke”, that’s being cool”. According to Niniola, “being cool as regards to my music, my style, and my creativity just means being comfortable in my own skin, me Niniola being able to communicate with people through my music, especially when I’m on stage performing and interacting before the audience”.
Niniola has proved she’s a force to reckon with. She is breaking into the mainstream of Nigerian music, while there’s certainly an evolution taking place, we’re well overdue for that debut album and on it, Niniola will get to the essence of what she’s been chiseling at.
Featured Image Credit: Native
Fisayo is a journalist who thinks writing is hard and reading too. But her journey somewhere reveals, words are like pawns on chessboard when writing. She wants to see, create and share with the world, experience & communicate these experiences. Tweet at her @fisvyo
ICYMI, See Niniola make the grade in this First Half of 2017 women in music review
Maya Amolo Is Committed To Giving You The Sweetest Time
There’s undoubtedly more to come from the talented singer as she looks to solidify herself as one of the...
“Sweetest Time,” Maya Amolo’s latest single, is a soothing, lovesick confessional that mixes intimate, heartfelt lyricism with wistful production courtesy of Ugandan musician and producer SOULCHYD aka MAUIMØON. Alongside fellow Kenyan singer Ywaya Tajiri, the self-acclaimed sweetest girl delivers a lustrous duet that sees her soft vocals, which perfectly complement Tajiri’s more robust voice, skip and flit across moody synths, intensifying the spotlight on her wholehearted delivery. “I can feel you rushing through my system / Every single day it’s my religion,” she sings passionately halfway into the record. The whole thing sounds like the aural equivalent of a warm blanket; a truly affectionate record that immerses and envelopes its listeners in its warmth. This is the brand of vulnerable, understated R&B music that has been helping Amolo gain significant attention since she debuted in the pandemic year.
Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Amolo always had an affinity for music. The singer and producer, who took on piano and guitar lessons as a child, has previously credited acts like Brandy, Erykah Badu, Prince, and Kenyan musical icon Eric Wainaina as her early influences – and it’s easy to see how Amolo’s style draws from this strong lineage of musicians whose music is equally expansive, soothing and vulnerable. After years experimenting with different styles, recording covers to beats she ripped from YouTube and posting them on her Soundcloud page, Amolo released her debut project ‘Leave Me At The Pregame’ in 2020.
The EP, which quickly soared up the charts in Kenya, served as a brief but emphatic introduction to Amolo’s minimalistic take on R&B. Standouts like the emotive opener “Puddles,” “Lush Green”, and “Jokes” showcase her clever and poignant lyricism that reflects on themes of love, depression, and self-healing. Along with sparse, melancholic production and the icy sensuality of her voice, Amolo delivered a remarkable debut that made her one of the most promising figures in Nairobi’s alternative music scene. Two years after ‘Leave Me At The Pregame,’ the Kenyan rising star released her debut album, ‘Asali.’
‘Asali,’ which translates to “honey” in her native Kiswahili, showcased Amolo’s progression as both an artist and a human being, as she swapped out the sad-girl tunes that filled her debut EP for more vibrant and intricate records – thanks in part to Sir Bastien and Kenyan producer and rapper Lukorito – that explore themes of growth and the complexities and rich luster of love. The album’s lead singles, “Foundry” and the self-produced “Can’t Get Enough,” found relative success on streaming platforms, placing Amolo as one of the continent’s most exciting new R&B voices. About a year after the release of ‘Asali,’ Amolo updated the album with 8 new songs on a deluxe version that featured Kenyan stars like Bensoul, Xenia Manasseh and Zowie Kengocha.
In August 2024, a few months after she delivered a splendid Colors performance, Amolo released a new project titled ‘What a Feeling.’ The 5-track EP, which essentially serves as an ode to Amolo’s home city, Nairobi, sees her experimenting with an array of dance sub-genres without straying too far from her R&B roots. While the project still retains much of the melancholy and elegance that defined her earlier work, there’s a hypnotic and pulsating energy that courses through ‘What A Feeling,’ that highlights a shift in the singer’s sensibilities. Amolo’s honeyed vocals gently seep through subtle Dancehall, Electronic, R&B and House-inspired production and the accompanying visualizer, a mashup of camcorder footage of her and her friends in Nairobi, also adequately captures the charming and nocturnal vibe of the tape.
The project produced standout tracks like the sensual “Let It Flow,” the title track and “Take It,” which later got remixed by Ugandan singer Soundlykbb and rapper SGawD. With Amolo’s latest release, “Sweetest Girl,” the Kenyan rising star continues her intricate exploration of R&B music, merging it with varying styles to produce her own distinct and refreshing variant. There’s no telling what Amolo might do next, but with only a handful of releases to her name so far, there’s undoubtedly more to come from the talented singer as she looks to solidify herself as one of the genre’s most prominent faces across the continent.
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T.I Blaze Updates ‘Shakur’ EP With Deluxe Version
Following the success of “Trenches Luv,” the street-pop star is back with seven new songs on the deluxe...
Over the last few years, street-pop, a guttural version of afropop, has surged to mainstream popularity, birthing stars like Asake, Seyi Vibez, and Shallipopi. On the homefront, a generation of younger stars also put unique spins on the sound. Singer, T.I Blaze, has been a notable star in the sub-genre since his 2021 single, “Sometimes,” and a subsequent remix with icon, Olamide, launched him into a different stratosphere.
Since “Sometimes,” Blaze has established his profile as a reliable source for songs that reflect the pulse of the streets while archiving his come-up story across a debut album (‘El Major’) and three extended plays like ‘The Fresh Prince Of Lagos’ and ‘Dangerous Wavy Baby.’ His 2024 EP, ‘Shakur,’ further underscored his evolution as an artist, featuring slippery numbers about escapism, his thoughts on life in the fast lane, and brotherhood with features from rising stars like Tml Vibez and BhadBoi Oml.
In 2025, the singer has picked up where he left off last year, releasing “Trenches Luv,” a balmy February release that examines the dynamics of romance from his point of view as a young adult moulded by the hard realities of life on the street. The success of “Trenches Luv” has led to a deluxe version of ‘Shakur’ with the singer adding seven new songs to the original version of the project. Impressively, on the new version of the project, TI Blaze taps up Ayo Maff and Ghanaian star Arathejay on “My Brother” and “Mario Remix,” respectively.
Led by a galala-inflected opener, “Track 1,” ‘Shakur (Deluxe)’ is both raw and complex with the singer sounding refreshed on songs like “My Brother,” “Dodge,” and “Introduction.” In many ways, this project is an invitation for listeners to explore the many facets of T.I Blaze’s artistry as well as a portent to celebrate his roots and offer a glimpse at his evolution.
Listen to ‘Shakur (Deluxe)’ here.
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NATIVE PREMIERE: Rigo Kamp Runs Ahead Of The Pack With The Visuals For “Marathon”
Rigo Kamp’s Marathon video is an intimate Afro-juju revival that pays homage to Sir Shina Peters and stamps...
Last Friday, Rigo Kamp, a NATIVE uNder alum and one of the architects of an equal parts nostalgic and refreshing sound released his self-titled debut EP, delivering a propulsive fusion of Alte, R&B, Funk, and Soul-infused rhythms.
Featuring previously released singles “Morning Sun” and “Summer”, the six-track eponymous EP executively produced by Odunsi The Engine sees Rigo lean heavily into his element as a sonic alchemist, jumping from silky falsettos to gritty grooves without losing an ounce of cohesion, and ultimately stamping the Abuja-born, Lagos-based singer-songwriter as a mad scientist of sound.
Just last November, Apple Music named Rigo Kamp as its Up Next artist, an acknowledgment that underscored his potential and confirmed what the tastemakers and underground scene already knew. Weeks later, he delivered an exhilarating live set for Spotify Fresh Finds in Lagos, proving he’s just as compelling live as he is in the studio.
On “Marathon”, the refreshing opener to the Rigo Kamp EP, Rigo borrows the bounce and swagger of Afro-Juju legend, Sir Shina Peters’ golden-era, fusing nostalgia with re-imagination to birth a vintage performance that feels like a private party for two, where it’s just Rigo, and you.
Get an exclusive first look at the video for Marathon here:
Listen to the Rigo Kamp EP:
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