How NO11 Finally Got Everyone’s Attention

Every month, OkayAfrica spotlights an exceptional African artist making an impact on African music and culture. From rising stars who are shaping new sounds to established artists driving culture forward, this series is our stage for celebrating incredible and ingenious African artistry.

NO11 is not an easy person to know. It’s not that there isn't any factual information about him out in public. There are quite a few. His real name is Nnamdi Odom. He was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up primarily in Abuja, Nigeria’s stately capital city. As a kid (one of eight), he listened to a lot of Drake and Lil Wayne. He also traveled a lot, which shaped his approach to music. And last year, his song “How Far” went mega-viral, garnering over 19 million streams and officially cementing him as one of the freshest voices in Nigerian music. 

Still, NO11 has a fascinating air of mystery around him. He doesn’t tweet much; his social media doesn’t feature many of his opinions on cultural conversations; and he rarely shares deeply personal information about himself. Instead, snippets of his laidback yet grounded perspective on life, his love for experimental sounds, and his slightly humorous perceptions of being young and Nigerian are all deposited in his music. It is a curious strategy for a relatively new artist in an age where musicians are incentivized to overshare, and reliability is a useful social currency.  

Since releasing “How Far,” a groovy Afropop-meets-amapiano hybrid track featuring Ajay Bobo and Monochrome, NO11 has been carving out a space for himself in the ever-evolving music industry. It’s his first major hit since he began releasing music in 2022. The track instantly caught people’s attention for its laidback energy. The sweet spot for many was in his witty lyrics. In “How Far,” NO11 keeps things playful as he taps into an escapist sensibility amongst his listeners. He sings of flashy, expensive nights out while capturing the delightful chaos of returning to Nigeria in December. In many ways, NO11 managed to bottle up the thrill and possibility of being back in Nigeria in December, and that inescapable feeling that, for a few weeks, anything can happen.

With snippets of the track blowing up throughout December of last year, “How Far” brings to mind a night of partying, riding through the city with your friends, and collecting stories too embarrassing to share. The song’s strong narrative tone and catchy tune, in which NO11 illustrates the shenanigans that define Detty December, were an instant hit on TikTok, with over 700,000 videos. It soundtracked dances, funny skits, and (for some reason) spawned a challenge of extravagant house tours.

“I usually sit on my songs for a while before I release them, but something about that song just made me want to push it,” NO11 tells OkayAfrica in an interview.

“How Far was a complete departure from his typical sound, which runs a range of genres including melodic rap and even drill.

“[Music] is truly his outlet. There are things he'll feel more comfortable singing into a mic before saying out loud — both high and lows,” Chioma Odom, NO11’s sister and manager, explained to OkayAfrica. “I'm excited for his fans to get to know him some more through his music.”

NO11 has perfected the art of a good vibe. It’s the promise he makes in his songs and the persona he exudes that lead to great results. “I believe what pulls people into NO11's music is the level of ease and playfulness that comes through in his lyrics and delivery,” Odom says. “From the beat selection alone, you just know he has a good time making his music. He's also a deep guy, in one way or another, you'll hear about his faith or his values.”

It has earned him a growing fan base, a lovable, enigmatic character, and a story that is as fascinating as it is illustrative of the state of Nigerian music. This is why he is OkayAfrica’s Artist of the Month for June.

A modest start

“Every Sunday, going to church, my dad always had a playlist,” NO11 tells me at the start of our conversation. “It could be Spanish music, or Nigerian music from his time. That was my first memory of listening to music.”

We are speaking over a virtual call, and his voice has the slight drag of someone who has been on the road for a long time. That observation might be validated by the fact that NO11 has been having a whirlwind year so far. Since “How Far,” he has released a remix featuring Focalistic and Ciza, and another single, “Too Hot.” 

He has gone on a UK club tour, been the subject of a conversation around music made by nepo babies, and is currently on his U.S tour. Throughout our conversation, NO11 referenced his family, his friends, and Bible verses that guide him. This close, his personality isn’t entirely at odds with his music, but it helps explain the reservedness of his public persona.

NO11 began making music in high school. “I'll see my guys freestyle and I'll be like, 'Oh, like I want to do this,' to a point where I bought my own equipment and then just started fooling around with it until I felt like I was getting better and then eventually created a sound.”

While he maintains that he has a sound, which can also mean the easygoing sensibility of his music and the relatable wittiness of his lyrics, NO11 sees himself as an artist who isn’t bound by genres. “I can get [into] any genre,” he tells me. “It's honestly just depending. If I had to put my music in a playlist, it would probably be called Afro Fusion or something like that.”

As our conversation progresses, it becomes clear that NO11 is an artist who is conscious about getting his messaging right. As he speaks, he doesn’t hesitate to ask if he’s answered a question satisfactorily, or if a point he made came across as he had intended. It’s a particularity that is human and instantly endearing. It also lends him a precocious quality, one that only comes from someone who knows they were destined to be exactly where they are now.

The long journey here

As “How Far” began to blow up, there was the impression that NO11 was an artist who emerged from nowhere. The truth, though, is that NO11 has been making music since 2018 and releasing it since 2022. “I've understood that everything is a process, and everything that I've done before was not in vain. I keep that ideology now when I'm making songs or with my craft as well,” he admits. Much of his early work was rap-heavy and helped him shape his voice and think of music as a diaristic device. “I've realized that music is better when you have something to talk about,” he says.

NO11 finds the “nepo-baby” narrative that surrounded the release of “How Far,” with many labeling it music for rich Nigerian kids, to be amusing. It’s an image NO11 happily played along with when it first came out, but one he admits he is ready to move past. “I think it was definitely funny seeing how people interpreted it and the jokes as well. There was something new every scroll, but as long as people know that the music is inclusive of everybody,” he says.

When I ask him how he intends to be perceived going forward, he pauses to think. “I don't really think about something like that,” he admits. “Because I don't think I can have one universal way of being seen. Everybody sees me differently anyway. The message I want to push out is ‘this guy knows how to make good music.’ I'm a musician first. And the music is good. That's what I know for sure.”

So what does a trailblazing superstar do to ground himself amid all this success? NO11 refers to 1 Corinthians 3:7, sharing that “All of this was God. I know that no matter how crazy the song is, no matter how funny the TikTok video is, that's what keeps me grounded.”