SPINALL Wants to Take the ‘Èkó Groove’ Afrobeats Sound to the World

That song was made by Ayinde Bakare, a pioneering juju artist born in 1927. A Lagosian by birth and experience, SPINALL saw the potential of weaving the city’s color into a new stream of inspiration. His reinterpretation of Bakare’s record would become the opener of Èkó Groove.

“There’s so much groove in Lagos,” he says, “and I’m not just talking about clubs, raves, I’m talking about actual groove. At every point in time, people have used music to get by. I’ve played worldwide on some of the biggest stages around the world, and I’ve seen how powerful the Lagos groove is. So I thought it’d be nice to put out an album from a groove curator as myself. It’s the Lagos groove — Èkó Groove.”

“Genuinely speaking, I’ve never wanted to do anything alone,” says SPINALL about his open-handed collaborative approach. “I believe that when two heads or more are gathered, things just become better. I’m not one of those producers who wants to die by credits or rights. I am aware that those who chase credits will never be happy. I’m also in it for the bigger picture. Instead of saying I want to do everything myself, I’m very proud and humble enough to let other people take part in making the song sound as beautiful as possible. Especially when we remember that these songs are going to last forever.”

Even with this collaborative zest, SPINALL says he never chases an artist to make music. Whether it’s Afrobeats icons Wizkid and Olamide, or the American rap great T.I., R&B trailblazer Summer Walker, or South Africa’s vocal powerhouses like Tyla and Ami Faku (all of whom appear on the album), these are artists who key into the vision and want to make music with SPINALL.

“First and foremost, we should remember that I am SPINALL,” he says matter-of-factly. “It is an honor that you get to work with me. I am very aware of that. Let that not be misconstrued. Making music, I don’t chase artists to make music; I make music believing that you would like it, and if you don’t like it, that is understandable and okay. The songs here were made out of ingenuity, honesty, pure love, and in the good spirit of collaboration.”

“My journey has been great, humbling, inspiring, and beautiful,” he says. “I am the reason why many Nigerian DJs are doing what they’re doing now, and I’m happy that I’m still championing that and doing it in the best possible way. I am also learning a lot of things while I’m doing this, knowing fully well that I have no mentor. I am creating a blueprint for a lot of Nigerian DJs.”

Truthfully, before SPINALL, there wasn’t much ground covered in terms of how a DJ presented themselves. Afrobeats had greats like DJ Jimmy Jatt and DJ Neptune, but their influence circulated more within the halls of artistry. It was SPINALL’s cap, his business acumen in setting up a record label, making scene-defining records like the Mr Eazi and Kizz Daniel-featured “Ohema” and “Baba” respectively, that planted the seed that sowed long-term rewards, and SPINALL is still here reaping the benefits.

“It was super intentional,” he says about how he’s moved across the industry. “After university, I had a tough time deciding what I wanted to do. I spent seven years studying engineering; after that, it was very hardcore to do music. I wasn’t a dull boy; I had some of the best grades in school. So it was very hard convincing myself that I was going to do this. I was conflicting myself, I was so disrupted from the inside. Then I finally made up my mind that I was going to do music, but I told myself I was going to do it differently.”

This is how the cap came into the picture. “I wanted a look that would represent where I come from,” he says, “I wanted a look that was different and fly, and I remember my dad used to wear these hats when he’s going to parties. In today’s world, I am ‘party.’ I am the life of the party. So when you see me with the cap, you know it’s about to go down.”

With his magnetic presence at the summit of Afrobeats, SPINALL thinks the music being created is number one in the world. He’s positioning himself to continue being a trusted artist, and one of the more obvious signifiers of that is the removal of ‘DJ’ from his name, now simply going by SPINALL. Was this part of a creative instinct?

“Yes,” he says almost immediately. “I feel like in today’s world, we’re doing way more than DJing. When I started, I was just DJing, but today I’m producing songs, I’m writing songs, I’m making songs for myself and for others. It’s bigger than just DJing; I wanted it to be clear I’m SPINALL. It’s still the same guy, but SPINALL is just smooth, and it’s jiggy. I like to be jiggy.”