Nigerian musician Oxlade speaks about combining vintage African music and modern Afrobeats in his debut album and how he wants people to feel the therapeutic power of his music.
Afrobeats star Oxlade wants his music to heal people.Press photo provided by artists’ team.
Oxlade is a unique figure in contemporary Afrobeats. Getting here hasn’t been a smooth ride but the Nigerian star has always been clear about his purpose: to live wholesome and to make good music. “My grandma used to tell me, you don’t rush great things,” he tells OkayAfricaa few days after the release of Oxlade From Africa, the singer’s debut album. “I would just say it was the forces that made it happen during this period of time and not earlier on.”
Most importantly, though, OFA reveals how Oxlade’s generational vocals can be utilized throughout a full body of work. What colors can he evoke with those featherlight melodies?
“D PTSD INTERLUDE,” the dramatic album opener, goes a surprising route. A stirring commentary on police brutality, particularly around the #EndSARS movement of 2020, the song features an inspiring vocal performance from Ugandan musician and activist Bobi Wine.
Oxlade from Africa
Press photo provided by Oxlade's team.
Regardless of this background, OFAprimarily explores love over the colorful vibrance of African sounds. On “BLESSED,” one hears the intersection of Afropop and reggae, further colored with a stellar verse from Jamaican star Popcaan. The mellow drums and vocal styles on “PIANO” are quite similar to those Styl Plus jams of the 2000s, but with more urgency in its application, it’s in-tune with current listener sensibilities. Bright highlife-esque guitars can be heard on “OVAMI” and “IFA,” and he spars sweetly with Flavour and Fally Ipupa respectively.
He affirms he’s always wanted to work with the Congolese legend. “I feel like the record itself resonates around [Fally Ipupa’s] musical territory,” says Oxlade. “I didn’t know it was ever going to happen, lowkey, but my persistence got me this verse.” The song also ties into his larger vision for the project. “What is an Oxlade From Africa album if there are no African legends helping to solidify the statement piece?”
Now that he’s put out his debut album, five years into the industry and two short projects deep — Oxygene and Eclipse— there’s a number of stories Oxlade has accrued along the way. “Challenges are part of the story,” he mentions. “You cannot call yourself great without defeating the demons and challenges that come before you… I’ll just say it’s part of the journey. It’s a total package, the bigger the level, the bigger the devil."
If Oxlade refuses to speak on personal and professional travails, the stories are there in the music. On OFAparticularly, he considers the worth of his dreams across a number of records. In inspired moments, Oxlade has one of the most remarkable perspectives among the artists of his generation, charged with his vocal layering technique. “KATIGORI,” the penultimate song in the album, places him above the realm of detractors.
“I no know how I wan do am, but e go sup / And e go shock una, cause e go choke.”“Some ah think I’m overconfident, think I am incompetent / No love for this continent, but me no gwan relent,”
“This is me singing about my story,” he says about the record. “We Africans always have really deep names and I feel like my name is a representation of who I am. It means unending favor, unending wealth and unending grace from God. I mean, it’s self-explanatory. It’s me manifesting my name into reality”.
Such intentionality belies everything else on the album. It’s a showcase of Oxlade’s creative instincts, and no one understands this better than him. “I feel like Oxlade From Africa is a combination of vintage African music and modern-day Afrobeats,” he says. “It’s a body of work that travels through time and rhythm. You’re going to hear some elements that we grew up listening to and the current sounds of our time, bridging generations through collaboration. This is just destiny fulfilling itself.”
