CKay’s legacy precedes him. Following the release of his astronomical breakthrough track, “Love Nwantiti” in 2019, he became a true trailblazer in the game. This mesmerisingly distinctive track quickly unveiled itself as one of the most successful and far-reaching afrobeats songs in modern music history; it smashed records, amassed billions of views and listens, and earned its place as a bona fide anthem. Where some may have lost momentum, CKay continued to rise and, since then, has proven that he deserves every part of his success. His most recent offering, CKay The Second is an EP woven intricately into the tapestry of his self-made, insatiable, “emo-afrobeats” sound. So what’s his secret?
On a phone call from Lagos to London, CKay sits down with GRM to talk about life, legacy and his impact on the evolution of afrobeats today.
Your name is known across the globe but what is something about CKay that people wouldn’t know?
“I guess people don’t know that I was a brainiac in school – I was like an A star student.”
So if you hadn’t chosen to pursue music, what do you think you would have become?
“I would have been a pilot ’cause it was just very fly. Pun intended!”
Now you’re fly in a different way! When it comes to the new music, what does your recent EP, CKay The Second mean to you?
“To me, CKay The Second means growth and maturity. It’s me retracing my steps from where it all began and showing people how much I’ve grown over the past few years. The sound is a lot more seasoned, the experience is a lot broader and more in-depth.”
And in what ways have you grown since your EP, CKay The First in 2019?
“Well, when I released CKay The First, I was in a phase of curiosity. I hadn’t really been out there, or travelled the world, or performed on stages in front of thousands of people, or met people who looked up to me. With Ckay The Second, I’ve experienced so many new milestones for the first time, you know? When you grow in life, your perspective also grows in music too.”
With all the fame and success, do you think that you’ve changed as a person?
“I’m definitely the same person, but human beings are learning machines. Every day we take in new information, and with that new information we evolve and adjust ourselves. As a child, you see fire as this orange thing that is so interesting, and you try to touch it but it burns you. Then you think, ‘Oh, ok, I definitely shouldn’t touch that.’ I would say the same has happened to me over the years – I’ve put my hand in a few fires, trusted people that I shouldn’t have trusted, I’ve let my weaknesses get the best of me as well. Basically my music is just me expressing all these things, I’m always speaking from experience.”
“Love Nwantiti” is an anthem. How do you feel when you look back on the way that track changed your trajectory?
“Every artist has a breakthrough song and ‘Love Nwantiti’ happened to be mine. Of the many great songs I had, that was the one that many people discovered me from. It definitely opened doors. It spread my music, and the culture as a whole, to places it probably hadn’t been to before – really distant places that afrobeats don’t usually reach. I think it was groundbreaking and opened doors for so many other songs to also thrive. It’s a moment that I’m always grateful for.”
Do you have a special recipe for making a classic?
“Well, I think the ingredients are simple: sincerity and musical skill. When you combine these two things, I think you can make music that touches people.”
Now you’re one of the biggest afrobeats artists of today – do you ever feel pressure because of this title?
“A little bit, I guess, but I try to really focus on what matters. And I feel like what matters is what got us here in the first place: the music. The music has always been about art and self-expression. I feel like as long as that is protected, everything will be fine.”
Tell me about your earliest memories of creating music.
“My earliest memories of making music are me on a desktop computer in 2007, using Fruity Loops to make beats. You know those speakers that used to come with desktop computers back in the day? Yeah, I had those. I also had those video game headsets with a microphone, so I used to make songs on that microphone. That was my first experience of recording. I did alright in the end!”
In terms of the music you’re creating now, how would you describe your sound?
“I would describe my sound as emo-afrobeats, because it’s afrobeats that you feel. You feel it in your heart – you don’t just dance to it, you feel it.”
What led you to creating this particular sound?
“Sometimes as a young person, you discover yourself through songs. I felt like that with a lot of emo rock songs when I was a teenager. One of my favorite bands is Paramore, and I think Hayley Williams has one of the best voices on earth. Becoming an artist myself, I was always trying to find a way to make afrobeats that gave me a similar feeling, because the thing about emo songs is they really make you feel. So that was the foundation for me to figure out how to bridge the gap between my culture, African music and this part of myself. It led to this emotional afrobeats spectrum and I think it has impacted the sound in so many ways.”
Now that you’ve built this legacy, what more do you hope for in your career?
“I hope for more growth, more achievements, more innovation. More great things. More music, more awesomeness, more flyness.”
And finally, if you could share a message with everybody that is reading this interview, what would you tell them?
“I would tell them to go listen to CKay music right now for clear skin and a better life!”
You know what to do. Stream Ckay The Second here on GRM Daily.