Tolani is a rising talent and is coming off the release of his debut EP ‘The Afrobeat Sessions’. We were pleasantly surprised with the offering and look forward to hearing more from him
Read our interview to learn more about Tolani and his latest EP.
Q: When and why did you become a musician?
I’ve always enjoyed performing from a young age and that kind of organically developed to me writing lyrics. I’m a shy person, so it wasn’t till I was 14 I had the confidence to rap my first self-written verse to someone. I got good responses and became really good at freestyle battles, which is weird for a shy person but that was my way of self expression.
By the time I went to university at 16, I had recorded some songs with a group of friends and I just always felt like I was going to be a musician. It wasn’t even a conscious effort tbh, it just happened.
What can you tell us about your latest EP? How did the project come about?
I became properly serious with music in 2016, I was 21 at the time and I made the leap to leave home to pursue my dream. I got to Lagos and didn’t really know too many people but I had a group of friends that I lived with and became brothers with essentially. We always went to the Fela Kuti’s New Afrikaan shrine, which is the home of Afrobeat and I just soaked in the music and vibe. I decided to represent that in my music to show my true heritage and that led me to start recording afrobeat songs, designed specifically to sonically express all my experiences. For 3 years I recorded songs and tested the market with different singles. I moved to the UK in 2019 and by early 2020 I felt ready to put together a body of work to summarise my sonical journey over the last three years, with an emphasis on finding myself as a young African man.
What do you want listeners to take away from the project?
I want them to have fun with it when they are happy. At other times, I want them to catch the meaning behind the lyrics. I’m very finicky about arrangements and I try to arrange my music in a way that you don’t just figure everything out in one listen. But I want you to be able to enjoy the music, free of all biases. Also, for the people that are African, I want this music to make you long for home or appreciate home. That’s essentially it for me.
How would you describe your style to someone new to your music?
Afrobeat. Imagine being in the busiest city in the world, full of chaos but constantly moving at your own pace, observing everything while second-guessing your relevance to it all. That’s my music, that’s where it comes from… the delivery, arrangements everything!
What’s your favorite song you’ve made thus far?
“Live”. The song fully explains my style of music. The swing of the beat, the arrangements and the message. It’s structured to encapsulate what a full “live” afrobeat show would sound like, with a message telling the listener to “live” their lives without bother. Fitting that in a 3 minutes song, while capturing that energy makes it extremely special to me.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would you choose?
Wyclef. He’s an absolute legend.
What’s next for you? What’s the best thing people can do to support you?
New music. Right now, I’m writing new music everyday! I have my next project ready to be released in June and I’m looking forward to the continuous journey of life. The best thing you can do to support me is… listen to my music and share it! Yeah, I think that’s it.
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About Tolani
Tolani Fatilewa (born June 7, 1995) better known by his stage name Tolani (styled as Tolaní), is a UK based Nigerian new school afrobeats artist. Tolani’s style of music was described simply by Metro UK writer Malcolm Jack as “feel good afrobeat music with a message…that mixes traditional call and response vocals and chants”.
