Stories from “No Excuses“

I have to give a big shoutout to Vado. Kizz Daniel is another person who goes out of his way for me. I can’t thank him enough.

“lost” was actually written because people rarely sing about the ups and downs of love. No one talks about when you’re crying in

that corner of your room because that girl is not responding to your text. No one talks about when you’re feeling down because

that guy is acting anyhow. No one really talks about those parts, and that’s what “lost” is all about. It’s written in homage to

the bad sides of love. Having Kizz Daniel on the song changed its dimension. I wasn’t expecting the delivery to come out that way.

He really showed the big OG that he is. There are levels to this music thing, and Kizz Daniel is just at the top.

“you” wasn’t written based on my perspective or something I was going through. My manager, MelvinTheWave, was in love at that

point. He was so in love, and I was always observing him and his actions. So, I was just copying and pasting his lifestyle on that

song. It’s a love song talking about your girl and how she’s making you feel. “You” was written in March of 2025, and it was

produced by Kel P. Kel P is so great at what he does; he won’t let you sing rubbish. He’s one of the producers I’ve met who is

very deliberate about what he does. A lot of producers don’t care about what you’re singing as long as you work with them and use

their beats. Most people just want to record and go, but Kel P won’t let you do that; it has to be up to standard. In fact, he

won’t let you write your songs alone; he wants to listen before you record. He’s very interested in what you want to put down.

Even if it’s great, he’s still looking for a way to make it better.

It’s just a song about life, motivation, and day-to-day activities. Basically, I’m saying after everything you’ve been through,

it’s going. After all the stress and reminiscing on the pain and struggle and quest for sustenance, it’s going. We can’t give up

or stop chasing, so at the end of the day, it’s going. I had the idea for “it’s going” before I even started the album; it was the

first song I conceptualised. I had most of it ready to go. When I was thinking of what the album was lacking, as we were finishing

the album, my mind came back to “it’s going” and I felt like I needed to add it, so I did. I felt like it was a great way to

close the album as well.

I’m so happy this song made the album because it almost didn’t. The session for this song was great and mind-blowing. Young Jonn

is a big OG, he always answers me whenever I call him. If I ever want him to be in the studio when I’m working on something, he

always pulls up for me and never tells me no. It means a lot to me, and I don’t take it for granted. “disco” was a record that I

had initially made, and Young Jonn just jumped on it. He sent me the verse, and it was so good.

The funniest thing about “caricature” is that it’s the first song I recorded on the album; it was made last year. A caricature

means a representation of something, and in this context, it’s a symbol to fill the gap when a lover is not around. It’s a song

about telling your partner that you’ll get a caricature of them because you miss them. So, getting a caricature of your partner is

getting an artwork of them or something you can remember them by when they’re not around. It’s a representation or imitation of

someone you can’t do without. I think “caricature” set the tone for the album.

We initiated the record from Lagos and finished it in London. The process of making the album was extraordinary. “robbery” is

similar to “lost” in how it explores the unheralded parts of romance. Relationships can be very funny. “robbery” is talking about

how you’re showing love and affection to someone, but they’re not doing the same for you. Working with Gabzy was magical, and I

really enjoyed the process of putting this song together.

This is the only song that doesn’t have a huge story behind it because I was just recording. I posted a video on my Instagram

account, and Oxlade commented, “Cruise control.” I was in the studio at that moment and listening to a beat. So, that’s how I

entered, and the song started. It wasn’t like I did anything extraordinary, but I did me and I love it because of how free I felt

while making it. It was made just a few weeks before we released ‘catharsis.’

The idea of this song is to revive you after you’re lost, that’s why the arrangement placed it after “lost.” It was intentional to

place it there. The track explores the idea of love reviving you after feeling lost. It’s a love song as well, it just explores

love from a different direction. This song was based on my own experience, but it was not from this year; it was made last year.

I have to give a big shoutout to Vado. Kizz Daniel is another person who goes out of his way for me. I can’t thank him enough.

“lost” was actually written because people rarely sing about the ups and downs of love. No one talks about when you’re crying in

that corner of your room because that girl is not responding to your text. No one talks about when you’re feeling down because

that guy is acting anyhow. No one really talks about those parts, and that’s what “lost” is all about. It’s written in homage to

the bad sides of love. Having Kizz Daniel on the song changed its dimension. I wasn’t expecting the delivery to come out that way.

He really showed the big OG that he is. There are levels to this music thing, and Kizz Daniel is just at the top.

This is such a beautiful love song. The session was mind-blowing, and I really loved it. “golibe” is a way of expressing love and

affection because a popular part of the song, “Ile awada,” means that our home is blessed or fortunate. So, I’m telling her that

she needs to come. It’s just a way of letting her know that she needs to be with me because I really like her and need her in my

life. Victony brought life and emotions to the song. He gave it a new dimension. His verse is so mind-blowing, and I still can’t

get it out of my head because it rings in my head all the time. He went out of his way for me, and big shout-out to him.

“eko” is a song about leaving home to feed home. It’s a song about the struggles and hardships of life. It’s a song about praying

to God all the time because you want to be a baller and not a mechanic. It’s just a song asking for god’s blessings and talking

about how hard it is to leave home and make ends meet. I was born and brought up in Ibadan, so I had to leave home to come to

Lagos in a bid to make a living. It’s crazy, hard, and mind-blowing. There’s a part of the song that references a popular Yoruba

proverb that means a Lagos person goes on their way peaceably. I’m saying that I can’t fight, that’s why I’m just going on my own

and taking things easy. I moved to Lagos in 2018, and I’ve had a lot of experiences.

“gokada” is a song about always coming through and not missing. People always say I never miss, so I just want to always deliver

and not miss with my music. That was the original idea behind the song; it’s just a song about delivery and not letting my fans

down. People give me different compliments: “he sings so well all the time,” “I like your voice,” and “he’s so good.” I hear them

all the time, so I just added all those sentiments to the song. “gokada” was made around March or April of 2025 by LOL.

Obviously, a big shoutout to Captain BNXN; he’s such a great guy, and he loves me so much. He goes out of his way for me, and I

respect him so much. At that time, “alone” was BNXN’s favourite song. He was always posting the song on Snapchat and listening to

it. I would always appreciate him for posting the song. One day, I just summoned the courage and told myself I’d ask him to jump

on the remix with me. I just wanted to try. So, I told him, “This looks like your favourite song because you always post this

song, Baba mi. Could you please help me with a verse on the remix? It would really go a long way for me.” He didn’t respond

initially, but I charged it to the game because I always like to try things, even if they don’t work out. I just gave it a shot.

So, I already thought it wouldn’t happen, but three days after, he responded and told me, “Bad boy, send me the verse, let me give

it a try.” I got the verse back in less than 24 hours. It was mind-blowing. I didn’t believe it, but we went from there.

SB produced “alone.” The song was sampled from Wande Coal’s “Again,” so SB and Melvitto are co-producers. I didn’t know I was

making a song like that when I was writing “alone.” I never knew it would be my song because I got a call from a friend of mine,

Nelly Baradi, who sings. She was having a creative block, and she’s someone I always help out because we make music together all

of the time. It’s normal to have creative blocks, so she called me that day to help her put something together on the beat. I

didn’t answer initially because I had a lot of things going on, but she knew I was going to help her out. This time was different

because I didn’t attend to her request promptly. It took me about three days because I was just feeling so reluctant. She kept

disturbing me, so on the third day, I decided to get it done. I locked in and I wrote out the first one minute. It was sounding

really great, and I told myself I wasn’t sending it back to her. I recorded it myself and put it out on socials, and everybody

went crazy. I have to give a big shoutout to BhadBoi Oml; he and I were already planning to make something together. He’s someone

I really like because he sings so well. I really fuck with him, so I’d been in his DM. I told him I really like what he does and

I’d love to make something with him someday. He responded and said, “Why not my G?” So, we already planned on making the song, but

we didn’t have a direction. All we knew was that we were going to link up and make something. I posted “alone” after this

conversation, and he really liked it. So, he sent it to me and told me that he thinks this is the one we should work on together.

We went into the studio, made it, and it became a whole track. We dropped it, and it just went crazy.

I have such a great memory attached to this song. I was in London at the time, around April 2025. So, I got a call from Big Wiz’s

camp to come to the studio. I linked up with Big Wiz at the studio and we made the song. There are several songs you make that

don’t come out, so I thought “One Condition” would be another song that doesn’t get released because, to me, I didn’t really do

anything on the song. Many people ask me how I came up with the verse, but I simply tell them that it just came to me. I spent

about 30 or 40 minutes on that song. It was just so sudden for me. Wizkid told me to go and do something, and I just walked into

the booth and started singing. I initially thought the verse was not so hard, but when we put it out, everything went crazy. After

recording, I went back home and got a text about two or three days later that the song was going to come out. I thought it was a

joke. I have a video on my phone of my reaction to the news. I was so happy and just started running around. Just getting that

text saying, “Yo Fola, Big Wiz just cleared the song, we’re going to drop it,” was crazy. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if

you were expecting the song to be talked about or if you were expecting the song to be put out. I just did my verse and went, so

getting that text that it was coming out was really mind-blowing. It was huge for me.

The way “Escaladizzy” came to life captures my creative process and personal energy. I’m constantly in motion, always moving

forward. A few days before it all came together, I was on the way back from an event with my guys, all of us in the back of an

Escalade, when I got home that day, I heard a beat by 2 Frosh (credited producer) and it stuck with me. So I started writing what

would later become “Escaladizzy” before I even got to Wave$tar’s place. One night, after Wave$tar’s party, which he invited me to

perform at, I opened my Snap and noticed he was around. I texted him and decided to swing by his house. When I got there, we were

originally chilling, but before we knew it, we were recording. The original plan was to record a Wave$tar song, which we did, but

after that, the energy was still there, and I had the beat that 2 Frosh sent to me looping in my head. Wave$tar’s vibe was

different, and I just felt like it would be the perfect vibe to lead me into the song. The funniest part is that I didn’t even

expect this to be the song to blow up because I have way better songs out. There were no plans to drop it this year—it dropped

because of how the audience received it. That’s how my music happens—that’s how I live my life: organized but open to change,

nothing forced. Everything flows from my music and instincts, so if it feels right, I follow it. No elaborate rituals—just space

and a living vibe.

Blaqbonez always wanted me to make a song that will go super viral. He’s like; “oh, you need to make a record that will cement

your legacy, a song that many Nigerians will know, will listen to”. So when I was making God's Engineering 2 (previous album), we

made ‘Family’. It didn't go as viral as he wanted it to go. So when I was making God's Engineering 3, he was paying special

interest in the recording process. When I made the song called ‘Read the Signs’ with Terry Apala, Blaq was super excited. He even

helped me contact Terry to be on the record. He was like; “yo, this is the record. You finally did it your way. You just have to

put a budget behind this record, and it's going to go super viral”. I was like, cool. It's supposed to be the single anyway. But

then I told him that I'm not going to make the album without him doing a verse. I wanted a rap verse. So before I wrapped up the

album, I called him and I was like, yo, I'm wrapping up the album and I need that verse. And he was like, say less. I think two

days later, I just got an email and he had recorded on a YouTube beat. I listened to the verse and the hook and I was like, Oh, is

this how you're feeling? He was like, yeah, a lot had happened before he recorded the verse. He put down how he felt about what

was happening. I was like, okay, I jumped into the booth and dropped my own verse in like, maybe like 15, 20 minutes. But I held

it back because I was still not certain because it was on a YouTube beat. We sent it to a producer called Jxses. He was able to

make a beat that matched what we were already feeling - which is one of the hardest things to do. We didn't think of it as a

single, right? We just wanted it to be on the project. After I finished the album, I played it for my team and they were like, yo,

it's hard - and this should be the single. They were like, the hook, the chemistry, everything is just a safer bet. And I spoke to

the guys on the distribution side, and they were like, yeah, they actually think that the song with Blaqbonez is the single. So we

picked a date. And we dropped it. The situation between Blaq and Modu (ODUMODUBLVCK), everything just escalated it. And yeah,

that's how the song came about. We were not in the same studio when we made the record. Blaq recorded his part, sent it to me. I

recorded my part, sent it to him. And people have been saying that that's one of my best verses yet. That thing that Blaqbonez

wanted me to always have, “I want you to have this to cement your legacy”. I always wanted him to be the person that would give

that to me. I guess he finally did it on this record.

Generally, I’m an overthinker, and there was a point where there were a lot of slow-motion (TikTok) challenges in vogue. That’s

what inspired the line, “Got no time for no slo-mo.” It was also tied to my life because I knew I wasn’t young anymore, and I knew

I had to do something different. I was angry at life, but at the same time, there was no time to slow down. Like I said, I’m an

overthinker, but I’m also aware of the effects of overthinking, so that’s why I said, “High blood pressure if you go think am”

because with everything happening around me–with all the calamities–if I think about them, I’ll just die. For the remix, I was on

my way to a concert when Bella [Shmurda] called me on Instagram and told me that he fucked with the song. He asked me to pull up

to the studio, and at that time, Bella had just lost his friend, Mohbad, so I knew where the energy was coming from.