MemoriesFM

I had already started making “Bring you home” on my keyboard in Lagos in 2023. I was listening to a Rex Jim Lawson song “Jolly Papa” and if you

listen, you will hear that it inspired the progression for “Bring you home”. We made it in January 2024 at a camp in Accra. I worked on the song

with DUKE (credited producers). The thing is, when a song is complete, as an artist, you will feel it. If something is missing from a song, I would

aslo have a feeling. Sometimes, you can still think about a song later and say “I could have done this or that”. But you have to know right now,

what you want to do. After listening, I just knew the song was complete and ready.

I was playing Chess with Michael Brun, I didn’t know him and he didn’t know me. This was during a Sony music camp in Ghana, 2024. They usually do a

kind of get-together as part of the camp. So we go to the beach, there was a Chess board, and we played and introduced ourselves you know. He tells

me he’s a producer and we got familiar We saw eachother again at the camp the next day and he had the chance to listen to “Bossa Nova” which was one

of the only songs I had. They were taking a break from his studio session so he says; “let’s go into the studio, there’s nobody in there”. In the

studio, he started playing something on the keyboard with a kind of synth and some drum samples. I started humming along and that became the melody

of the intro. He recorded it and said; “You’re a genius bro!”. It all happened in about three minutes. So he sent it to me and I shared it with

DUKE, my producers at the camp. They were like we have to make this. We were able to finish just one verse during the camp. I completed the song one

year later.

I wrote “Stuck” when I was in my sister’s apartment in Abuja, 2022. This was when I first started really playing the guitar a lot. I was just there,

playing my guitar everyday, taking walks around the estate and listening to my recordings. I had it recorded on my phone with just my voice and

guitar. When I came to Lagos August 2022, I would play it privately to people when I’m showing them my stuff. If you notice, it has the same first

chords as “Slipping out of time” (another Braye song) because those were the only chords I knew how to play on the guitar.

We were in Ghana, January 2024. The producers, DUKE said; “we made this for Tems, but she didn't use it”. When they played it, right there, the

melodies came to me. I said, know what, I’m going into the kitchen to write the song. I wrote it without listening to the beat, all I had was that

first melody in my head. Usually, I write my songs on paper, but I wrote it on my phone, came out and said to DUKE, let’s record this. We’d had a

long and stressful recording session leading to this point. During recording, that part “all I need…” was so difficult for me to sing. When the mic

was not on my mouth, I’d sing it so perfectly, but when I have the mic, I’d get so nervous and couldn’t sing it. After a while, I finally got

something. I was recording right at the point that I was waiting for my ride to the airport. So the first part of Painless Melody, I recorded in a

haste.

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.

I just had a session with Shorae (singer & songwriter) at KTIZO’s studio in Lagos. Shorae and I usually have random sessions from time to time. He’s

someone I love to write with. He’s really big in the Afrobeats writing space, although we don’t acknowledge writers that much, but he’s at the top

of the game. I love writing with Shorae because when we write, it’s very collaborative. He does melodies, I put lyrics. “Oshaprapra” came from one

of those days where we’re just vibing and DJ Notorious [one half of KTIZO]–that’s the name of the producer who made the beat, and I was in love with

the chords. I was like, “I need to try something,” and we just started working on it. We decided on the theme of the song together. When we started

writing it, I had an idea of what I wanted it to be about, and we did the schemes together. I asked him what “Oshaprapra” meant, and he said it

means shiny skin. So, I just decided to follow that theme of being through hellfire and still having a shiny skin. It was a metaphor for the song.

Funny thing is that at the end of the session, I told the producer to scrap everything that we did because I liked the beat, and I didn’t think what

we had done was enough to complement the beat. He just said okay, but he didn’t scrap it. The next day, he sent it to me and told me it was crazy. I

told him I’d listen to it. I was supposed to travel to London at the time, so I listened to the song on the flight to London, and I was like, “Okay,

this is something.” When I got to London, I played it for the team, and everyone liked it because it tapped into the energy that everyone was

feeling. I started liking it as well, and I loved it at the end of the day. I recently saw a tweet I made in 2023 where I said, “Intro: Oshaprapra,”

and I didn’t even have the idea for Stubborn at the time.

We made “History” in KTIZO’s studio (Lagos). I just went to the studio with my guys that night. This was in 2023. I was just vibing with Hoodini

[one half of KTIZO]. He played the beat, but I didn’t like the chords on it. We restructured the whole thing, and I was trying line for line. I

wasn’t really in the mood to make a song, but the more I tried to make that record, the more my mood was elevating, and I just kept on making

progress writing the song. Eventually, I ended up with “History.” Honestly, it was the first time I was very detailed with experiences I valued so

much and experiences that gave me life lessons at the end of the day. As a writer, that was a very proud moment for me because, for the longest,

that was something I was looking forward to achieving as opposed to writing on a surface level. With a song like “Kolomental,” it’s a very heartfelt

song, but it’s not specific. For me, “History” opened up the door for stuff like that because from there I was able to do “Jaga Jaga” and the likes.

I was able to tap into that world of precise writing.

Sometime in 2023, I had sessions with P2J where we made “Ludo,” “Anita,” and some other records. Those were just fun times in London, where I would

just go into the studio and I’d be up all night with P2J. We’d make like five complete songs in one night. We were just on that high, and we were

just creating. So, “Ludo” is one of the songs that we birthed from those sessions. At the time, we didn’t have Shallipopi on it, I never even

thought that Shallipopi was going to be on that record, but we knew it was a very strong record. When we were putting the album together, it kept on

making whatever list we were putting together. So, we knew it was going to be on it. Hoodini (record producer) helps me with the creative process

for my songs, and he was like the song gives him a vibe where we can have a rapper on. If you think of it in a Western world, it’s a Kanye record.

That’s how he described it to me, and when he gave that reference, I could see the vision. We thought about Shallipopi because his voice is just

unique. I reached out to him, and we just made it happen.

“Anita” is one of the songs from P2J’s (the producer) sessions. It was just another fun night in London. We were just creating and had guys around

vibing. There’s nothing too crazy with the story because it was just a fun record.

“Everything” was made in 2022. I loved the “Sunflower’’ song (by Post Malone and Swae Lee) a lot. I wanted to do something similar to that. When I

make songs with Blaze (the producer), sometimes we start from scratch. That’s how we made “Kolomental.” I just play him certain chord progressions,

and I tell him what direction I want to go towards. We didn’t have an idea of what we were going to make that day, but we started playing the chords

and building from there. We made the song, but we didn’t have the sample on. When I got to London, I told Hoodini (additional producer) that we

could have the sample on because the song didn’t have a second verse. Hoodini and I just chopped it off. At the time, we were just doing it for fun

because we didn’t know that we could eventually clear the sample. At the time, “Sunflower” had just gone 11 times Platinum, so it was a big deal,

but at the end of the day, we did it, and I think it just had to do with believing.

“Risk” is a crazy record. It has a similar story to “Oshaprapra,” to be honest, because when I made the song, I didn’t have the full idea for the

song. I just had the pre-hook. This was in Los Angeles during a session with P Priime (producer). It was one of those moments where I didn’t want to

be idle, I wanted to exercise my brain and do something creative. I just did a freestyle on the beat. It wasn’t complete. I have a friend named Boat

who does all of my graphics and creative direction. He did the 2D stuff you see on “Jaga Jaga” and the Outlaw EP. He reached out to me and told me

“Risk” had to make the project. I think that’s where we started having the issue of whether it was going to be an EP or an album. At first, it was

supposed to be an EP, but I just kept getting suggestions from people that certain songs had to be on there. I told Boat that I was going to try to

finish the record, but I couldn’t guarantee that it was going to make the project. I had the full idea about a full month after I had laid the

original idea. I went to the studio, finished it, and thought that it was a very strong one.

The idea for “Tiny Apartment” was completely SAINt JHN’s idea. He did a freestyle on the beat, but on his very first freestyle, he sang the lyrics,

“In my tiny apartment.” To be honest, SAINt JHN pretty much freestyle everything that he did on the song. 90% of everything he did was on the first

take. I feel like he’s the most talented person I’ve seen with my two eyes, which is very inspiring. After his freestyle, we started discussing the

concept of the song, and he was talking about how New York apartments are really small. I wanted to paint that same picture, but in a Naija setting.

I think SAINt JHN describing what he was feeling at the time allowed me to be inspired and tap into that experience as a Naija boy and come up with

very specific lyrics for that feeling.

I’ve wanted to work with Teezo [Touchdown] for a while after listening to his album. When the session happened, we were just going through beats.

When the beat for “Slow Down” came on, I did a freestyle to it. Just the toplines of melodies. After I was done, Teezo and I went through it

together, and he picked a specific part of the melody and started writing to that. We also did the hook, he wrote his verses, and that was it.

Writing “Stubborn” gave me a whole new identity. It gave me something I didn’t know I had with me. The producers, 1MIND also made “Unforgettable” by

Swae Lee and French Montana. They have quite a stacked catalogue, and they’re very good friends of mine outside of production. A session with them

is good energy, and that evening, I was just myself in the studio. I wasn’t overly prepared to make a record; I just wanted to have fun, so when the

beat for “Stubborn” came on, I was feeling it, and I wasn’t thinking of doing something perfect. Ironically, it came out as a moody song, but in

that moment, it was a blend of me having fun and reminiscing on my life. It was an “I’m him” moment. I was going through moments when it wasn’t too

smooth, but I overcame, and I’m now in L.A., giving myself praises and stuff like that. Just because it was so many emotions at once, I felt like,

“Damn, this is an exceptional record.” The fact that I was able to blend the fun, moody, and autobiographical elements gave me a new feeling, brand,

and identity in my head. It was straight, almost like one takes, because with “Stubborn,” I recorded it like one long verse. The first and third

verses of the song were recorded together as one long verse. I was really in my bag. After I made the song, we just agreed that “Stubborn” would

bang with a feature because it’s such a new sound. We felt that it would be more incisive if we had somebody else to come explore something, and

Asake came to mind. I reached out on Instagram, and he told me to send it. When he came into Lagos, he came to my studio, and we just did it

together.

I made “Kolo (Kolomental II)” right after I made “Stubborn,” and that was within minutes. Off that “Stubborn” high, they played another beat, and I

just told them to keep the mic on, and it just kept on going. If you listen to both songs, you’ll notice that there’s a similar energy. If you

listen to the verses on “Kolo,” it goes like, “Who thinks they’re crazy enough to challenge me?” It was coming off that “I Stubborn” energy, and I

knew that both songs are crazy and have to be on whatever I am putting out next.

After recording sessions in L.A., I went back to Lagos, and I was still on that “Stubborn” energy, and that’s why I decided to name my next project

Stubborn. I started making new types of songs and having a different approach to my songs. I had a session with 255 [a German production group],

they’re very good friends of mine, and I made the song. It was just coming off that “Stubborn” energy, to be honest. I feel like “Stubborn” gave me

a whole new vibe that I just kept on exploring at the time. That’s one of the first sessions I had once I came back from L.A. at the time.

I made “Pier 46” in L.A. before I came back to Nigeria. I think it was two days before the “Stubborn” session. Hoodini (producer) was in L.A. with

me, and we were preparing to go for another session, and we just decided to try something. He was in the apartment, and he played the beat. I had

played him one song in the past, and I was like, “This is such a coincidence,” because it was a Spanish song, and I was feeling the attitude in the

song, and I wanted to explore something like that. The beat Hoodini played for me was very similar, and it was such a crazy coincidence because it’s

a mood I’ve been wanting to tap into for a while. We just stayed back and worked on it before the session. It took quite a while because I wanted to

perfect the attitude, because it’s something I’ve been wanting to tap into.

“Sunday School” was with P2J (producer). It was made late in 2023, shortly before I travelled for Davido’s A.W.A.Y Fest in Atlanta. The night before

the trip, which was scheduled for 7 a.m., I was having a session with P2J till like 4 a.m. We were just vibing and recording, and “Sunday School”

was all we were working on. That’s a fan’s favourite on the album.

I made “Street Affair” in L.A. That was one of the first songs that I made in L.A. It was made shortly after I landed in L.A. When I made Street

Affair,” it was just me reminiscing on recent happenings in my life and personal stuff that I just put on there. Hoodini had sent me the beat, and I

had had it for a while. So, it was one of those sessions where I just get an engineer and just lock in to reflect on how I’m feeling and put it into

the music.

I feel like we’ve all wronged people. For me, with the grudges I’ve held against my dad and stuff that has happened with people. The ones that have

hurt you and the people you’ve hurt as well, because you’re not the only one hurting, you’re inflicting some hurt yourself. I just knew that at the

end of the day, we all have to hold hands because nothing is more scary than dying alone. Some of the things that hurt and traumatise us don’t mean

a lot to the people who did it to us. I was just trying to illustrate the power of forgiveness because, at that point, I had already forgiven my

dad. As I grow up, there’s no day I wake up as a man and not understand the stress of life, because life is so crazy. Also, when I spoke about

forgiveness as a song, I still wanted something that would say it in a powerful but plain way for people to understand, and that’s why I used the

Tyler Perry interview where he was talking about forgiveness. He said he was talking to people about forgiveness, but even he had not forgiven his

dad. So, “Forgive Me” was all about forgiveness; forgiving our parents, forgiving ourselves, forgiving anybody who has hurt us, especially the ones

that are complicated. It was the perfect song to end the album on because it even came last. I feel like after the rollercoaster of emotions and

everything that the album had talked about, I just knew that I could not live forever and forever isn’t even forever. So, I just wanted to wrap up

the album with a more powerful message than whatever I had coming. I can’t even believe that “Can’t Breathe” is the song that’s up there. The

producer just sent me beats. I had never met him before. The moment I heard that beat, I just connected with it.

I recorded “Rollercoaster” in Awoyaya (Lagos), so you can see what I mean when I say that I recorded the album all over. I was moving around, and

that’s why the album is Homeless. The album has its displacement. I recorded “Rollercoaster” in Awoyaya, and if you know what that means, you can

tell that it was a rollercoaster of emotions. The pressure was really heavy on me because I only had “HBP” out. It’s all part of a story, and there

was a time I was living with my cousin, and we’d buy four Arizonas, we’d smoke one blunt each and have one blunt left to smoke early in the morning.

We’d call it early glory. My cousin used to wake up late, but I was usually awake by four or five in the morning, and I’d have smoked the last

blunt. So, that’s what inspired parts of “Rollercoaster.” Another thing I noticed is that when we are going through issues, nobody really

understands, but I always bring life to wherever I am. That means people don’t know when I’m going through stuff because I just love to see people

happy. It was a rollercoaster of emotions for me because I’d been going up and down to get stuff done. I just had a moment of realisation at the

point I recorded that song. It was produced by Che, the same guy who produced “Gangsta Love Letter.”

“Billion Paper” is my dream. I tried to talk about the times I’d need people to do stuff for me because, as an artist, you can’t do stuff that

normal people do. You’re just not a normal person anymore. You’re going through a lot, but you just have to go through it with one of your guys.

People say that money changes people, so I was talking about what I’ll do and what I’ll not do when I get my own money on “Billion Paper.” It was

just about the dream of getting my bag, and at the same time, there was the hardship that I had gone through, reaching out to people for help when I

was struggling; there’s the pride and the ego that’s involved. “Billion Paper” was produced by “OG Sterling.

I wrote “Comforter” in Ajah (Lagos). I had come back from Abuja. I see myself as a storyteller, so I was relaying what I went through in Abuja. It

just poured out of me. All the lines in the song are real. I actually called my mum and told her, “Mama, your pikin dey suffer for Abuja.” She

cooked and sent it via a vehicle coming from Kano. On that song, I was reminiscing on my life, I was just sitting in the corner and taking stock. It

was a mirror of how I was feeling at that time. These songs are dense because I’m piling a year or two years’ worth of experience into them, and

that’s why it’s hard to explain them. Some of these songs weren’t written in one day. With “Comforter,” I was going through it. When I first

recorded “Comforter,” God told me to go to Kano. So, I went to Kano for three months. I just stayed with the song, and I kept making videos. Since

Lagos wasn’t really feeling me, I planned to go to Kano, which is my hood, build up that momentum and bring it back. I went to Kano and kept making

content, and it just got serious. The funny thing is that three days before “Comforter” was due to drop, I didn’t want to release it anymore because

I worked so hard on the song, and I didn’t know what I was hearing anymore. I wasn’t even sure about what the fuck I was doing. I locked myself up,

carried my Arizona, smoked to the full brim, played the song again, and that reminded me why I recorded the song again. It was good to go. I was in

search of something to comfort me. At that time, it was weed, I just smoked. Drake just dropped an album around then, and I’d be listening to the

album and smoking up. So that’s how the song came about. When I’m going through situations, it just piles up till I find a way to make it come out

as a song.

“Cold War” is such an amazing song because I tried to paint a picture of what the world truly is. When I said “family kill family,” it’s real

because my family, where I come from, are trying to kill ourselves. It’s not a punchline, it’s real life. According to the story I heard, my dad and

his father were killed by their family members, so it’s very real. I recorded “Cold War” the night I dropped “HBP.” Dropping “HBP,” I knew things

were getting serious, so that’s why I said, “It’s getting dangerous, but no issue.” We already knew that “HBP” was the shit even before it became

the shit and that was what influenced the messaging on “Cold War.” I was taking that moment in and explaining the world we’re living in at the same

time. Also, like I said, I’m always involved with military stuff around me, so that’s why I said it was a Cold War. In actual cold wars, you can’t

tell the amount of crazy, deadly shit that goes on. I had to make the name of the song as cold as the song. Fave is an amazing person. We had been

talking for a while, and she came for the shoot with Bella Shmurda for “HBP Remix.” I played the song for her at that video shoot, but I don’t think

she locked in for the song there. She got into it when we were in an apartment, we were chilling after the shoot. She did her thing, and it’s just

crazy.

“Gangsta Love Letter” is a song about my [romantic] entanglements. There was a time I got hooked on a lady, and it got so crazy that I almost lost

my relationship. It’s a crazy situation because I was looking for my woman in someone else, because this person had all those things I wanted. So,

“Gangsta Love Letter” is a message to that person, accepting that we’ll never be together, but I’m wishing them well. That’s why I started the song

with, “I don’t trust no person/ Godly blessing/ Don’t know for you, but mine is certain.” I knew that it was just a moment, and we needed to enjoy

it before we depart forever. It’s very hard to put these emotions on record, which is why my process is very long, because these are true love

stories. “Gangsta Love Letter” was produced by Che, and I wrote it while I was living at Abraham Adesanya in Ogombo (Lagos). I wrote it on that

lonely road in Ogombo in 2023. At that time, I used to go to Atican Beach, and it was also around that time that I was having that experience with

that girl, and it was just a wild period of my life.

I wrote “Stranger” because of my relationship with my father. Like the song stated, he was a stranger to me. I never got to know him because I only

met him once, and he had to be pointed out to me that one time. I had hugged three other people before I got to him. So that’s why I named the song

“Stranger” because he’s a stranger to me. The song explores our relationship and what could have been, the memories we could have had that we didn’t

end up having, or the things that we could have both shared that were taken away. “Stranger” was produced by Psyko. I met him at an Encore recording

camp. He didn’t even record me; he just dropped the beat, I connected with it, and I did my thing.

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.