Wale

“hectic” was interesting because the first part of it was just 234jaydaa. I was just recording with her, and we were

trying some stuff. I wrote that part, but I wanted someone else to sing it. We were also trying to work on another song,

that’s why, if you notice, at the start of the song, she says, “I’m just gonna read it,” but the recording already

started. She was reading and singing it and it just sounded so beautiful. I was thinking of making it a full song, then

I made this other song, “hectic.” I sent it to Amaarae, and she just slides on it. It was the kind of R&B stuff I grew

up on. For me to hear myself making music that sounded like what I grew up on, it just gave me confidence that it was

what I was meant to be doing. It sounded like the quality level that I admire. At that time, Solis was already sending

me demos. She used to sing covers on her webcam. She was just coming up and making lo-fi pop vibe, and I thought she’d

do well on it.

I always wanted to make a song that was neo-soul but had an afro bounce to it. It didn’t exist at that point, so I was

like, “I wanted to make one.” In my brain, I just knew that it was possible to do it. I used to think about it all the

time because I love neo-soul. So, I would always think of a way to do it with gbedu. When I did the chords and put the

drum pattern together, I was like, “Yeah, this is it.” It was exactly how I imagined it. I sent it to Tay after a while.

I already had the song for a bit. Tay and I were exchanging music. We have so many songs we’ve not released. One day, I

just sent him “green light.” I wasn’t sure he’d like it that much, but he sent it back right after, and I was like,

“This is perfect.”

This one is very interesting because I was making that beat for Santi. We were all in the crib in Magodo (Lagos), and I

was in the studio cooking up. This was a period when there was a series of nights out, and I just made the beat off of

that energy, and I had Efe Jazz come play that guitar riff that’s now become super popular. At that time, Ifeanyi

(Nwune) was managing Runtown, and Runtown was in Los Angeles. Ifeanyi told me he’d send the song to Runtown, so I sent

the song to him. I wasn’t thinking much about it like that, and then, one day, I got a FaceTime video call from Ifeanyi.

He just has his phone up and he’s smoking a blunt. He was in this studio that’s like an open studio, and Runtown is in

the back, and I’m hearing Runtown’s verse. I’m telling myself that this is the craziest Runtown verse I’ve ever heard. I

was like, “Yeah yeah, this one is perfect.” I didn’t even hear the final thing until later, but just off that phone

call, it sounded great.

I like this one a lot. I made it one week after I made “wanted you,” and I was like, “I want to do more of that” because

I had so much fun making “wanted you.” Off the confidence of how “wanted you” sounded, I knew I wanted to make something

like that again. While making it, I wasn’t sure it was going to be on the project, but it made it.

Nasty C was in Lagos, and we met up. That was actually fun because we would go around Lagos at night, and I was with

Santi and one of my homies, Genio. So, we met up with Nasty C, and we made that song. It was a very interesting one

because at that time, South African-Nigerian link-ups were very popular, but there wasn’t anything really happening in

the underground like that. Working with Nasty C and having Santi on it was very important.

“take a break” and “outcast” were made around the same time, maybe between two days. I was just realising that I could

say things, like I could say what was directly happening to me. I had just gotten off the phone with my mum because I

wasn’t really seeing my mum a lot since I started working on music. I was just able to put the feeling directly into the

music. I just had to figure out that I was talking to myself. It feels harder when it feels like I’m talking to people.

When it’s just a self-dialogue, it gets easier without knowing that I’m making a song for people or that they’re going

to listen to it.

I love “angel,” this is my second favourite song from the album. It was an interesting song to make because at that

time, I was conceptualising the idea of an offspring, and I was thinking of what song I would like my kid to hear from

me if I had a child in the future. In my head, “angel” was that song, and that was the concept behind it. Duendita was

an artist whom I had found at that time, whose voice was very special to me. I just messaged her about the song, and we

made it.

I don’t remember the era I made it, but I was getting very bold because I remember making it, and GMK was in the

bathroom. He came out and was like, “What the fuck are you doing? This is weird,” and I was like, “Yeah, I like it.” I

remember making the beat separately and recording the song later that night. I was just super inspired by the ‘80s

classics by Bobby Brown and Ralph Falcon, just that smooth ‘80s programmed drums, reverbs, and snares. That was what

motivated that one.

So with this one, I woke up from one of those naps where you’re sweating. You just took an evening nap, and you wake up,

and it seems like a war just happened. I see like seven missed calls on Snapchat, and it’s from Tycoone, who’s David’s

creative director. I hit him back, and he’s like, “Where are you? David wants to see you.” I’m like, “What the fuck?

Alright, bet.” So, I pull up and we go to this place called Shisha Lounge back then. David has this whole entourage, and

there were so many people around him. I think Peruzzi was with him at that time, and this producer called Fresh. I

wanted to sit on the other side because there were so many people, but Davido called me over to sit right beside him. I

was nervous as hell. I was very antisocial at that time. He then told me to start playing music, and I played “outcast,”

then I played “falling,” and he said, “Them go love you for Yankee.” He then asks me to play him stuff I’d not worked

on, and I had the beat for “divine” from Hvrry, the producer. The beat only played for three seconds, and he was like,

“Yeah, this is the one.” That was the first time I’d ever seen someone do that; he hadn’t even heard the beat for long

enough, but he was just like, “Let’s go.” So, we got into the cars and we went to Eko Hotels. He rented out a suite, and

we set up there to work on the song. He kind of added some production stuff; it was the first time I’d seen him work in

person, so it was interesting to see how involved he was in the process. Later on, I found out that he used to produce

music. Working with him was interesting. I feel like if life permits it, and we work on music together again, it would

always be interesting because there’s a certain understanding of production.

“outcast” is very inspired by my life experiences up until that point, when I was working on the album. I had a very

interesting self-perception where it felt like I wasn’t really fitting into places as naturally as I would have liked,

even if I tried to. It was reflecting on the light that came on me, so that’s why that song was a very interesting point

for me. I remember making it and knowing that I know how to express myself on songs easily without saying too much. I

had just started recording music properly, like one and a half years prior. So, I was getting better as the second

passed and it’s a song that made me feel that I could say things easily. I was at Magodo (Lagos) in GMK’s house when I

made “outcast.” It’s where I made most of the songs.

I started this one and sent it to Hamzaa, and I was like, “Yo, just go crazy,” and she did. I feel like she’s one of my

favourite vocalists that I’ve ever heard. She’s one of the earliest people that it’s been super easy to talk to about

music because she really loves soul music, and I love soul music as well. She just understood certain things I’d say and

be interested in, and she has a great voice, too. When she sent “take me there” back to me, I was like, “Woah, this is

such a big voice.” I loved it because I knew I wanted this song. At this time, I hadn’t even thought about sequencing or

anything, but I just knew that this song was needed because it had this kind of transitional feeling towards the rest of

the project.

There wasn’t anyone around me who influenced me or this sound. I was really just interested in ‘80s pop music at that

time because I was revisiting some Nigerian classics and some TV shows that had dropped at that time. I found out Chris

Okotie used to make pop music, and the quality of the music was great. There was William Onyeabor as well. It was nice

to see people who experimented with synth music who were from where I’m from and looked like me. Making “falling” made

me realise what the project was supposed to sound like. I teased it the night I made it, the video is still somewhere on

my Twitter (X), and from the response I got, I was sure that this sound was where I wanted to go. I was able to

communicate as naturally as I could, but it still had all the elements I liked.

I was actually devastated around this time because I had just lost my laptop. I was working on a different album, which

I thought was going to be my first album. Something happened to my laptop, and I sent it to someone to fix, and they

just ran away with it. So, all the music I’d been working on up till then was gone. I had to start from scratch. “Rare”

was one of the last songs on the album. I had this guy called DAP The Contract help me on that. He’s very great at

arranging. I had met DAP through another friend, Seni Saraki. DAP and I would exchange music all the time, and I saw how

mature his perspective was. That was good for me because at the time, I didn’t have too many resources to see all the

people I was studying on a global level, but he gave me the same kind of feeling that I would have expected from those

people because of the understanding he had, and he was also close to home. He helped with the arrangement of “rare.” The

song started with me hanging out with Hamzaa one day, and she was playing the piano. I sent a voice note to her a few

days prior, just saying those words, and she sang it that way. That’s how that came together, and we eventually got DAP

to do some additional vocals because I wanted it to sound like gospel or a choir.

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.

In 2021, Dapper set up a session with me & Tempoe. It was a camp for an artist called Savage. We made a couple of

records that included “Rosemary,” “Soweto,” and some other songs that never saw the light. At the time, I loved

“Rosemary” more and Tempoe used to tell me that “Soweto” is crazy, but I couldn’t see it. At the end of the day, we gave

Savage “Rosemary,” and Tempoe was going to take “Soweto.” It was supposed to be Tempoe featuring Victony, but people on

my team just loved the record and they told me that the song was crazy. I spoke to Tempoe at the time, and he was like,

“Yo, that’s my song, I can’t give it to you.” This was post-“Holy Father,” and I wanted that to be my follow-up single,

and he told me he can’t give me the record. So, we fought, and we just stopped talking for a while. When I was putting

the Outlaw EP together, I was telling my friend, AV, about the plans, and AV goes, “What about that ‘Soweto’ record?

That has to make your EP.” I was like, “Yeah, the song is dope, but I don’t think Tempoe and I can ever agree.” We

hadn’t spoken in months but AV was like, “Put your pride to the side and ask him for it again because you’re both

sitting on money.” To be honest, at the time, I didn’t really think of the advice as a big deal but I just did it

because AV is someone I trust, he’s a very good friend of mine, and if he tells me something, I’ll listen. That same

night, I reached out to Tempoe and was like, “How are you doing?” Surprisingly, he responded in good spirits and we were

able to make it come to life and I even discussed my EP with him. That’s how the song eventually became released.